Roofing Insurance Laws in Colorado

Informational only — not legal advice. Laws and case precedent change, and outcomes depend on your specific policy language. Verify current law with your state Department of Insurance or a qualified attorney before relying on it.

Can insurers depreciate labor when calculating ACV?

Permitted

Colorado permits carriers to depreciate labor when calculating actual cash value. A federal court applying Colorado law held that where the policy defines ACV as repair or replacement cost less deterioration, depreciation, and obsolescence, both material and labor are subject to that deduction. Expect labor depreciation on ACV payments and recover it as recoverable depreciation once the work is complete.

Authority

No Colorado statute, insurance regulation, or state-court decision bars depreciation of labor. Basham v. United Servs. Auto. Ass'n, No. 16-cv-03057-RBJ (D. Colo. July 28, 2017), held that a policy defining ACV as the cost to repair or replace subject to a deduction for deterioration, depreciation, and obsolescence permits depreciation of both material and labor. The decision is persuasive on Colorado state courts, not binding.

Basham v. USAA docket (Justia), No. 1:16-cv-03057, D. Colo.

Must insurers replace undamaged materials so the repair matches?

Unsettled

Colorado has no matching or line-of-sight law. Whether the carrier must replace undamaged slopes so the roof matches turns on the policy wording, and federal courts applying Colorado law have read standard "like kind and quality" language as ambiguous enough to encompass cosmetic matching. Matching is often recoverable under that language when no matching exclusion applies, but nothing in Colorado law guarantees it.

Authority

No Colorado statute addresses matching, and the Division of Insurance rule series at 3 CCR 702 contains no uniform-appearance or matching rule. No Colorado Supreme Court or Court of Appeals decision is on point. Bertisen v. Travelers Home & Marine Ins. Co., No. 1:20-cv-03650 (D. Colo. Sept. 8, 2023) (Doc. 93), construed a policy promising materials of "like kind and quality and for like use" as ambiguous and reasonably encompassing matching, ruling for the homeowner on hail-damaged tile no longer in production. That ruling is persuasive, not binding, and carriers increasingly add matching-exclusion endorsements that defeat it.

Bertisen v. Travelers Home & Marine Ins. Co., No. 1:20-cv-03650, Doc. 93 (D. Colo. Sept. 8, 2023) — court order (Justia Dockets, primary court document) · Code of Colorado Regulations, 3 CCR 702 — Division of Insurance rule series (Colorado Secretary of State official CCR list; no matching / uniform-appearance rule exists)

Can a contractor pay or waive the homeowner's deductible?

Prohibited

Colorado bans paying, waiving, or rebating a property insurance deductible on residential roofing work, and bans advertising or promising to do it. Your written roofing contract must state that you cannot do it. "Free roof" and "no out-of-pocket" pitches that amount to covering the deductible fall inside the ban, whether or not you ever perform the work.

You may

Bill the carrier the price you actually charge
Collect the full deductible from the homeowner
Offer a payment plan so the homeowner pays the deductible over time
Arrange third-party financing for the homeowner's out-of-pocket share
Give a genuine, disclosed discount off your real price
Include the required deductible statement in every roofing contract

You may not

Pay, waive, or rebate all or part of the deductible
Promise to pay, waive, or rebate the deductible
Advertise "free roof," "no out-of-pocket," or "we cover your deductible"
Inflate the estimate to absorb the deductible
Bill the carrier a price you do not intend to collect
Provide free upgrades or credits that offset the deductible

Penalty: Civil only: the insurer need not consider your estimate, and the property owner or the insurer may sue for damages.

Authority

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 6-22-105 (Waiver of insurance deductible prohibited) states that a roofing contractor whose work is paid from a property and casualty policy shall not advertise or promise to pay, waive, or rebate all or part of any insurance deductible applicable to the claim. Section 6-22-105(2) supplies the civil remedies. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 6-22-103(1) requires the written roofing contract to state that the contractor cannot pay, waive, rebate, or promise to pay, waive, or rebate the deductible. Both provisions sit in Title 6, Article 22 (Residential Roofing Services), enacted by 2012 Senate Bill 12-038. A discount is lawful only if it is real and disclosed. The carrier then pays proportionally less against a lower price, so it does not spare the homeowner the deductible.

C.R.S. § 6-22-105 — Waiver of insurance deductible prohibited (FindLaw, statutory text) · C.R.S. § 6-22-103 — Contracts for roofing services; required terms incl. deductible statement (FindLaw) · C.R.S. § 6-22-105 (2016) — Waiver of insurance deductible prohibited (Justia)

Can a contractor negotiate the homeowner's claim?

Prohibited

Colorado bars a roofing contractor from claiming to be or acting as a public insurance adjuster. The statute expressly preserves the work you need: once you hold a valid signed contract with the property owner, you may discuss the scope of repairs with the carrier on the owner's behalf. The line is estimate and justify your own work, not negotiate the settlement or represent the insured on their claim.

You may

Write and submit your own scope and Xactimate estimate
Discuss the scope of repairs with the carrier once you have a signed contract
Meet the adjuster on the roof and document the damage
File supplements for work within your own scope
Explain and defend your line items and pricing to the adjuster
Recommend that the homeowner file a claim

You may not

Claim to be or act as a public insurance adjuster
Advertise claim handling, claim help, or "we fight your insurance company"
Negotiate or effect settlement of the homeowner's claim
Advise the homeowner on policy coverage or their rights under the policy
Act on the claim before a valid signed contract exists
Take compensation for adjusting services without a Division of Insurance public adjuster license

Penalty: Civil and regulatory only: the Division of Insurance may impose a penalty of up to $3,000 per violation for unlicensed adjusting.

Authority

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 6-22-105(3) provides that a roofing contractor soliciting roofing services shall not claim to be or act as a public insurance adjuster adjusting claims for losses or damages, and that nothing in the subsection precludes a roofing contractor from discussing, on behalf of the property owner, the scope of repairs with a property and casualty insurer when the contractor has a valid contract with the owner of the residential property on which the contractor has contracted to perform roofing work. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 10-2-417(1)(a) requires a public adjuster license to act or hold oneself out as a public adjuster. The definition at § 10-2-103(8.5) reaches anyone who, for compensation on behalf of an insured, negotiates for or effects settlement of a first-party property claim, advertises or solicits as a public adjuster, or advises an insured about first-party property claims. Licensure is the lawful path if you want to negotiate claims. One qualification on remedies. The civil damages action and the insurer's right to disregard the estimate in § 6-22-105(2) attach to deductible-waiver violations under subsection (1); Article 22 provides no private remedy for subsection (3). The penalty hook for unlicensed adjusting is § 10-2-804(4), which reaches any person, not only licensees. No criminal penalty attaches.

Colorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 6 (official, Colorado General Assembly / OLLS) — Article 22 Residential Roofing Services; § 6-22-105 at p. 299, subsection (3) public-adjuster bar and scope-of-repairs carve-out · Colorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 10 (official, Colorado General Assembly / OLLS) — § 10-2-103(8.5) definition of "public adjuster" (p. 58), § 10-2-417 public insurance adjusters license required (p. 82), § 10-2-804(4) civil penalty up to $3,000 per violation (p. 98) · C.R.S. § 6-22-105 — Waiver of insurance deductible prohibited (FindLaw, full text incl. subsection (3)) · C.R.S. § 10-2-417 — Public insurance adjusters, license required (FindLaw) · C.R.S. § 10-2-103 — Definitions, incl. (8.5) "public adjuster" (FindLaw) · C.R.S. § 10-2-804 — Investigation by commissioner; civil penalty up to $3,000 per violation against any person (FindLaw)

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