Do Insurance Companies Prefer Metal or Shingle Roofs?
Insurers care more about the roof's age and condition than the material. A newer shingle roof often insures as easily as metal.
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If your letter points to the roof, material is rarely the real issue. Insurers price by how many years of life are left and how likely it is to leak or fail in a storm. A 20-year-old shingle roof reads as higher risk than a 5-year-old one, metal or not, because it's closer to needing full replacement. What helps your case is a roof certification or inspection showing the current condition and remaining years, which you can get from a roofer and send along with your new application.
Your Roof's Condition Is Worth Checking Across Insurers
One insurer dropped you over the roof. Another may weigh its age and condition differently, especially with an inspection in hand. Compare quotes to find one that prices your roof fairly.
Does Replacing the Roof Lower the Price
A new roof usually brings the price down, sometimes by a real margin, but how much depends on what the old roof looked like to the insurer and what the new one is made of. Going from a 20-year-old shingle roof to a new one typically helps regardless of material, since most of the pricing was about age and remaining life, not shingles versus metal. The gain is smaller if the roof being replaced was already in decent shape.
Some materials do carry their own discount, separate from the age effect. Metal, concrete tile, and class 4 impact-resistant shingles hold up better against hail, and some insurers price that in. Whether yours does, and how much it's worth, is something the quote will show. It's not a reason to replace a roof that doesn't need it, but worth asking about if a replacement is already on the table.
Full replacement isn't the only option. If the letter was about age rather than damage, some insurers accept a roof certification instead, a roofer's written assessment of condition and expected remaining years. It costs far less than a new roof and gives an insurer the specifics it needs instead of guessing from the roof's age alone. Worth getting before assuming a full replacement is required.
Either way, the number that matters is what it costs to rebuild the roof, not what a new one costs installed today versus what the house is worth. That rebuilding figure is what dwelling coverage is based on, and it's worth checking that your declarations page reflects the roof you actually have now, old or new, so a future claim isn't paid out against the wrong figure.
What If the Letter Mentioned Age of the House or Wiring Too
A non-renewal letter sometimes lists more than one reason, and roof age is often paired with the house's age or its wiring. These get bundled together because they point to similar worries. Older systems fail more often and cost more to fix when they do. A 1950s house with original knob-and-tube wiring carries fire risk in a way a newer rewire doesn't, no matter how the roof looks.
Wiring gets treated much like the roof. Insurers ask less about when the house was built and more about what's actually inside the walls. A home from 1960 with a panel upgraded in 2015 reads differently than the same house with its original wiring still in place. An electrician's inspection, like a roof certification, can document what's current and what isn't, and that paperwork does real work in an application.
Aluminum wiring, federal pacific panels, and knob-and-tube are the three that most often trigger a letter on their own, separate from the house's age in general. If one of these shows up in the inspection a new insurer requests, expect it to be a condition of coverage rather than just a pricing factor. Some insurers decline outright until it's replaced, others price around it, and that varies enough that it's worth asking directly rather than guessing.
None of this means an old house is uninsurable. It means the insurer needs specifics instead of assumptions, same as with the roof. A seller's inspection report, prior electrical work with permits pulled, or a recent four-point inspection, common in older homes, can replace guesswork with documentation. Having that ready before applying elsewhere saves a round of back-and-forth and often changes how a new insurer prices the house entirely.
Before You Apply Again
Pull your declarations page and check the roof's listed age against its real one. If it's wrong, or you've since gotten an inspection or certification, have that ready before comparing quotes.
