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How a roofing insurance claim actually works.

The full sequence — loss, adjuster, scope sheet, ACV check, tear-off, supplement, depreciation release — in the order it happens on your jobs, with the vocabulary the carrier uses and the places roofers lose money.

Writing the supplement →Adjuster vocabulary

Where the line is — read this first

Everything on this page is about getting paid in full for work that is genuinely required and genuinely performed. A scope written before tear-off cannot see what is under the shingles, and the carrier owes what the job actually takes. Documenting that is legitimate, expected, and part of the process.

It is not a way to grow a claim. Billing line items you did not perform, inflating quantities, creating or exaggerating damage, filing on ordinary wear and tear, or paying, rebating, or “eating” a homeowner’s deductible are not aggressive supplementing — they are insurance fraud, and in most states they expose the contractor and the homeowner to criminal charges as well as license loss.

The test never changes: could you hand the same file to the carrier, the homeowner, and a jury at once and be comfortable? If not, don’t send it.

The sequence

Nine steps from the storm to the last check.

Every claim runs this path. Knowing which step you are on tells you what you should be doing and what you should not be promising.

The loss, and your first inspection

You get on the roof, document condition, and measure. That is all you are doing. You are not determining coverage — the carrier does that. Telling a homeowner they “definitely have a claim” or are “getting a free roof” is a promise you cannot keep and, in several states, a regulated advertising claim.

Document now what will be invisible later: slope-by-slope photos, a wide shot establishing the address, close shots with a reference object for scale, test squares, existing layer count at a rake or vent penetration, decking visible from the attic, and collateral damage on soft metals — gutters, vents, fascia, screens, AC fins — which is often what corroborates a hail date.

The homeowner files the claim

The insurance contract is between the carrier and the homeowner. The homeowner files it, not you. They get a claim number and a date of loss, and the date of loss matters — a carrier can and will deny a claim for a storm that did not occur on the date reported.

The adjuster inspection — be on the roof for it

This single hour decides most of the money. Show up with your measurements, your photos, a ladder, chalk, and a tape. Walk the roof together, agree out loud on what you are both seeing, and note anything you disagree about while you are standing on it — that is far easier than reopening it in writing three weeks later.

Bring the elevations and accessories too. Adjusters working fast miss detached items, low-slope sections that price differently, and damage on the back slope.

The carrier issues a scope and estimate

You get a document listing every line item, its quantity, unit price, and the totals — commonly produced in Xactimate. Read the quantities, not just the total. Most disputes are quantity disputes: squares, linear feet of ridge, linear feet of drip edge, number of vents, waste percentage, pitch and story charges.

The first check — ACV

On a replacement-cost policy, the first payment is ACV: replacement cost minus depreciation minus the deductible. It is not the whole job and it is not supposed to be. If there is a mortgage, the check is usually made out to the homeowner and the mortgage company, and the lender has its own endorsement and draw process that can add weeks.

You contract with the homeowner

Your agreement is with the homeowner — not the carrier. Price the work to the work. Put the scope, exclusions, payment schedule, and change-order process in writing. A contract that simply says “whatever insurance pays” leaves you no ground to stand on when the scope is short.

Tear-off, and what the roof reveals

This is where the supplement is born. Second layer nobody could see. Rotted or spaced decking. Code-required components the estimate omitted. Photograph it as you find it, before you cover it — an undocumented condition is an unpaid condition.

The supplement

A written request to add or correct line items, with the reason and the proof attached. Legitimate ones get approved routinely. The full method is on the supplement page.

Completion, final invoice, depreciation release

You submit a final invoice that matches the work actually performed — not the approved estimate, if the two ended up different — usually with a certificate of completion and final photos. The carrier then releases recoverable depreciation. The homeowner still owes the deductible, and it must actually be collected.

The money

RCV, ACV, depreciation and the deductible.

Four numbers explain nearly every “why is the check so small” conversation you will ever have with a homeowner.

Term	What it means	Why it matters to you
RCV — replacement cost value	What the carrier says it costs to replace the roof today, at their unit prices.	This is the ceiling of the claim. If the RCV scope is short, everything downstream is short.
Depreciation	Value subtracted for the age and condition of what was there.	Recoverable depreciation is paid back after the work is done and invoiced. Non-recoverable never comes back — it is a real gap the homeowner absorbs.
ACV — actual cash value	RCV minus depreciation. The basis of the first check.	Financing the gap between the ACV check and your material and labor spend is the single most common way roofers run out of cash in a good year.
Deductible	The homeowner’s share, subtracted from the first payment. Often a percentage of dwelling coverage on wind/hail, not a flat figure.	It must be collected from the homeowner. Discounting, absorbing, or rebating it is fraud in most jurisdictions — and several states make it a specific criminal offense naming contractors.

Verify before you relyDeductible statutes, percentage-deductible rules for wind and hail, and the rules for what a contractor may say about a deductible are state-specific and change. Confirm the current law in every state you work before you put anything about deductibles in writing or in an ad.

Your lane

What you can do, and the line you should not cross.

You are a roofing contractor. You can inspect, measure, document, produce your own estimate for your own work, meet the adjuster, explain what your scope includes and what it costs, and submit a supplement supported by evidence for work you will perform.

In many states, negotiating or adjusting a claim on a homeowner’s behalf — especially for a fee or a percentage — is public adjusting and requires a separate license. Interpreting policy language for a homeowner can cross into unauthorized practice of law. Some states also regulate contractor contingency agreements for storm work specifically, including mandatory rescission windows and required contract language.

Verify before you relyPublic-adjuster licensing, contingency-contract rules, and rescission periods vary by state and are actively legislated. Have a licensed attorney in your state review your storm contract and your adjuster-meeting practices before you scale. Nothing here is legal advice.

A practical version of the line: talk about your work, your scope, and your price all day. When the conversation turns into interpreting the homeowner’s policy or negotiating their claim value on their behalf, that is the point to bring in a licensed public adjuster or an attorney.

Where it goes wrong

Five failures that cost real money.

Not being on the roof for the adjuster inspection. The scope gets written from what one person saw in twenty minutes, and you spend the next month arguing in email about a roof nobody is standing on.
No pre-tear-off documentation. Layer count, decking condition, and existing components have to be photographed before they are in the dumpster. After that they are an assertion, not evidence.
Contracting to “whatever insurance pays.” It converts your margin into the carrier’s estimating software and gives you nothing to enforce.
Treating the ACV check as the job budget. It is a partial payment by design. Plan the cash gap before you order material.
A final invoice that doesn’t match the work. Depreciation release is where files get audited. If the invoice claims work you didn’t do, you have created a fraud exposure over a line item you probably didn’t even need.

Vocabulary

The words the adjuster is using.

You will hear all of these. Using them correctly changes how your file gets handled.

XactimateThe estimating platform most carriers use. Its line items and unit prices are the shared language of the claim — a supplement written in its terms is easier to approve.

Line itemOne priced unit of work with a quantity and a unit price. Claims are won and lost at the line-item level, not the total.

Scope sheetThe adjuster’s written description of the damage and required repairs. The estimate is priced from it.

SupplementA request to add or correct line items after the original estimate, based on conditions found or items omitted.

O&POverhead and profit, typically a general-contractor margin added when a job is complex enough to require coordinating multiple trades. Whether a roof-only claim qualifies is frequently disputed and carrier-dependent.

Recoverable depreciationDepreciation the carrier pays back once the work is completed and invoiced. Non-recoverable depreciation is never paid.

Ordinance or law coveragePolicy coverage for the extra cost of bringing a structure up to current code during a repair. Whether it applies, and how much is available, depends on the specific policy.

MatchingWhether the carrier owes replacement of undamaged materials so the finished result matches. Handled very differently across states and policies.

Appraisal clauseA dispute-resolution mechanism written into many policies: each side names an appraiser, and the two select an umpire. It resolves amount, not coverage.

Mortgagee endorsementThe lender’s signature on the claim check when there is a mortgage. Budget weeks, not days.

Test squareA marked-off area — commonly 10' × 10' — where hail hits are counted to characterize damage across a slope.

Date of lossThe storm date the claim is filed against. It has to match a real weather event at that address.

Verify before you relyOrdinance-or-law limits, matching obligations, appraisal availability, and O&P treatment are policy- and state-specific. Read the declarations page and the relevant endorsement on the actual policy rather than assuming the last claim’s answer applies to this one.

Do this next

Tools that back up the paperwork.

Roofing CalculatorSquares, waste factor and material counts — your own number to check the carrier’s quantities against.Free tool→ Roofing Estimate TemplateA line-item estimate of your own, so you are comparing documents rather than opinions.Free template→ Scope of Work GeneratorWrite down exactly what is included and excluded before the crew shows up.Free tool→ Change Order FormFor scope changes the homeowner authorizes directly, outside the claim.Free template→ Roofing Invoice TemplateFinal invoicing with deposit and final-payment lines, for the depreciation release.Free template→

The claim-file field kit.

A one-page documentation checklist to work off during the adjuster meeting, a supplement submission outline, and a plain-English claim glossary you can hand a homeowner. Tell us where to send it.

Goes to a real inbox you can reply to. We don’t sell or share your address.

Keep reading

Rest of the roofing portal.

Writing a supplement that gets approved →The anatomy of an approvable request, the commonly-missed line items, and an interactive documentation checklist. Running a storm season →Cash-flow math on insurance jobs, crew capacity, and the canvassing rules that get companies fined. The roofing portal →Every roofing calculator, template and guide on the site in one place.

Quick answers

Claim questions roofers actually ask.

Can I file the claim for the homeowner?

No — the policy is a contract between the carrier and the homeowner, and they file it. You can be present, provide your documentation, and explain your scope. In many states, going further and negotiating the claim on their behalf requires a public adjuster license.

Can I cover or discount the homeowner’s deductible to win the job?

No. Paying, rebating, waiving, or building a homeowner’s deductible into an inflated price is insurance fraud, and a number of states have statutes that name contractors specifically. It also voids your credibility on every other line item in the file.

The adjuster’s scope is missing items I know the job needs. Is that unusual?

No, and it usually isn’t bad faith. An estimate written from a ground or aerial inspection cannot see layer count, decking condition, or what a local code amendment requires. That gap is exactly what the supplement process exists for.

How long does the whole thing take?

It varies enormously with storm volume, carrier backlog, and whether there is a mortgage on the property. The lender endorsement step is the one most roofers underestimate. Plan cash flow around a slow file, not a fast one.

Is any of this legal advice?

No. This is general operational information for roofing contractors. Insurance regulation, licensing, and contract law differ by state and change often. Have a licensed attorney in your state review your contracts and practices.