Answers · Storms and insurance
A roofer offered to cover my deductible. Is that allowed?
The short answer
Generally no. An offer to waive, absorb, rebate or work around your deductible means the amount is being recovered somewhere — usually by inflating the claim — and that is insurance fraud. Several states prohibit it explicitly and require contractors to disclose that the deductible must be paid.
How the offer is usually worded
- "We'll waive your deductible."
- "We'll cover it as a discount for letting us put a sign in the yard."
- "We'll bill the insurer for a bit extra and you won't pay anything."
- "We'll do some extra work for free to make up the difference."
The deductible is your contractual contribution to the claim. A contractor cannot pay it for you without either absorbing it genuinely — which is a discount that has to be disclosed to the insurer — or recovering it through the claim, which is fraud. The householder who accepts it is a participant, not a bystander.
Also asked
- What if they just give me a discount?
- A genuine discount reduces the invoice, which reduces what the insurer pays, and it has to be reflected in the paperwork. A discount that appears on your side of the ledger but not on the invoice sent to the insurer is the thing being described here under a different name.
General information about roofs and about hiring, not advice about your building. Roofing contractor licensing, permits, insurance practice and deductible rules are set state by state and province by province across the United States and Canada, so your own authority is the current answer.