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?
PermittedLouisiana law expressly allows labor to be depreciated. The statutory definition of depreciation covers the cost of goods, materials, labor, and services needed to replace, repair, or rebuild the property, so a carrier may take depreciation on labor when it calculates actual cash value. The depreciation must be reasonable, the policy must give notice of it, and the carrier must provide a written explanation of how it was calculated. Overhead, profit, and sales tax are a different matter: those may not be deducted from actual cash value.
Authority
La. R.S. 22:1892(F) defines "depreciation" as the cost of goods, materials, labor, and services necessary to replace, repair, or rebuild damaged property, and requires that any depreciation be reasonable, be disclosed by policy notice, and be accompanied by a written explanation of how it was calculated. The same subsection bars deducting prospective contractor overhead, profit, and sales tax from actual cash value.
La. R.S. 22:1892 - Louisiana State Legislature (official statutory text)
Related: RCV vs. ACV and recoverable depreciation, explained · Xactimate RFG vs. DMO labor — pricing removal correctly
Must insurers replace undamaged materials so the repair matches?
UnsettledLouisiana has no matching or line-of-sight regulation and no modern controlling decision requiring a carrier to replace undamaged slopes for uniform appearance. Whether the carrier owes the undamaged material turns on your policy wording and on proof that the existing material cannot be matched and that a patch reduces value. Build the file around that proof rather than around a statewide rule that does not exist.
Authority
La. R.S. 22:1311, the standard fire policy statute, gives the insurer the option to replace damaged property "with other of like kind and quality." That is a materials-quality standard, not an appearance-matching mandate. La. R.S. 22:1318, the Valued Policy Law, governs total-loss valuation and says nothing about uniform appearance. Title 22 contains no matching regulation. The one Louisiana appellate decision on point is Holloway v. Liberty Mutual Fire Ins. Co., 290 So.2d 791 (La. App. 1st Cir. 1974), which awarded replacement of undamaged carpet where the discontinued original could not be matched and partial replacement would leave unsightly seams and reduce value. It is a single, dated, fact-specific replacement-cost decision.
La. R.S. 22:1311 — Fire insurance contract; standard provisions (Louisiana State Legislature) · La. R.S. 22:1318 — Valued policy clause; exceptions (Louisiana State Legislature) · Louisiana Department of Insurance — Insurance Law (Title 22) · Holloway v. Liberty Mutual Fire Ins. Co., 290 So.2d 791 (La. App. 1st Cir. 1974) — full opinion (CourtListener)
Related: The line items adjusters miss on a roof claim · How to fight a lowball insurance estimate
Can a contractor pay or waive the homeowner's deductible?
ProhibitedLouisiana bans deductible rebating outright, and bans advertising it as a separate offense. On any job paid from insurance proceeds, you may not pay, waive, absorb, rebate, or otherwise decline to charge or collect the insured's property or casualty deductible without the insurer's consent, and you may not inflate your charges to offset it. "We'll cover your deductible," "no out-of-pocket," and "free roof" are unlawful pitches whether or not you ever do the work.
You may
- Bill the carrier the price you actually charge and collect the deductible
- 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
- Explain that the deductible is the homeowner's responsibility under the policy
- Seek the insurer's written consent before any deductible arrangement
You may not
- Pay, waive, absorb, or rebate the homeowner's deductible
- Decline to charge or collect the deductible on an insurance-funded job
- Inflate the estimate or invoice to offset the deductible
- Advertise or promise deductible help in any form
- Run "no out-of-pocket cost" or "free roof" marketing
- Structure a discount as a deductible credit rather than a price reduction
Penalty: Violation is a criminal offense punishable by a fine up to $500 and/or 30 days, with each offense a separate violation.
Authority
La. R.S. 51:451, "Payments and rebates charged against insurance deductibles; sellers of goods or services prohibited," Subsection A bars a seller of goods or services from advertising, promising, or agreeing to pay, waive, absorb, rebate, or otherwise decline to charge or collect an insured's property or casualty deductible on work paid from insurance proceeds absent the insurer's consent, and from inflating charges to offset it. The same section bars the insured from knowingly submitting such a claim and sets the fine and jail term. A genuine discount lowers the price the carrier pays, so it does not relieve the homeowner of the deductible. Financing the deductible is lending against it, not waiving it. The section sits in Title 51, Trade and Commerce, so the conduct may also implicate the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Law, R.S. 51:1405 et seq.
La. R.S. 51:451 — Justia (2025 Louisiana Laws, statutory text) · Louisiana State Legislature — official code search portal (legis.la.gov)
Related: RCV vs. ACV and recoverable depreciation, explained
Can a contractor negotiate the homeowner's claim?
ProhibitedLouisiana bars a contractor from running the homeowner's claim. You may price and defend your own work; you may not interpret the policy, adjust the claim, or market yourself as handling claims. Louisiana in fact requires you to hand the homeowner a good-faith itemized estimate before they sign a repair agreement, and you do not violate the statute merely because the insurer's adjusted amount differs from your estimate.
You may
- Write and submit your own itemized scope, estimate, and supplement
- Give the homeowner a good-faith itemized estimate before signing
- Meet the adjuster on the roof and document the damage
- Defend the line items, quantities, and pricing of your own work
- Explain why a supplement is needed for work you contracted to perform
- Recommend that the homeowner file a claim
You may not
- Negotiate or settle the claim on the homeowner's behalf
- Interpret what the policy does or does not cover
- Adjust, appraise, or evaluate the claim as a public adjuster
- Advertise or solicit as an "insurance claims specialist"
- Advertise claim handling or policy-interpretation services
- Let an employee or anyone you pay do any of the above
Penalty: Unlicensed public adjusting is a crime carrying up to two years at hard labor and/or a $1,000 fine for an individual and up to $5,000 per violation for a business entity, and a licensing-chapter violation exposes your contractor license to fines, cease-and-desist orders, suspension, revocation, or debarment.
Authority
La. R.S. 37:2159.1, "Contracting; prohibited acts; property insurance," paras. (1), (2), (3), (7), and (8), as amended by Acts 2025, No. 144 and Acts 2025, No. 422, prohibits anyone performing contracting services from interpreting policy coverage, adjusting a property insurance claim on behalf of an insured, or advertising or soliciting as an insurance claims specialist or as providing claim or policy-interpretation services, and makes you liable for an employee or paid agent who does so. Para. (3) requires the good-faith itemized estimate, and the closing paragraphs state that a difference between the insurer's adjusted amount and your estimate is not itself a violation. La. R.S. 22:1692(7)-(8) define public adjuster and public adjusting, the latter reaching investigating, appraising, or evaluating and reporting to an insured on a first-party claim. La. R.S. 22:1693(A), (C), and (F)-(G) require the license and set the crime and penalties. The exemption at R.S. 22:1693(E)(2) covers estimators only when furnishing facts or technical assistance to a licensed public adjuster or an attorney, so keep your paperwork framed as your own repair estimate rather than an evaluation of the claim. La. R.S. 37:2158(A)(6) supplies the contractor-board sanctions. A public adjuster license is not a workaround: La. R.S. 22:1706(H)(11) bars a public adjuster from acting as contractor or providing roofing or repair services to the insured on a claim he processed.
La. R.S. 37:2159.1 — Contracting; prohibited acts; property insurance (official text, Louisiana State Legislature) · La. R.S. 22:1693 — License required; crime of unauthorized public adjusting (official text) · La. R.S. 22:1692 — Definitions, incl. (7) "public adjuster" and (8) "public adjusting" (official text) · La. R.S. 22:1706 — Standards of conduct of public adjuster, incl. (H)(11) contractor bar (official text) · La. R.S. 37:2158 — Revocation and suspension of licenses; cease and desist orders; debarment; violations; penalty (official text) · Act No. 144 of 2025 (HB 121), enrolled — Louisiana State Legislature
Related: What is a roofing supplement? · How to fight a lowball insurance estimate
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