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FOX43 Finds Out: Denied a New Roof

NEW FREEDOM, Pa — Jennifer Perry shows us some of the damage to her home in New Freedom, York County. A hail storm rolled through the area last spring and...
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NEW FREEDOM, Pa -- Jennifer Perry shows us some of the damage to her home in New Freedom, York County.

A hail storm rolled through the area last spring and left its mark.

"I had two contractors come out. They both went up on the roof, said that there`s enough damage up there that the insurance would easily cover replacement of the roof," said Perry.

She called Erie Insurance Group and an adjuster came a few days later.

"He denied us right here on the spot."

She was told there was some damage, about $2,200 worth.

Perry said, "He gave me two pictures of the roof. There's a lot more roof than that."

She finds it hard to believe, when neighbors on both sides of her and across the street were all told they had significant damage.

"How many people do you know have gotten new roofs? I think there are at least 40 in here," the homeowner said.

She has she knows of two other people who did not get a new roof and both have Erie insurance.

"I have not heard of any other insurance company denying the claim, except for Erie," said Perry.

In nearby Shrewsbury, Jason Weeks is dealing with the same issue.

He said, "It's kind of ironic that 2/3 of the community had damage and they got new roofs but we got denied."

His story is similar to Perry's.

"Our next door neighbor. The house down from our next door neighbor. Across the street and then the next community over. I mean, roofs were going up left and right," said Weeks.

An Erie adjuster told him he had hardly any damage.

"We got a notice in the mail saying that we got denied from Erie."

He filed in a second claim.

That got denied too.

He filed a complaint with State Insurance Department.

He got a letter back from the departing stating, "There is no insurance statue violated by the company's action in this case, the Insurance Department is unable to act or change the company's decision."

Weeks said, "I feel like something fishy is going on, I feel that there`s a disconnect somewhere."

I did reach out to Erie Insurance Group to see why these people got denied when it seems all of the other companies found enough damage.

I was told, because of privacy laws, Erie cannot comment on specific policyholder claims.

However, a spokesperson did say, "In southern York county we`ve received and paid hundreds of hail losses from this most recent event. However, a small percentage of the time, there are claims presented where we find no damage."

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department says it has received 14 complaints about Erie Insurance from homeowners dealing with hail damage in 2018.

However, that department also says Erie is the second largest homeowners insurer in the state, so that is not a large number of complaints.

If you have a story you want me to look into, FOX43 wants to find out.

Let me know, send me a message on Facebook or shoot me an email at FOX43FindsOut@FOX43.com.

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