DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. – American Standard Roofing is stepping up to help a 92-year-old Dearborn Heights man after Local 4 aired a story about a letter he received from State Farm, saying he had to replace his roof in a matter of weeks or be dropped from his home insurance.
“Oh wow, oh my god,” 92-year-old Constantine Turza, who goes by Gus, said. He can finally exhale Tuesday night.
“We are very happy we could help you out,” Alan with American Standard Roofing said.
“It’s nice to meet you, and I am very glad the work is getting done,” Turza said.
The picture looked much different just weeks ago, when he opened his mailbox at the end of March to a letter from State Farm.
A ticking clock, he needed to replace the roof by May, or risk losing insurance.
Without an extra $13,000 sitting around, his family reached out to Local 4.
“We saw the news story with Mr. Turza,” Alan said. He got a letter from the insurance company that he had to get a new roof or lose insurance. So we called up channel 4, and we got in touch with Mr. Turza’s family.”
Then, the work began.
“We got an extension with the help of Mr. Turza’s nephew, and here we are two weeks later. We are putting the roof on,” Alan said. “We got him a lot of discounts. This is a special situation. Mr. Turza is 92 years old and on a fixed income. We worked out a very good program with him for very cheap monthly payments, and they were happy.”
But Alan says Turza is not alone and that this kind of pressure is hitting seniors more and more.
“A lot of insurance companies, they have third parties looking at the roof,” Alan said. “They have Google Earth, some programs out there, or they even have drones, and they will see what the roof looks like.”
His advice: keep close track of your mail, and don’t ignore warning letters.
For Turza, though, it’s gratitude and relief.
“The idea of all that commotion and everything, it’s on your mind,” Turza said.