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Insurance Companies Pushing 'Impact-Resistant' Roofs

PARKER, Colo. (CBS4) - Fixing a hail-damaged roof isn't cheap and now many homeowners are being asked to spend even more to repair their homes.

4 On Your Side Consumer Investigator Jodi Brooks looked into impact-resistant roofs that are being pushed by insurance companies because they can save money.

The idea is -- spend a little more money now and pay less down the road. Insurance companies like the product and so does the consumer.

Hail pounded the southern metro area back in June. A Parker neighborhood is just one of many now in repair. Almost every roof on one block needed to be replaced, except for Christy Thurman's.

"We're very pleased. We've had it inspected by an independent estimator and they've said it looks good," Thurman said.

In 2006 Thurman's roof was shredded by hail. She hired A to Z Roofing and got two quotes. One was for a standard roof for about $4,800. The other was for a Malarky Alaskan at approximately $6,100. The Malarky Alaskan is what's called an impact-resistant roof and it's what Thurman paid for six years ago.

"The hail stone should just bounce off and preserve the shingle and not bruise the shingle, and that's basically what hail does," said Jim Whelan, A to Z Roofing president and owner. "Hail bruises the shingle to a point where the shingle will just eventually disintegrate."

Whelan's company does anywhere from 800 to 1,200 roofs a year and about 80 to 85 percent of the roofs he's doing due to storm damage are impact-resistant roofs.

Robert Midgett is part of the State Farm Insurance Castrophe Team. He says he's pushing the product all over the country because it offers better protection and there are policy premium discounts good for the life of the roof.

"That discount is sometimes between 10 and 35 percent, depending on the type of roof they have," Midgett said.

The impact-resistant roof does initially cost a little more.

"You just have to sit down, go through the numbers, but all in all the impact-resistant roof was the best option for us," Thurman said.

Thurman figures she's already saved by not having to pay her deductible -- something her neighbors can't say.

Most of the roofs come with a 30- to 50-year limited product warranty and more and more manufacturers are making them.

RELATED: More Reports By 4 On Your Side Consumer Investigator Jodi Brooks

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