Keys Roofing

Missouri Roof Claims, Explained Straight

Most of what homeowners are told about roof insurance claims in Missouri is wrong, and some of it is being said by contractors who are not allowed to say it.

What a roofing company is allowed to do about your claim

Less than most of them imply. Missouri's RSMo 407.725 forbids a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating a homeowner's insurance claim, and forbids advertising that service too. So when a competitor's site offers to handle the paperwork or deal with your adjuster for you, it is advertising something the statute does not allow.

The useful version is unglamorous. A contractor climbs the roof, photographs what is there, measures it, and writes a scope describing the damage and the repair. When the adjuster comes out, the contractor is there as the person who knows the roof. The conversation with the insurer stays yours, which is also the only arrangement where your interests are certainly being represented.

Worth correcting while we are here: Missouri has no matching statute or regulation. The rule people cite governs automobile body parts, not roofs. Whether an insurer must replace undamaged slopes so the roof matches depends entirely on your policy wording. If you want someone who can actually negotiate for you, that is a licensed public adjuster, and by law they cannot also do your roof.

The deadlines that actually bind you

Two pieces of Missouri law are worth knowing because they cut in the homeowner's favour and are almost never mentioned. The limitations period on a suit against an insurer here is ten years, not the five people assume. And RSMo 431.030 makes a contractual suit-limitation clause null and void, which means the one-year "suit against us" deadline printed in most national homeowners policies is unenforceable in this state.

That said, the notice and proof-of-loss deadlines in your policy do still bind you. The rule of thumb that survives all of this: report promptly, document heavily, and do not let anyone talk you into signing a contract before you know what your insurer has actually said.

The five-day window nobody mentions

If you sign a contract with a roofer in connection with an insurance claim and your insurer then denies the claim in writing, RSMo 407.725 gives you until midnight on the fifth business day after that written denial to cancel the contract. The contractor has to give you a detachable cancellation notice with the contract, and has ten business days to return your money. A contractor who did not give you that form has not met the statute.

One more, from the same section: a contractor may not advertise or promise to pay or rebate your deductible. If a company offers to cover it or make it disappear, that offer is barred by statute, and it tells you what else they are willing to do.

The work, and its limits

Keys does roofing, gutters and downspouts. It does not do siding, windows or general contracting, and saying so is more useful than a longer list would be. Shingles are Atlas and Malarkey.

Drainage is the unusual one. Most roofing companies here stop at the gutter and leave the water to find its own way, which it does, usually into a basement.

Call Keys Roofing at (314) 220-2333

Straight through to the office. Roofing, gutters and downspouts only, across greater St. Louis.

Get the damage documented

Photographs and a written scope. What you do with your claim stays yours.

Before you sign anything

Get the scope in writing first. It should say what is being torn off, what is going back on, what happens when soft decking appears, and who carries the workmanship warranty as distinct from the shingle warranty. Ask whether the crew are employees or subcontractors and whether the salesperson attends the job.

Two warning signs specific to this state. A contractor offering to cover or rebate your deductible is offering something RSMo 407.725 bars. So is one promising to negotiate your insurance claim. Both tell you the company is comfortable operating outside the rules, which is worth knowing before it is on your roof.

Questions people actually ask

Can Keys file my claim for me?

No, and neither can any other roofing contractor in Missouri. RSMo 407.725 bars it. What Keys can do is document the roof thoroughly and be there as the contractor when the adjuster inspects.

My insurer will only pay for one slope. Do they have to match the rest?

There is no Missouri statute or regulation that says so. It depends on the wording of your own policy. Anyone telling you state law guarantees matching is repeating something that is not true here.

What is a public adjuster and do I need one?

A separately licensed professional who can negotiate a claim on your behalf, which a roofer cannot. There is no fee cap in Missouri, they must be licensed and bonded, and they are barred from doing the repair work.