Roofing Insurance Claims Process

Why Can’t Roofers Pay Deductibles?  

Your homeowner’s insurance policy is a contract between you, the homeowner and your insurance company. Your homeowner’s insurance policy will outline what the insurance company’s responsibilities are as well as their obligations. The policy will also outline what your responsibilities and obligations as the homeowner are. The policy will show the homeowner’s deductible as the homeowner’s responsibility and the insurance company is obligated for benefits, limits, and exclusions. 

It is not just the insurance company that has a financial responsibility if a loss occurs to your home. Technically, if a homeowner does not pay their deductible, they are committing a form of insurance fraud. There are variations in every homeowner’s policy, but below is some standard insurance contract language. 

Roofing Insurance Claims Process: Concealment or fraud

This policy is void as to you and any other insured, if you or any other insured under this policy has intentionally concealed or misrepresented any material fact or circumstance, made false statements, or committed fraud related to this insurance, whether before or after a loss. 

Roofing Insurance Claims Process: Cancellation

If this policy has been in effect 90 days or more, we may not cancel this policy unless: 

You submit a fraudulent claim. 

How Do Shady Roofing Companies Cover Deductibles?  

Put simply, roofing contractors that cover deductibles for homeowners are lying to not only the insurance company but also the mortgage company. You first must understand how paying your deductible factors into the roofing insurance claims process, then you can understand why it is illegal. Here is a simplified example to illustrate how a standard roofing claim for hail damage should work. 

Step 1 documentation must be provided for the cost of repairs in order for an insurance company to pay the homeowner’s damage claim. 

If the cost of the total repairs to the roof is $10,000.00, then let’s say the homeowner’s deductible is $1,000.00. 

If the total roof claim is $10,000.00 the insurance company is going to pay the homeowner $9,000.00, the full cost of the roof repair minus the homeowner’s $1,000.00 deductible. 

The homeowner is responsible for the $1,000.00 deductible to complete the full damage repair.

Once the roof damage to your Hattiesburg home is repaired and fully paid for, the insurance company and the homeowner have fulfilled their contractual obligations. 

So, how do roofing companies cover deductibles? In order for a roofing company to cover a homeowner’s deductible, they either have to over-inflate the cost to repair the roof damages or find ways to complete the job for less money than it actually costs. Shady roofers usually will either do shoddy workmanship and leave the homeowner with no warranty, use cheap labor or use cheap roofing materials 

If a roofing company knowingly misleads or inflates an estimate to cover the cost of a deductible, that would be considered insurance fraud. Now for example, if the roofing company inflates the cost of the roof repairs to $11,000.00 to get a $10,000.00 payout from the insurance company, this is knowingly defrauding the insurance company. Now the homeowner, as well as the roofing company, have committed insurance fraud.

Will A Lower Roofing Bid Save My Deductible? 

What if a roofer comes in with a bid of say $10,500.00 and your insurance adjuster said the repairs may be around $12,000.00? No, your deductible comes out of the claim first. All you have done is to save your insurance company money. There is absolutely no financial reward for finding a cheaper roofing bid. The only way to save your deductible is to get the roofing company to submit a false invoice for an inflated roof repair amount. This is where shady roofing companies will get you in trouble while you get a poor-quality roofing job.

The Bottom Line: We Don’t Cover Deductibles

Matlock Roofing & Construction has been in business for over 20 years and we can tell you that reputation is important. At Matlock Roofing we pride ourselves on having a high customer satisfaction rating and we did not get it by cheating homeowners or insurance companies. When it comes to coving deductibles, we choose not to compromise on our ethics, nor are we going to break the law. If you have questions about your roofing insurance claim or the insurance process, please call Matlock Roofing & Construction today.