Insurance Appraiser in Allentown, PA

Limestone underfoot

Much of the Lehigh Valley is underlain by limestone and dolomite, the karst bedrock that dissolves slowly over time. Heavy rain, a broken water main or a failed storm sewer can open a void under a street, a yard or a foundation. Allentown and its neighbors in Whitehall, South Whitehall and the Macungies have all dealt with sinkholes.

For a homeowner, the hard part is coverage. Many policies exclude earth movement or limit sinkhole coverage, while some damage tied to a sinkhole, like a burst pipe or a collapse caused by a covered peril, may still be covered depending on the wording. Read the policy carefully, and talk to a Pennsylvania attorney if the carrier denies coverage outright. Where the carrier accepts part of the loss but undervalues it, appraisal is the tool for settling the amount. Our guide to sinkholes and your policy goes deeper.

Rows, twins and the Old Allentown look

Allentown's housing is mostly older and attached. Center City, the Old Allentown and Old Fairgrounds historic districts and the First Ward are lined with brick rowhomes and twins, many over a century old, with plaster interiors, slate or flat roofs and decorative cornices. The West End has larger brick singles and twins on tree-lined streets, and the East Side and South Side mix rows, twins and postwar singles. Emmaus and Catasauqua add their own older borough housing.

These homes generate familiar disputes: plaster walls priced as drywall, slate repairs swapped for asphalt, and water damage that crosses a shared wall. When a twin shares a roof line, a proper repair often has to account for both halves.

Snow, ice and the 2016 blizzard

The January 2016 blizzard buried the Lehigh Valley under roughly two and a half feet of snow, one of the biggest storms on record here. Heavy snow and drifting stress flat and low-slope roofs, porch roofs and carports, and the melt that follows drives ice dams and interior leaks. The 1996 blizzard and the February 2010 storms brought similar claims. We use our roof snow load estimator as a starting point when a collapse or deflection is in dispute.

Warehouses, plants and commercial roofs

Along I-78 and Route 222, Upper Macungie, Lower Macungie and neighboring townships host some of the largest distribution buildings in the region. A wind or snow event on a roof covering several acres can produce a claim with huge quantities, and small differences in unit price or scope become large dollar gaps. Typical disputes involve:

• Whether a membrane can be repaired or needs replacement over large sections.
• Wet insulation under the roof that the first inspection missed.
• Business interruption and stock damage tied to a roof leak.
• Code-required upgrades when a damaged area is replaced.

Our commercial and HOA claim appraisal service covers these losses, from single storefronts on Hamilton Street to multi-tenant industrial sites.

Getting started

Send us the carrier's estimate and your photos. We'll tell you whether the gap is worth pursuing, and whether your policy's appraisal clause is the right way to resolve it.

Services available in Allentown

Every Pennsylvania Insurance Appraiser service is available to property owners in Allentown and the rest of Lehigh County, including:

• Appraisal Demand Representation
• Homeowner Claim Appraisal
• Commercial & HOA Appraisal
• Roof & Hail Damage Appraisal
• Wind & Tornado Appraisal
• Tropical Storm Remnant Appraisal
• Water Damage Claim Appraisal
• Fire & Smoke Damage Appraisal

Questions from Allentown property owners

Nearby areas