Storm damage: file an insurance claim or pay out of pocket?

Start with your actual deductible

Read the declarations page before anything else. Many homeowner policies in wind and hail regions carry a separate wind or hail deductible expressed as a percentage of the dwelling coverage rather than a flat dollar amount. On a house insured for a few hundred thousand dollars, a two percent wind deductible is a large number, and it is frequently much larger than the owner assumed.

Then check whether the roof is covered at replacement cost or actual cash value. Replacement cost pays to replace with like kind and quality, usually holding back depreciation until the work is done. Actual cash value pays the depreciated value of a fifteen-year-old roof, which on an older roof can be a fraction of the replacement price. Some policies apply a roof surfacing payment schedule that reduces the recovery by age. Knowing which of these applies changes the decision completely.

If the assessed damage is close to or below the deductible, there is nothing to claim, and the useful outcome of finding that out is that you did not open a claim to learn it.

Get the damage assessed independently first

Have someone document the damage before the insurer's adjuster arrives, and preferably before you file. That report does three things: it tells you the scale, which is what the decision turns on; it gives you a scope of loss to compare against the adjuster's; and it establishes the condition on a date.

Choose someone with no stake in the outcome where you can. A contractor who assesses for free and then bids the work is not neutral, and free is doing some work in that sentence. Paying for an independent assessment, as in the figure above, buys you a document you can use in either direction.

The claim history question

Insurers keep and share claim histories. A claim filed, even one paid at a modest amount, is part of your record and can affect renewal terms and pricing. So can a claim you open and then withdraw, because the inquiry itself is recorded in some systems.

That is not a reason to avoid filing genuine large losses; it is what the policy is for. It is a reason not to file small ones, and a strong reason not to call the insurer to ask a hypothetical question about a loss you have not yet decided to claim.

What never to agree to

A contractor covering, waiving, absorbing, or eating your deductible. This is not a discount. The deductible is your contractual share of the loss, and a contractor who conceals it inflates the claim to compensate. It is insurance fraud in most states and it exposes you, not only them.

Signing an assignment of benefits on the doorstep. That document transfers your rights under the policy to the contractor, who can then negotiate with your insurer directly and, in some arrangements, litigate in your name. There are legitimate uses. There is no legitimate reason to sign one under time pressure before you have read it.

A contingency agreement that binds you to a contractor if the claim is approved. These are common after storms and they remove your ability to take other bids at the moment when you most want to.

Any work started before the adjuster has seen the damage, beyond reasonable emergency mitigation such as a tarp. Document and keep receipts for mitigation, which most policies expect you to perform.

If you decide to claim

Photograph everything before mitigation. Keep every receipt. Get your own scope of loss and compare it line by line against the adjuster's, because differences are usually in items rather than in prices, and missing items are the common problem. Ask about supplements if hidden damage appears once work begins. And verify the license of whoever you hire at the state's own record, which every state page on this site links.

What this site publishes

The labor figure above is computed from published wage data times the stated hours and covers labor only. Nothing here is insurance, legal, or financial advice, and this site is not an adjuster. Contractors on record appear alphabetically and are never ordered by any commercial relationship.