By Christopher Elliott
Guest Columnist

Jan Hustler just lost her AAA homeowner’s insurance because she didn’t repair her roof on time. But the company didn’t tell her about the requirement until it was too late. Can she get her insurance coverage back?

Christopher Elliott

I recently received a notification from AAA, my home insurance company, that it would not renew my coverage for this year. The reason? The AAA underwriting department said my roof repairs needed to be completed by September 2023. AAA invited me to renew my homeowner’s policy — in December 2026.

How could I have known that our roof needed to be completed by then? Why didn’t AAA notify me earlier so I could have complied by that date? Instead, I was denied before I could comply.

I feel like AAA is treating me unfairly. Why would AAA treat a loyal customer this way? Can you help get my insurance reinstated? — Jan Hustler, Santa Clara, Calif.

AAA shouldn’t have canceled your homeowner’s insurance without first giving you an opportunity to fix your roof. But it looks as if it never notified you about the required roof repairs.

Insurance companies can — and sometimes do — require customers to maintain their homes before they can insure them. Usually, that happens before you purchase your policy. If you have an older home, the insurance company will require an inspection. Based on that, the insurance company may require certain repairs within 30 to 60 days.

In your case, AAA required that you replace your roof before agreeing to insure your home in 2024. While that is legal, it’s customary for an insurance company to notify you of the requirement so that you can meet it. According to your records, you didn’t get any notification.

You scrambled to repair the roof and then showed AAA the invoice, according to the records you shared with me. But that wasn’t enough. AAA was firm that you were out for the next two years but could reapply for insurance in 2026.

Adding to the complexity of your case is the fact that you’re in California. Insurance premiums have gone through the roof since the wildfires a few years ago, and it’s highly unlikely you’ll find a comparable policy. What’s more, under California law, your insurance company can drop you without giving you a reason. So AAA could have simply decided not to renew your policy, and that would have been that.

Could you have avoided this? Maybe. If you had known AAA was going to attach conditions to your homeowner’s insurance renewal, you might have been more proactive about finding out what they were. But it looks like AAA didn’t mention any new requirements to you.

The next step would be contacting an executive at AAA about your situation. I publish the names, numbers and email addresses of the AAA customer service higher-ups on my consumer advocacy site.

You reached out to my advocacy team for help. I contacted AAA on your behalf and asked it to take another look at your file. It did, and decided to renew your homeowner’s insurance policy.

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (https://elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at [email protected] or get help by contacting him at https://elliottadvocacy.org/help/