On an insurance job a roofer can estimate the work and be paid out of the claim, but the claim and the deductible stay with the homeowner. Texas makes even a promise to cover the deductible a crime, and Florida and Minnesota bar the offer as well. The contingency agreement template below puts both in writing and carries the notice Texas requires.
Texas bans even the promise to cover a deductible
As of October 2026, Texas Business and Commerce Code 27.02 sets out two offenses for anyone selling work they reasonably expect to be paid for, wholly or partly, from a property insurance claim. The first is advertising or promising to pay, waive, absorb or not collect the homeowner’s deductible, or offering a rebate or credit that offsets it. The second is doing it on a job the claim pays for. Both apply unless the insurer consents.
A roofer on r/RoofingSales wrote that he “was finding door hangers with ‘we pay your deductible!’ written on them.” In Texas a hanger like that is an offense by itself, whether or not anyone signs. The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) describes a quieter version: an estimate above the real repair cost, with the extra insurance money covering the deductible.
A violation is a Class B misdemeanor, which TDI puts at a fine of up to $2,000 and up to six months in jail. One commenter on r/RoofingSales wrote that the 2019 changes made eating deductibles a felony, though the statute as amended that year still says misdemeanor.
Take every deductible offer, discount and credit off your door hangers, yard signs, ads and website, and have reps turn the offer down at the door in plain words.
Tell homeowners Texas carriers can ask for proof the deductible was paid
Roofers who won’t cover the deductible say they lose jobs to companies that will. A DFW sales rep on r/RoofingSales wrote, “I’ve lost 3 jobs so far from companies that offer to pay the deductible,” and said many of them were local companies. Another poster lost four deals that year by refusing. In a third thread, a homeowner with a full approval refused to pay his deductible, saying another contractor would cover it.
Texas Insurance Code Chapter 707, as TDI summarizes it, makes the policyholder pay the deductible and lets the insurer ask for proof that it was paid. Tell the homeowner that on the first visit, before another company’s offer comes up, and put the deductible in writing in the contingency agreement.
TDI tells the public to report Texas deductible violations to the Attorney General’s consumer protection line at 800-621-0508. If you report a competitor, keep the hanger or a photo of the ad.
In Texas, the roofer on the job can’t act as the homeowner’s adjuster
Texas Insurance Code 4102.163 bars anyone who provides or may provide contracting services on a property from acting as the public adjuster on that property’s claim, and from advertising that it will. TDI’s examples of improper roofer language include offering to negotiate the claim settlement, offering to file the claim for the policyholder and promising to recover “every dime you are owed” from the insurer.
TDI says a contractor’s website, ads and other materials must not say or imply that it will act as both contractor and adjuster, and Texas rules count a website as an advertisement.
Search your website and door hangers for “negotiate,” “file your claim” and “every dime,” and rewrite each of those lines around the roofing work itself.
Florida and Minnesota ban deductible offers and adjusting without a license
Florida Statute 489.147 bars a contractor from offering a homeowner a rebate, gift, gift card, cash, coupon, deductible waiver or anything else of value in exchange for an inspection or a claim. It also bars paying or accepting referral fees for insurance-funded work, and allows fines of up to $10,000 per violation. For referral payments in general, see Is It Legal to Pay Roofing Referral Fees to Realtors, Agents and Past Customers?.
A Florida contractor can’t act as the adjuster on a claim without a public adjuster license under chapter 626. Before the owner authorizes work, the contractor has to give a good-faith itemized estimate, and any solicitation has to carry 12-point notices about the owner’s deductible and the penalties for fraud. The section was amended in 2025, so copy those notices word for word from the current statute.
Minnesota Statute 325E.66 bars residential contractors from advertising or promising to pay all or part of a deductible as an inducement. Without a public adjuster license, a contractor there can’t interpret policy provisions, advise on coverage or adjust a claim, and a written notice of these rules has to go with the initial estimate.
If you work outside these three states, read your own state’s rules on deductibles and public adjusters before you print anything that mentions insurance.
A contingency agreement should say who pays the deductible and who handles the claim
Contingency agreements are standard in insurance roofing sales. In Texas, Florida and Minnesota, one that promises to handle the claim or cover the deductible puts a banned offer in writing with the homeowner’s signature under it.
Some reps doubt a signed contingency binds the homeowner at all. One commenter on r/RoofingSales said they aren’t enforceable in most states, and a rep whose claim came back at zero wrote, “She signed a contingency agreement with me but since the claim was 0 I don’t think it holds any weight.”
Write yours as a plain record of what each side agreed to, and have a lawyer licensed in your state read it before your reps carry it. How an Insurance Roofing Job Works, From Inspection to Final Check covers the steps after the signature.
Copy this contingency agreement and add your state’s notice
Fill in the brackets and keep the price in a separate contract, which Roofing Contract Template: The Clauses a Residential Roofing Contract Needs covers. Texas requires its notice, in at least 12-point bold type, in any contract of $1,000 or more that you reasonably expect a property insurance claim to pay for in whole or in part, so print it on that contract and on the contingency too.
Roofing Contingency Agreement
- Contractor: [company name], [address], [phone], [license number, if your state or city issues one]
- Homeowner: [name or names]
- Property address: [address]
- Insurance company: [carrier]. Claim number: [if one exists]. Date of loss: [date].
- What this agreement does. The Homeowner has filed or plans to file a claim with their insurance company for damage to the roof at the property. If the insurance company approves roof work on the claim, the Homeowner agrees to hire Contractor to do that work.
- Who handles the claim. The Homeowner files and manages the claim. Contractor is not the Homeowner’s public adjuster and will not file the claim, negotiate the settlement, interpret the policy or advise the Homeowner on coverage.
- Estimate and price. Before any work begins, Contractor will give the Homeowner a written, itemized estimate. The price and payment schedule will be set in a separate written contract signed by both parties.
- The deductible. The Homeowner is responsible for paying the deductible under their policy. Contractor will not pay, waive, absorb, rebate or credit any part of it, and will not raise its estimate to cover it.
- If the claim is denied. If the insurance company denies the claim or approves no roof work, this agreement ends and neither party owes the other anything [except for emergency work already done, such as a tarp, at this price: $____].
- Cancellation. [Any cancellation notice your state requires for a contract signed at the home, worded as your lawyer advises.]
- State notice. [Keep the block for your state and delete the others.]
Texas (print in at least 12-point bold): Texas law requires a person insured under a property insurance policy to pay any deductible applicable to a claim made under the policy. It is a violation of Texas law for a seller of goods or services who reasonably expects to be paid wholly or partly from the proceeds of a property insurance claim to knowingly allow the insured person to fail to pay, or assist the insured person’s failure to pay, the applicable insurance deductible.
Florida: [The deductible and fraud-penalty notices Fla. Stat. 489.147 requires, in 12-point type, copied word for word from the current statute.]
Minnesota: [The written notice Minn. Stat. 325E.66 requires, which also goes with your initial estimate.]
- Homeowner: ____________________ Date: ________
- Homeowner: ____________________ Date: ________
- For Contractor: ____________________ Date: ________
Fix these five things before the next storm
- Take every deductible offer, discount and credit off your hangers, signs, ads and website.
- Search your website and hangers for “negotiate,” “file your claim” and “every dime,” and rewrite those lines.
- Add the deductible clause and your state’s notice to every contingency agreement.
- Tell homeowners on the first visit that the deductible is theirs to pay, and in Texas that the insurer can ask for proof.
- Have a lawyer licensed in your state read the agreement before reps carry it.
A contingency agreement only gets signed once a homeowner with a claim has found your company. Run the free Google Maps heatmap, pick your Google profile and a search, and in a few minutes you’ll see your rank at 49 points around your office.