Roofing Insurance Laws in Texas

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

Texas has no statute, regulation, or state appellate decision on whether labor may be depreciated in calculating actual cash value. Your policy's ACV language controls, and federal courts applying Texas law are split on what happens when the policy leaves ACV undefined. Pull the definition off the declarations before you argue a depreciation line.

Authority

No Texas Insurance Code section and no TDI regulation addresses labor depreciation. TDI Commissioner's Bulletin B-0045-98 speaks to actual cash value in the overhead-and-profit and sales-tax context and does not reach labor. No Texas Supreme Court or Court of Appeals decision resolves the question. Federal district decisions applying Texas law diverge and bind no one. Tolar v. Allstate Texas Lloyd's Co., 772 F. Supp. 2d 825 (N.D. Tex. 2011), permitted overhead, profit, and labor depreciation in a total-loss context. Sims v. Allstate Fire & Cas. Ins. Co., No. SA-22-CV-00580-JKP (W.D. Tex.), and Cortinas v. Liberty Mut. Pers. Ins. Co., 2025 WL 233589 (W.D. Tex. Jan. 13, 2025), adopted 2025 WL 1062093 (Apr. 8, 2025), hold that an undefined "actual cash value" is ambiguous under Mitchell v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 954 F.3d 700 (5th Cir. 2020), and resolve the ambiguity against the insurer.

Sims v. Allstate Fire & Cas. Ins. Co. — Memorandum Opinion denying summary judgment, filed 09/02/2025 (W.D. Tex., No. SA-22-CV-00580-JKP; govinfo.gov) · Texas Department of Insurance — Commissioner's Bulletin B-0045-98 (ACV / overhead & profit; does not reach labor)

Must insurers replace undamaged materials so the repair matches?

Not required

Texas has no matching or uniform-appearance law. Whether undamaged slopes get replaced turns on the policy's own "like kind and quality" wording, and Texas case law reads standard language to obligate the carrier only for the actually damaged portion. Build the full-roof argument out of the policy and the physical repair, not out of a legal mandate.

Authority

No Texas statute, no Texas Administrative Code rule, and no TDI commissioner's bulletin imposes a reasonably-uniform-appearance requirement; the TDI bulletin index contains no matching bulletin. All Saints Catholic Church v. United Nat'l Ins. Co., 257 S.W.3d 800 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2008, no pet.), a commercial hail claim, held the insurer owed the cost to replace the hail-damaged tiles and those tiles only, rejecting full-roof replacement for uniform appearance. Ross v. Hartford Lloyd's Ins. Co., No. 3:18-CV-00541-M, 2019 WL 2929761 (N.D. Tex. July 8, 2019), a residential claim, held physical loss requires a distinct, demonstrable physical alteration and the insurer owed only repair of the damaged tiles, not the undamaged remainder, even though the tiles were discontinued. Two qualifications. This is intermediate appellate and federal district authority, not a Texas Supreme Court holding. The posture also matters: the exact endorsement language and an RCV claim on which repairs are actually performed leave more room to argue matching than an ACV-only payment does.

All Saints Catholic Church v. United National Insurance Co., 257 S.W.3d 800 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2008) — full opinion (primary; insurer owed only damaged tiles, no full-roof matching) · Ross v. Hartford Lloyd's Ins. Co., 2019 WL 2929761 (N.D. Tex. July 8, 2019) — slip opinion PDF (primary; insurer owed only repair of damaged tiles, not undamaged remainder) · Texas Department of Insurance — Commissioner's Bulletins index (no matching / uniform-appearance bulletin exists)

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

Prohibited

Texas makes it a crime for a contractor paid wholly or partly from property-insurance proceeds to pay, waive, absorb, rebate, or credit the homeowner's deductible. Advertising or promising to do it is a separate crime, so the "we cover your deductible," "no out-of-pocket," or "free roof" pitch is unlawful whether or not you ever pick up a shingle. Bill the carrier the price you actually charge and collect the deductible.

You may

Bill the carrier the price you actually charge and collect the full deductible
Offer a payment plan so the homeowner pays the deductible over time
Refer the homeowner to third-party financing for their out-of-pocket share
Give a genuine, disclosed discount off your real price, understanding the carrier then pays proportionally less
Put the 12-point bold deductible-payment notice in every insurance-proceeds contract of $1,000 or more

You may not

Pay, waive, absorb, rebate, or credit any part of the deductible
Advertise or promise that the deductible will be covered, waived, or eaten
Market "no out-of-pocket cost" or a "free roof" on an insurance job
Inflate the estimate to the carrier to build the deductible back in
Give upgrades, gift cards, or referral credits that offset the deductible
Omit the statutory deductible notice from a $1,000-plus insurance-proceeds contract

Penalty: A violation is a Class B misdemeanor, up to 180 days in jail and a fine up to $2,000.

Authority

Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 27.02 bars a seller or contractor paid from property-insurance proceeds from paying, waiving, absorbing, rebating, or crediting the insured's deductible, and § 27.02(c) separately bars advertising or promising to do so. Section 27.02(b) requires a 12-point bold notice, on any contract of $1,000 or more expected to be paid from an insurance claim, warning that the deductible must be paid. Section 27.02(d) sets the Class B misdemeanor. Tex. Ins. Code § 707.002 provides that the insured shall pay any deductible applicable to a first-party claim. Both provisions were added by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., ch. 1099 (H.B. 2102), effective September 1, 2019. TDI's consumer guidance states that waiving a deductible, and rebates or credits against it, are illegal.

Tex. Bus. & Com. Code ch. 27 (official Texas Statutes, capitol.texas.gov) · Tex. Ins. Code ch. 707 (official Texas Statutes, capitol.texas.gov) · TDI - Can a contractor waive my deductible? (official guidance: waiving deductible, and rebates/credits, are illegal)

Can a contractor negotiate the homeowner's claim?

Prohibited

Texas bars a contractor from acting as a public adjuster, or advertising to adjust claims, on any property for which the contractor is providing or may provide contracting services. The bar holds even if you hold a public-adjuster license or the homeowner signs a power of attorney. You may work your own estimate; you may not work their claim.

You may

Inspect the roof and photograph the damage
Write and submit your own estimate, scope, or supplement for the work you will perform
Explain your line items, measurements, and pricing to the adjuster
Meet the adjuster at the property for the inspection
Tell the homeowner the damage appears storm-related and recommend they file a claim
Answer the carrier's questions about your scope

You may not

Negotiate the settlement of the homeowner's claim with the carrier
Act on the insured's behalf in effecting settlement
Advise the homeowner on policy coverage or claim strategy
Advertise that you adjust claims or will deal with the insurance company for them
Take a power of attorney to handle the claim
Hold a public-adjuster license and adjust a claim on property you also contract on

Penalty: A violation is a Class B misdemeanor and carries Chapter 541 sanctions; the homeowner may void the contract and owes nothing for services already performed or still to come.

Authority

Tex. Ins. Code § 4102.163(a) prohibits a contractor from acting as a public adjuster or advertising to adjust claims for property the contractor is providing or may provide contracting services on. It was enacted for roofing contractors by Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., ch. 903 (H.B. 1183) and broadened to all contractors, and extended to license-holders and powers of attorney, by Acts 2019, 86th Leg. (H.B. 2103), effective September 1, 2019. Section 4101.251(b) is a parallel bar on roofing contractors. Section 4102.001(3) defines a public insurance adjuster to include acting on behalf of an insured in negotiating for or effecting the settlement of a claim. Section 4102.051 requires a license; only attorneys and certain Chapter 4051 property and casualty agents are exempt, and § 4102.002 contains no contractor exemption. Penalties sit at § 4102.206(a) (Class B misdemeanor) and § 4102.206(c) (Chapter 541 sanctions under §§ 541.108–.110). Under § 4102.207 an insured may void a contract with a person violating § 4102.051 and owes nothing for past or future services. Section 4102.208 gives the commissioner emergency cease-and-desist authority. Keep contracts and marketing framed as your own bid and scope, never as claim handling or coverage advice.

Tex. Ins. Code ch. 4102 (Public Insurance Adjusters), official text — §§ 4102.001, 4102.002, 4102.051, 4102.163, 4102.206–.208 · Tex. Ins. Code § 4101.251 — Certain Roofing-Related Business Prohibited (ch. 4101 full text) · H.B. 2103, 86th Leg. (2019), enrolled — broadened § 4102.163 from "roofing contractor" to "contractor" and added the license / power-of-attorney clauses; eff. 9/1/2019 · H.B. 1183, 83rd Leg. (2013), enrolled — original enactment of §§ 4101.251 and 4102.163

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