After major storms, out of town crews often go door to door offering fast roof repairs and help with insurance. Many are legitimate. Some are not, and a bad contract can cost you your claim.
The pattern is predictable because it works. Damage is real, owners are anxious, good local roofers are booked for months, and someone arrives the same week with a ladder and a clipboard. Nothing on this page says a door knocker is a criminal. It says the ones who are rely on you signing before you check.
Warning signs
- Door to door offers right after a storm
- Pressure to sign today, or an offer that expires
- Large deposits before any work starts
- Promises of a free roof or offers to cover your deductible, which may be illegal in some states
- No local address, license or references
- Offers to “handle the insurance” for you
- A contract that names no materials, no scope and no completion date
The last two matter most. Negotiating a claim on your behalf usually requires a license, and a contract with no scope in it is a blank check with your roof as the collateral.
Deductible waiving
An offer to absorb, discount or rebate your deductible is the clearest signal on the list. The deductible is your share of the loss. A contractor who covers it and bills the insurer the full amount is misrepresenting the price of the work, several states prohibit it outright, and the arrangement can put your claim and you at risk.
Real discounts are legal. What makes them legal is that the invoice shows the true price and the insurer sees it.
Assignment of benefits
An assignment of benefits (AOB) transfers your right to deal with the insurer, and to be paid, to the contractor. Some states restrict these agreements. Read any document carefully before signing, and never sign an AOB you do not understand.
Before signing one, find out what it covers, whether you can revoke it and how, what happens to completed work if you do, and whether the contractor can settle with the insurer without asking you. A company that will not let you take the paperwork away to read it has told you what you need to know.
Contracts written to trap you
Most storm work is sold on a contingency agreement, which says you will use that contractor if the insurer approves the claim. Used honestly it is reasonable. Used badly it binds you to one company before anyone knows the scope or the price.
Read for the cancellation clause, any fee payable if you cancel, whether the price is a number or whatever the insurer pays, and who controls the scope of work. If the price is defined as the insurance proceeds, the contractor has no reason to argue for a bigger scope than the easiest one to get approved.
Questions that separate the two
Ask these at the door. An established contractor answers all six without hesitation, and the ones who cannot usually leave.
- What is your license number, and which board holds it?
- What is your physical address here, and how long have you traded from it?
- Can I have the inspection report and photographs with no contract attached?
- Will your own crew do the work, or a subcontractor?
- What happens to this contract if the insurer approves less than you expect?
- Are you licensed to negotiate my claim, and if not, who does that part?
The last question is the one that ends most conversations on the doorstep.
Protect yourself
- Verify the contractor’s license with your state board
- Get at least two written estimates
- Read every contract before signing, including cancellation rights
- Pay in stages as work is completed
- Keep your insurer informed and keep copies of everything
- Take your own photographs of the roof before anyone climbs on it
If you already signed
Check your state’s cancellation rules quickly, since deadlines can be short. Cancel in writing, keep proof of delivery, and do not rely on a verbal promise that the paperwork has been torn up. Your state consumer protection office or attorney general takes complaints about contractors, and your state insurance department takes complaints where the claim itself has been affected.
If the problem is the claim rather than the contractor, start with denied claims or underpaid claims. If you want representation, a licensed public adjuster is the regulated route, and unlike a roofer they may deal with the insurer for you. Ask us rather than the stranger at the door. We introduce owners to a partner who holds that license in their state, or to an attorney where the dispute has become a legal one, and you can check the license yourself before anybody asks for a signature.
Our own work is inspecting roofs and writing down what we find, and we introduce owners who need somebody to act for them to a partner licensed in their state. This page is general information rather than legal, financial or insurance advice, and your policy and your carrier decide what is covered.
Common questions
Is it legal for a roofer to waive my deductible?
In most places, no. The deductible is the share of the loss you agreed to carry, and a contractor who absorbs it while billing the insurer in full is misstating the price.
- Several states make the practice explicitly illegal
- A homeowner who agrees to it can be exposed too
- It arrives as a free roof, a rebate, an advertising allowance or a yard sign discount
- Or as an invoice written higher than the real price so the deductible disappears
- Genuine discounts are legal, because the invoice shows the insurer the real number
The test is simple: if the invoice sent to the insurer does not state the true price you are paying, the arrangement is a problem. Treat the offer as a warning about everything else that contractor will do on your roof, and check your state insurance department guidance, which normally includes a fraud reporting route.
Should I sign an assignment of benefits after a storm?
Not without understanding exactly what you are handing over. An assignment transfers your rights under the claim to the contractor, including the right to be paid and, in some forms, the right to pursue the insurer.
- Some states restrict these agreements
- There are legitimate uses, such as emergency water mitigation work
- The risk is that scope, negotiation and money sit between contractor and insurer
- You may have little say in what gets done to your own roof
- Check what it covers and excludes, whether you can revoke it and how
Ask what happens to work already done if you revoke, and whether the contractor can settle the claim without your agreement. Take the document away, read every line and get advice before signing, and a contractor who will not let you take it away has answered the question for you.
Can I cancel a roofing contract I signed at my door?
Often yes. Many states give consumers a right to cancel a contract signed at home rather than at a place of business, and that right is usually printed in the contract.
- The window is short and normally runs from the day you signed
- Act immediately rather than waiting to see what the insurer says
- Cancel in writing, keep a copy, and send it in a way that proves delivery
- Do not rely on a phone call or a verbal assurance that it is all fine
- A contingency agreement tied to insurer approval has its own cancellation term
Pay nothing while you are deciding, because a deposit is the leverage a bad contractor needs and the hardest thing to get back. If the company refuses a cancellation made in time, your state consumer protection office or attorney general takes complaints, and so does your state insurance department.
How do I check whether a roofing contractor is legitimate?
Verify rather than read. Check the license number with your state or local board yourself, and ask for a certificate of insurance sent directly by the agent.
- Confirm the business address is a real local premises
- Look at how long the company has held the same name, number and address
- Ask for references at addresses you can drive past
- Confirm any manufacturer certification with the manufacturer, usually on its own site
- Check for complaints and judgments with your state consumer protection office
A temporary phone number, out of state plates, a contract with no physical address, and a crew who cannot say who will be on your roof are all reasons to slow down. Get the scope, the materials, the price and the payment schedule in writing before anything starts, and never let the urgency of a storm decide who works on your house.
Is a free roof inspection after a storm really free?
The inspection usually is. What is not free is what some companies ask you to sign at the end of it, and separating the inspection from the paperwork costs you nothing.
- A contingency agreement, an assignment of benefits or an authorization
- Those tie your roof to that company before you know whether damage is real
- Ask for the report and the photographs with no signature required
- Be present while it happens and photograph the roof from the ground first
- That record protects you if damage is later disputed, or appears during a visit
Free inspections are normal in roofing and a useful way to find out whether you have a claim. If the visit ends with pressure to sign today, a warning that the offer expires, or a claim that the insurer will refuse you without their help, the inspection was never the point.