Roof damage: the underpayment playbook
Whether the cause is hail, wind, or storm, roof claims share the same underpayment tactics: slope-only replacement, matching denial, code exclusions, and O&P stripped from coordinated trades.
How carriers underpay roof damage claims
- Approving slope-only replacement when matching is required
- Denying ice-and-water shield, drip edge, and ridge vent code upgrades
- Stripping Overhead and Profit despite multi-trade coordination
- Limiting underlayment to 'partial' when uniform replacement is industry standard
- Excluding gutter, fascia wrap, and chimney flashing when affected by the same event
The industry standard you can cite
RIA Best Practice: O&P Eligibility
General Contractor Overhead & Profit Eligibility (RIA Guidance)
Restoration Industry Association (RIA)
**Key provisions:** GC O&P is appropriate compensation when the project involves coordination of 3+ trades, requires project management, supervision, sequencing, or permitting. Standard rate is 10% Overhead + 10% Profit on direct costs. RIA aligns with Mills v. Foremost insurance ruling and industry textbook practice.
**How to cite in a carrier dispute:** Cite when carrier strips O&P from estimate citing 'no GC involved' — if 3+ trades touched the project, O&P is owed regardless of whether a formal GC was engaged.
Recent court opinions on roof damage disputes
Smith v. Forge Creek at Flowers Plantation Homeowners Ass'n, Inc.
Authority to Obtain and Share Statewide Voter Roll Data
Tedesco Excavating v. FWH Development
Group III Mgt., Inc.
Bossier Parish by and through the Bossier Parish Police Jury v. Boggs & Poole Contracting Group, Inc.
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