{"id":1286,"date":"2013-06-15T12:40:56","date_gmt":"2013-06-15T16:40:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rtcinsuranceadvisors.com\/blog\/?p=1286"},"modified":"2013-07-04T22:38:04","modified_gmt":"2013-07-05T02:38:04","slug":"insurance-difference-between-a-hip-and-gable-roof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rtcinsuranceadvisors.com\/blog\/insurance-difference-between-a-hip-and-gable-roof\/","title":{"rendered":"Insurance Difference Between a Hip and Gable Roof"},"content":{"rendered":"

You may have had conversations with insurance agents who were talking about and describing roof shapes.\u00a0 Specifically, hip and gable roofs.\u00a0 You might have even experienced a significant rate increase after binding coverage with a homeowners insurance company.\u00a0 How could this have happened?\u00a0 If the rate increase was around $400, it may have been due to a misquote by the agent who thought that your roof was a hip when if fact it\u2019s a gable.\u00a0 So, What\u2019s the insurance difference between hip and gable roof<\/strong>?\u00a0 We will offer our answer to this question in this informative article.<\/p>\n

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The Gable Roof<\/p>\n

Before we delve deeper, let\u2019s take a look at what a gable roof looks like.\u00a0 A gable roof is illustrated in the following image to your left.<\/p>\n

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\"InsuranceAs you can see, a gable creates an A or V formation.\u00a0 Two roof angles slope down from the roof peak or apex and it causes a triangular look.\u00a0 It is obvious to see that this type of roof can be weak in holding up to sever weather, especially when high winds are present.\u00a0 The gable roof has lower wind resistance, making it easier for your entire roof to rip off under the pressure of wind.\u00a0 Insurance carriers rate premiums on many factors.\u00a0 This is just one factor, but one of the most impactful.\u00a0 From the insurance carriers stand-point, this type of home should cost more to insure because the risk is far greater than a hip roof, which we will talk about in a minute.\u00a0 It\u2019s important to know that you may get a way with a lower Florida homeowners insurance rate<\/a> if your home possesses decorative gables (like above a window) with no load bearing effect on the structural integrity of your home.\u00a0 Some insurance companies allow for a certain percentage of a gable roof (generally 10%) as it relates to the overall predominate roof shape.\u00a0 They will grant you a hip rating if most of your roof is hip.\u00a0 This is where quoting insurance can get tricky.\u00a0 It\u2019s best to pay for a wind mitigation inspection<\/a> if you can\u2019t determine whether you are entitled to a hip or gable rating.\u00a0 A wind mitigation inspector will ascertain this for you by measuring the roof line and indicate if the roof is gable or hip on the report.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a bad idea to get this inspection regardless, because there are potential additional discounts that you may be able to receive from an insurance company that you would never have received otherwise.<\/p>\n

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The Hip Roof<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s take a look at the hip roof as presented in the image to your right.\u00a0 As you can see here, all the roof sides slope downward toward the walls in a \u201cpyramid\u201d shape and no gables are present at\"florida-hip-gable-roof\"\u00a0all.\u00a0 This roof shape is more common with concrete block designs because all the walls are generally built to the same height.\u00a0 A wood frame home offers more gables on average.\u00a0 The hip roof is a more difficult construction method as it calls for more complex trusses or rafters.\u00a0 However, this type of roof adds an incredible amount of wind resistance to your homes overall integrity.\u00a0 It can withstand winds at very high speeds, sometimes over 120 miles per hour.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to say without having the statistics in front of us, but we see more hip roofs in Florida than gables.\u00a0 Gable roofs are certainly present in our state.\u00a0 We do notice more newer homes are being built with a hip style.\u00a0 2002 and later homes are built to current code and most wind mitigation discounts are already given to you from the insurance companies automatically.\u00a0 There can be anywhere between a $100-$800 insurance difference between hip and gable roof\u00a0<\/strong>depending on other factors.<\/p>\n

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Overall, most insurance companies will allow an agent to give a hip rating.\u00a0 So, if it\u2019s obviously noticeable that your home possesses a hip shape, a hip roof geometry wind mitigation discount can be applied.\u00a0 Not all carriers allow for a hip discount unless a wind mitigation inspection is provided.\u00a0 RTC Insurance Advisors<\/a> knows which carriers allow for hip rating without the need to pay for an inspection.\u00a0 Furthermore, we can measure your roof line with Google Earth to determine the percentage of gable before we send you homeowners insurance quotes for gable vs. hip roof<\/strong>.\u00a0 The best thing you can do is contact us if you have more questions at 352-200-2066<\/strong> or fill out the questionnaire below to see if you are overpaying for your home insurance.\u00a0 Your current policy might have been coded for a gable rate when you should be paying less under a hip rating.<\/p>\n