Thought for The Week 5 June 2022

Trinity Roof Replacement – Insurance claim

What’s happened?

 Some months after the hail storm of November 2019 contractors working on a neighbouring property informed us that we had significant hail damage to the roof of the church and hall at Trinity. This damage was not visible from the ground. The damage is quite extensive and compromises the integrity of the roof over its lifespan. Our insurers have approved a claim to replace the whole roof of the hall, and the pitched roof of the church, as shown below.

How much will it cost?

 The total cost of the insurance job will be in the region of $140,000. Our congregation’s commitment will be to cover the excess of $1,000, plus any excess work, such as replacing the panes of glass on the church skylight which have been damaged, but are not covered by this claim. We do not anticipate any remedial work on the underlying structure of the roof.

What do we need to do?

 Because we are only liable for the excess, but the total cost of the project exceeds $50,000, we are required to go through the Church Property Trustees “short form” approval process. This does not require a full congregational meeting, but it does require an indication of congregational support for the project to go ahead. As such, we will be asking for a show of hands in support of this work at both services on Sunday 12 June.

What about other work on the roofs?

 The flat areas of the church roof and the church steeple are excluded from the claim. The flat areas of the roof escaped damage. The copper steeple has superficial damage, but this damage will not affect the lifespan of the roof. It would be complex, and prohibitively expensive to replace. Therefore, no work will be undertaken on these two areas.

Ideally, we would take this opportunity to insulate the pitched roofs on the hall and the church. There is insufficient space to install batts in the church roof. The property team are investigating the feasibility of installing batts in the hall roof. If this is feasible, then the cost of insulation would be around $13,000 and would not need CPT approval.

Recommendation (an indication of support to be shown on Sunday 12 June):

That the Timaru Presbyterian congregation supports the replacement of hail damaged roofs at Trinity church and hall under the approved insurance claim.