The scam (comments from the Journal-Constitution article)

If your car tires fail and you make a claim against the tire manufacturer’s warranty, the manufacturer will prorate the value of the existing tires based upon their age. The same is true of a warranty from a shingle manufacturer.

The warranty will pay out less on a 15-year-old shingle than on a 5-year-old shingle. This is not true, however, for the insurance coverage on a hail-damaged roof.

The insurance company will pay the same amount for replacement of a 15-year-old roof as they would for replacement of a 5-year-old roof. This makes insurance claims for hail damage extremely tempting. The insurance companies will send out an adjuster to determine if the damage is real. In many cases the adjusters do not get on the roof and actually count on a roofer’s eyes to make their assessment.