My wife and I have filed a claim and we were approved for $16,600. Our deductible is $5400 so the insurance is sending us $11,200. The roofing company we are working with quoted us at $13,000 for a new roof before we got insurance involved but now that we are involving insurance, they are saying it will cost $16,600 to replace costing us $5400 out of pocket. They said it's because they are required to repair the roof at the cost of what insurance says it is.

Is this normal practice for roofing insurance claims? I've never done this before and just want more information. I am simple minded so explain it to me like I'm 5 years old.

The unfortunate thing is that most homeowners only deal with this stuff once or twice in their life. These aren't always cut and dry and they can be confusing. I've worked with 15 claims just last week. I've seen them all. I can do them in my sleep. It's no problem. Your concern is well founded and understandable. It's smart to double check.

The short answer is, YES, he should charge what insurance says the roof costs. That's normal and legit.

But your roofer gave you a low price being over eager to win the job without having all the information and he might have shot himself in the foot. Is his request still legit?

MAYBE….it hinges on how your claim and payment is set up.

Are you getting your 11,200 as a lump sum up front from your carrier, or is this an RCV policy with a depreciation and you are getting a split payment with partial now and the rest later totaling 11,200? This question will help me help you figure out how this should go.

I can walk you through this free of charge with a phone call if you don't want to do it publicly.

Again, do not hesitate to reach out. I've walked a ton of folks on the forum through this with other roofers just to make sure everything jives.

This is an opportunity to potentially get more for your money.

281-639-0099

Bull****

Working on three house claims right now from May 28 storm.

Very rarely is it just a roof if it is bad enough for a substantial claim.

If there are 3 trades involved, you are entitled to p&o(profit and overhead 20%) for a general contractor to handle the project.
-roofer
-painter for trim
-carpenter for trim
-electrician if you lost lights
-window guy if you have window or screen damage
-money for stabilization and remediation if active leaks
-gutters if they have to come off or will not be installed correctly after repair

A good contractor will bring the adjuster back out as things show up. A good roofer like I have heard Jason is, is very beneficial also.

But to answer your question, no they have to pay what it costs to repair and the roofer is not entitled to that money just because it was paid.

Look up the new Texas HB2102 law.

From some lawyer website I found.

To boil all of that legal jargon down, HB2102 means that in any event where you are using your property insurance, you, the property owner, must pay the deductible outlined in your property insurance policy.

A roofer cannot, according to Texas law, waive or discount your deductible, and they are required to make this law apparent to you in any contract they present.

Edit: this assumes you are in Texas

springagg said:

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That insurance "cost" is what that adjuster thinks the damage cost.

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This cost is based on tens of thousands of previously closed claims from a carrier price list usually exclusive to each carrier. The adjuster may impact it because he doesn't know what components should go into it, though. Usually, it's downgraded to be as cheap as possible. It is adjusted monthly. If I get your claim today, and I roof it the following January, insurance gets a new price from me for January when I finish. It is a market price for roofing that house, with that roofing product, for that zip code, in the month the roof was adjusted and/or replaced.

When you have an RCV insurance claim, your one and only concern for picking a roofer should be focused on quality, install techniques, credentials, liability insurance, cost should be last on the list. You are paying the same either way. These are almost always going to be higher priced roofers because they are long term businesses that are established with everything needed to run a business successfully. Select the roofer based on his ability to stand behind the service, and do a good job and not on his price.

If the roofer charges $13k and your deductible is $5,400, then your insurer will only pay you $7,600. That's all they owe.

Burnsey said:

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If the roofer charges $13k and your deductible is $5,400, then your insurer will only pay you $7,600. That's all they owe.

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Welcome to the party

What do you estimate those guys profit margin is on an average insurance paid roof? How much is 'too much'? Where should it be?

Just like pricing there are 2 job types, investor/crap, and the right way. Sorry not sorry. For a rent house, get it done is fine, for my house, I want it done the same way I would do it.

I Don't see profit margins like that but if I did, I'd install an upgraded product until my margin was more reasonable. Either way, I'm charging insurance the full amount. Then the next time that customer needs a roof, insurance will have to eat the upgrades I put in and I'll upgrade him again.

If you don't think a more expensive roofer provides a better product, install, service, and support, that's ok. You should select a discount company that better aligns with your budget or comfort level. I encourage this all the time. I don't look at, bid, or estimate every job that comes across my desk. I ask a lot of questions first.

When you got two estimates that were 5,000 dollars apart, what did the expensive roofer tell you when you asked him about the price? How many squares was the house with waste? Single story? Predominate pitch? 5,000 is more than just a profit issue. As someone that does this professionally, I LOVE eating up estimates of roofers. There's no way I can pass up not asking 10 questions on a 5,000 additional expense or a an estimate that comes in 5,000 less.

besides the homeowner the people really getting screwed are the installation crews!!

Dealing with this right now (new shingles were literally just dropped off in my driveway).

My agent initially told me to get three "evaluations", just to be sure that I did need a new roof before the adjuster came out. However, this was not good advice.

1) Since it's an insurance claim, roofers didn't want to waste their time looking at my roof if they weren't guaranteed my business. All three I talked to said, just file the claim and get then adjuster out. If the claim is denied, "I'll talk to him".

2) The quotes are useless because (at least with my claim) the adjuster determined how much will payout. When mine was approved, the adjuster said I'd get one check (about 40%) up front, with the rest (about 30%) coming after completion (the remaining 30% is my deductible). Well, both checks were mailed to me by the insurance company within days of each other, and before any work had been done.

Why would any roofer not adjust his invoice to match the full payout? And homeowners don't care because we are bound by law to pay the deductible anyway.

So, of the roofer gets $20k or $28k, why should the homeowner care, because you're out the 2%? Once the roofing co sees the adjuster's report, they are going to expect the full amount. It's not like homeowners are going to be sending that second check back.

I totally get that this is extremely detrimental to homeowners when it comes to premiums, but this is the game BOTH sides are playing (insurance AND roofing cos). What is a homeowner supposed to do about it, other than pay out of pocket for the lowest price roof you can find? But even if you do this, you're still going to get hit with premium increases every year. So, why forgo coverage you're paying for just to "make a point"? You'll be the only sap on your street paying OOP for a new roof.

Seems to me, the only solution is to have a separate deductible for the roof that's tied to the replacement cost of the roof. Something like the homeowner pays 50% of the replacement cost (and you can adjust your premiums by raising/lowering this percentage). That way the homeowner has some skin in the game.

If you can't appreciate different levels of workmanship, even on a roof then this discussion is pointless

It's all about contacts to the right people.. as I have said over and over in this thread. Homeowners get screwed left and right because they are not aware of what construction items cost.

springagg said:

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It's all about contacts to the right people.. as I have said over and over in this thread. Homeowners get screwed left and right because they are not aware of what construction items cost.

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That's fine. How many squares did you have roofed for 7,000?

If I recall correctly it was about 24 squares. But I really do not remember. 1800 soft 1 story house with built in 2 car garage. Built in 1997, normal pitch roof.

springagg said:

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It's all about contacts to the right people.. as I have said over and over in this thread. Homeowners get screwed left and right because they are not aware of what construction items cost.

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I've been a homeowner for 20 years and this is my first claim and my first roof replacement.

Given the infrequency with which most homeowners deal with a roof replacement, and the amount of time that elapses between replacements (if a homeowner even has more than 1 or 2 in their lifetime), its obvious why homeowners are not educated in this area.

How in the world would a homeowner know if they are truly getting a fair deal on something that they may never have purchased before or have not purchased in 15+ years? You can't go to Home Depot and Lowes and compare the price of a new roof. And most homeowners don't know enough to be able to go up on the roof and supervise or inspect the work.

This is a transaction where you have to trust the contractor, but even recommendations and word of mouth can fail you. Most homeowners aren't going to be able to look at the work and know if it was done correctly. They figure that out if/when the roof leaks.

I would say the same for A/C replacement, but since that's pretty much never covered by insurance, you at least don't have that complicating factor.

If you're not in the industry, you simply don't know what it costs, nor does the average homeowner have "contacts". Same with car repairs. Both are ripe for taking advantage of both the consumer and the insurance company. Not to mention, natural disasters that cause widespread damage are known for causing temporary spikes in the cost of repairs, making fair comparisons even more difficult.

And if the damage is catastrophic, you just want it fixed ASAP, in order to minimize future damage.

Insurance company makes up for it by jacking everyone's premiums up.

Homeowners lose on both sides.

springagg said:

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I would easily wager on a $15k roof for example they have $5000-7,500 profit in there. I know exactly how much my roofer makes because he flat out tells me. I know what he paid for the material and I know what he pays his workers. Same for my contractor that does all of my work.. I know exactly what he pays his labor per day. I also know what the material costs and he is always happy to share it with me.

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100% margin on roof on an insurance claim ?

Wow send me some of those claims because I have never seen that in the field. If it could really be done correctly for 50% less then why would insurance companies pay 100% more ? Most won't even pay 10/10 overhead and profit on a claim even when 3 or more trades are involved yet you claim they are paying 100% markup to the roofer?


I see cheap roof jobs all the time, ones where they leave 20 year old drip edge on and reuse lead vents painted to look new and spray paint 20 year old flashing and don't tear down to the decking, and make your furnace and water heater flume touch the decking and char it, and use cheap shingles and also shoot your freon, electrical, water and gas lines as well as flood your house and cause 20-40k worth of damage.

springagg said:

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If I recall correctly it was about 24 squares. But I really do not remember. 1800 soft 1 story house with built in 2 car garage. Built in 1997, normal pitch roof.

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That seems really low for squares unless it has an under 3 and 12 pitch.


Last few i did were


1100 sq ft, 4 /12 pitch 22 squares

2000 sq ft 4/12 pitch 43 squares

1700 sq ft 6/12 pitch 32 squares

1600 sq ft 5/12 pitch 28 squares

1800 sq fr 5/12 pitch 33 squares

2300 sq ft 8/12 pitch 54 squares

1500 sq ft 8/12 pitch 44 squares

Yes indeed, if you are a newbie at roof replacement it is easy to be left frustrated and confused.

Here it is in a nutshell. Insurance policy has a deductible. You will pay that based on your insured property amount. Usually, 1 or 2% of the value of the insured property. So, if your deductible is $3000 and a roofer charge only $3000 for the roof, you will pay all the cost. So by getting a cheaper quote when using an insurance claim saves you NO MONEY. The higher quote does not cost YOU MORE.
However, there are some work arounds. I have to be careful because what some people think I am about to say might be considered Insurance fraud…..so I won't say what they are thinking. I will say THIS instead:
If I have a roof claim, I will First tell the roofing company to give me their best price on replacing the roof (they will ask if you are using an insurance company, tell them NO as they want to work directly with the insurance company, they will make more money). I also make them quote me better quality shingles and are normally on my rental units. Usually there bid comes in lower than the Insurance company estimated. For example, the insurance company comes in with 15k but your deductible is 3k so they cut you a check for 12k.
Your roofing company says they can do it for 12k. I tell them great, but I am NOT going to pay you 12k, I am going to pay you 15k instead……. Happy faces all around (this is when I tell them I am using an insurance company) I am going to have to pay my deductible but because the ROOFERS are getting more than quoted to me originally, I ask them to throw in extras, like paint the house, blow in more insulation, install gutters or do some landscaping ect. You get the sweetener of a few extras but they are not legally obligated to do so.
Why should the roofers benefit because you had the insurance. Seems crazy doesn't.

Now some of you thought I was going to ask the roofers to not charge me my deductible…..how crazy is that…….that would be insurance fraud.

FYI- that is insurance fraud as well.

(2) Provides a good or service to an insured under a property insurance policy knowing that the insured will pay for the good or service with the proceeds of a claim under the policy and, without, the insurer's consent:

(A) Pays, waives, absorbs, or otherwise declines to charge or collect the amount of the insured's deductible;

(B) Provides a rebate or credit in connection with the sale of the good or service that offsets all or part of the amount paid by the insured as a deductible; or

This is always an interesting dynamic.

It's best for the customer to send me the full scope of work and let me do all of the upgrades I do anyway without the extra gamesmanship. There is just no reason to make a crappy system harder than it already is. We can and do get audited. There is only one right way to do this so that it is legit and legal where you end up with a quality product.

I know there are a few folks that think the roofer is just trying to hose everyone and make 100% profit so they can pay for their new truck and boat. I'm not going to argue that. There are. However, many of us have been doing this a long time and understand the ins and outs better than the insurance agent and adjuster in a lot of cases. We want to do a good job and make the customer whole and bill accordingly so the process moves along as designed. I try to educate all of my customers on what we do and why. I ask a ton of questions up front so that I can see where we are in the process and how the insurance has estimated their damage so that I can do a better job for them. There are claims that take MONTHS to close out because of sluggish adjusters. Adding delays by withholding necessary information is completely unnecessary.

As for the 24sq roof above for 7,000, that is well below cost for legit labor and materials done at a level I require on my projects in 2024. I will be very up front and let them know I must respectfully decline the project.

I'm not mad about it. It's fine. There will always be people that will do it cheaper, I'm just not willing to sacrifice materials and workmanship to make it happen be it out of pocket or insurance.

Let us not forget that the roofer also owns the warranty and liability of the roof should it leak, etc. Paying for a legit company that will stand behind their workmanship is money well spent, that you have to spend anyway if an RCV policy!

SpringAg, just get an ACV policy and enjoy shopping lowest bidder.