Read the Payment Stub Before You Deposit the Roof Check

A roof claim check usually arrives with a statement, and the statement is the part most homeowners set aside. It is the insurer's written account of what the payment is for. Before you deposit anything, read it line by line against the written roof scope you already have, and write down anything that does not match. This page covers what to look for and what to ask, and it stays with the paperwork.

What the statement is trying to tell you

Most payment statements show a few figures: the amount the insurer calculated for the work, any amount withheld, the amount being paid now, and sometimes a note about what happens next. The labels differ by company, so the exact words will not match this page. What matters is whether you can trace each figure back to a line in the estimate, and whether the total is what the payment is supposed to cover.

If the statement shows a replacement figure with a portion held back, ask the insurer in writing what the held amount depends on and what paperwork releases it. If the statement shows only a single lump sum with no breakdown, ask for the estimate it was built from. A bare number tells you nothing about whether the shingles, the underlayment, the drip edge and the flashing were counted.

Also check whether the statement shows any amount for materials you have already bought or work already done. If you paid a deposit, a fuel charge or a permit fee yourself, that cost should appear somewhere, or you should ask why it does not. Keep the invoice for each of those items with the statement, because the insurer may ask for it later, and one missing receipt can hold up a figure that is otherwise correct.

Check the payment against your roof scope

Lay the insurer's estimate next to the scope your roofer wrote. Keys Roofing puts a written scope in your hands with photos and measurements, and that scope is the document to compare against. Look for these items and mark each one as present, missing, or priced differently:

• The roof square count and the number of slopes measured
• Starter course, ridge cap and hip cap
• Ice and water shield at the eaves, valleys and walls
• Drip edge and how it is treated at the rakes
• Pipe boots, vent flashing and chimney flashing
• Gutter and downspout detach and reset, if the work touches them
• Permit fees, if the municipality requires a permit for the job
• Dumpster and haul-away

A missing line is not always a denial. Sometimes the insurer's estimate uses a different name for the same work, or it bundles several items into one figure. Ask which line covers each item you marked. If the answer is that an item is not covered, ask for the policy language that says so and the date the decision was made. Keep the reply.

Partial payments and what they leave open

A partial payment is common when the tear-off has not happened yet. The insurer pays for what it could see at the inspection, and the rest waits. That is a reasonable way to handle a claim, but it leaves a gap. If the roof opens and the crew finds rotted decking, damaged underlayment or a flashing detail that was not in the first estimate, the extra cost has to be shown in writing before it can be discussed. Photograph the open deck with a dated phone and keep the originals. Keys documents what it finds as the work goes, and attends as the contractor while the homeowner deals with their own insurer.

Check the statement for words like final, full settlement, or release. Those words matter. If you see them, do not sign or return a form until you understand what it closes. Ask your insurer to explain the wording in writing. You are entitled to ask, and the insurer should answer in writing.

What the roofer can and cannot do with the check

Missouri law, RSMo 407.725, bars a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating a homeowner's insurance claim, and it also bars a roofer from saying anything about paying, waiving or covering a deductible. A roofer may document damage, write the scope, supply photos and measurements, and attend the job as the contractor, but the claim conversation with the insurer belongs to the homeowner. A roofer who offers to handle the check, the adjuster call or the deductible is outside what the statute allows.

That split is why the statement has to be in your hands. The contractor can tell you what the job costs and what it includes. The insurer decides what it pays. Your job is to connect the two, and the written scope is the link.

Steps before you deposit

1. Photograph the front and back of the check and the payment statement, and save both in the claim folder.
2. Compare each statement line with your written roof scope, and mark anything missing.
3. Send the insurer one written question per gap, with the claim number on every email.
4. Write down the date and time of every call with the insurer, the name of the person you spoke with, and what was said, then follow up by email to repeat the points.
5. Ask whether further payment is possible if the tear-off finds more damage.
6. Do not sign a release or closing form until you have read every sentence of it.
7. Keep each reply in the same folder as the scope, the photos and the statement.

Keys Roofing can be reached at (314) 220-2333 if the scope needs a line added or clarified before you send the question to your insurer. The question itself belongs in your own name, and the answer belongs in your file.