Roofing Insurance Laws in Delaware

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?

Unsettled

Delaware has no law on depreciating labor. Your policy's definition of actual cash value controls, and carriers routinely withhold labor depreciation on the ACV check. Argue the policy wording, not a state rule.

Authority

No provision of the Delaware Insurance Code, Title 18, addresses depreciation of labor in calculating actual cash value. No Department of Insurance bulletin and no Delaware appellate or Supreme Court decision is on point. The question is governed by the policy's own definition of actual cash value.

18 Delaware Code - Insurance Code (Justia, 2025)

Must insurers replace undamaged materials so the repair matches?

Unsettled

Delaware has no matching, line-of-sight, or uniform-appearance rule for property claims. Whether an undamaged slope or elevation gets replaced for appearance depends on the policy's "like kind and quality" language, which no Delaware authority has construed to require it. Treat matching as negotiable on the policy wording, not guaranteed by law.

Authority

18 Del. Admin. Code § 902 (Prohibited Unfair Claim Settlement Practices) lists thirteen prohibited practices at § 902-3.0. None addresses matching, uniform appearance, line of sight, or replacement of undamaged materials. The regulation was adopted under 18 Del. C. §§ 311 and 2312 to enforce 18 Del. C. § 2304(16). Title 18 contains no matching statute, the Department of Insurance has issued no bulletin on matching, and no Delaware decision construes the question.

18 Del. Admin. Code Section 902 - Prohibited Unfair Claim Settlement Practices (official Delaware Administrative Code; full text read, Section 3.0 has no matching provision) · Delaware Insurance Code, Title 18 (official Delaware Code online; unfair claims practices at 18 Del.C. Section 2304(16)) · Delaware Department of Insurance - Laws, Regulations, and Bulletins (no matching bulletin)

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

No specific statute

Delaware has no statute prohibiting a roofing contractor from paying, waiving, or absorbing a homeowner's deductible, and none banning advertising it. The exposure is fraud, and it turns on the billing: if you bill the carrier a price you never intend to collect, the estimate misstates what the job costs. Bill what you actually charge and the deductible problem disappears.

You may

Bill the carrier the price you actually charge and collect it
Offer a payment plan so the homeowner pays the deductible over time
Arrange third-party financing for the deductible
Give a genuine, disclosed discount and bill the discounted price
Explain that the deductible is the homeowner's obligation under the policy

You may not

Bill the carrier a price you never intend to collect
Credit back the deductible after invoicing the full amount
Advertise "no out-of-pocket" or "free roof" while billing the full estimate
Inflate the scope or line items to cover the deductible
Describe a discount to the homeowner while hiding it from the carrier

Penalty: Insurance fraud under 11 Del. C. § 913 is a class G felony carrying prison time, and a deceptive "free roof" pitch is an unlawful practice under 6 Del. C. § 2513.

Authority

Delaware's anti-rebating provision, 18 Del. C. § 2304(15), reaches insurers, their employees and representatives, and brokers, agents and solicitors, and applies to premium rebates. It does not reach repair contractors. No deductible provision appears in Title 18 ch. 23, Title 18 ch. 24, or Title 6 ch. 25. An estimate or invoice for an amount the contractor never intends to collect is a statement containing false, incomplete or misleading information material to the claim: insurance fraud under 11 Del. C. § 913, graded at 11 Del. C. § 4205(b)(7), and a fraudulent insurance act under 18 Del. C. § 2407. Deceptive advertising falls under 6 Del. C. § 2513. Department of Insurance Bulletin No. 28 / No. 101 (rev. Feb. 13, 2025) governs contractor conduct in claims and bars advertising as a "claim specialist" or that you "deal with insurance companies," but contains no deductible provision.

Delaware DOI Producers & Adjusters Bulletin No. 28 / Domestic-Foreign Insurers Bulletin No. 101 — Roles of Insurance Adjusters and Contractors (rev. Feb. 13, 2025) · 18 Del. C. ch. 23 — Unfair Practices in the Insurance Business, incl. Sec. 2304(15) (rebates) · 11 Del. C. ch. 5, subch. III — Offenses Involving Property, incl. Sec. 913 (Insurance fraud; class G felony) · 6 Del. C. ch. 25, subch. II — Consumer Fraud Act, incl. Sec. 2513 (Unlawful practice) · 18 Del. C. ch. 24 — Insurance Fraud (Sec. 2407, fraudulent insurance act) · Delaware Department of Insurance — Laws, Regulations, and Bulletins index

Can a contractor negotiate the homeowner's claim?

Prohibited

Delaware requires a public adjuster license to prepare or negotiate a homeowner's insurance claim. You may work your own estimate; you may not work their claim. The Department of Insurance publishes the line as a two-column table of what a contractor can and cannot do.

You may

Prepare an estimate and scope of work for the loss
Discuss that estimate with the homeowner
State that the damage appears storm-related
Recommend that the homeowner file a claim
Be present at the insurer's inspection
Answer the adjuster's questions about your estimate

You may not

Prepare the homeowner's insurance claim
Investigate, appraise, advise on, or assist in adjusting the claim
Negotiate the settlement with the carrier
Review or advise on policy coverage
Advertise as a "claim specialist" or that you "deal with insurance companies"
Use a power of attorney from the insured to work around the license requirement

Penalty: Civil penalty up to $1,000 per violation. The Department of Insurance warns that unlicensed public adjusting may be referred for prosecution as insurance fraud, a class G felony carrying up to two years.

Authority

18 Del. C. § 1750(4) defines a public adjuster to include anyone who, for compensation, acts on an insured's behalf in negotiating or effecting the settlement of a first-party property claim, advertises as an adjuster of such claims, or investigates or advises an insured about them. 18 Del. C. § 1751(a) prohibits acting as a public adjuster without a license. 18 Del. C. § 1758(b)(6) bars a licensed public adjuster from holding any interest in a home improvement, restoration, or construction business, so a roofer cannot hold both roles. Contractors are not among the exemptions at 18 Del. C. § 1759(b). The permitted and prohibited acts above are set out in a two-column table in Department of Insurance Bulletin No. 28 / No. 101 (June 13, 2018, rev. Aug. 30, 2022). Two qualifications. The civil penalty at 18 Del. C. § 1755(b) addresses "an applicant or licensee," so its application to a wholly unlicensed contractor rests on the Commissioner's enforcement position. And 11 Del. C. § 913 targets false or misleading claim statements rather than unlicensed adjusting itself.

DE DOI Producers and Adjusters Bulletin No. 28 / Domestic-Foreign Insurers Bulletin No. 101 (June 13, 2018, rev. Aug. 30, 2022) — roles of adjusters and contractors, express CAN DO / CANNOT DO table, SB 80 power-of-attorney provision (primary, DOI) · 18 Del. C. ch. 17A — Licensing of Public Adjusters, full text of §§ 1750 (definitions), 1751 (license requirement), 1755 (civil penalties), 1758 (prohibited acts), 1759 (exemptions) (primary, Delaware Code Online) · 11 Del. C. § 913 — Insurance fraud; class G felony (primary, Delaware Code Online, Title 11 ch. 5 subch. III) · 11 Del. C. § 4205(b)(7) — class G felony, up to 2 years at Level V (primary, Delaware Code Online) · 18 DE Admin Code 201 — Insurance Certificate of Authority (Agency) [Formerly Regulation 16], § 5.1 prohibitions (primary, Delaware Administrative Code) — cited by Bulletin 28 but narrower than the bulletin's paraphrase

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