(214) 807-0414Request an assessmentDeductibles
A deductible is not a fee and it is not negotiable by your roofer. It is the first portion of a covered loss that you pay yourself, and Texas law is specific about the fact that a contractor may not pay it, waive it, rebate it, absorb it, or discount their work to offset it. We will not offer to, and we would rather explain why than let you find out from someone else.
In short
The deductible is the share of a covered loss the policyholder carries. It is not paid to the carrier. It is the first part of the repair bill you fund yourself, which is why it appears as a subtraction on a claim summary rather than as a charge.
01
The offer only works one of two ways: the contractor inflates the scope so the carrier funds the gap, or they cut real work out of the job to cover it. Both damage you. One is a criminal exposure you are now attached to, the other is a roof that is quietly missing something.
02
Texas requires contractors performing insurance-funded repairs to state on the invoice that the deductible must be paid and has not been waived. Carriers may also ask for proof that you paid it before releasing further payment. Keep the receipt or the cancelled cheque.
03
It is on the declarations page of your policy, usually near the coverage limits, and there is often more than one figure listed for different perils. If the wording is unclear, ask your agent or your carrier to explain it. That question is theirs to answer, not ours.
Questions
No. Texas law prohibits it and we will not do it under any wording. If a contractor offers to, that is not flexibility on their part. It is a decision about how they handle paperwork generally, and you are seeing it early.
You pay it toward the cost of the work, so in practice it becomes part of what you owe the contractor rather than a separate payment to your insurer. The written agreement should state the total and how payments are applied.
Percentage-based wind and hail deductibles are common on Texas policies in hail-exposed markets. Your carrier or agent can explain how yours was set and what it applies to.
It is a common position and it is not one a contractor can solve for you. The routes that exist are yours to arrange: lending you organise, doing what is urgent first and the rest later, or deciding not to proceed at this point. What cannot happen is a contractor covering it in any form, under any wording, however it is described on the paperwork. Anyone offering has moved the money somewhere, and the place they move it is a document with your name on it.
Then there is no payment to collect, because the deductible comes off before anything is paid out. Whether to report the loss anyway is a decision for you and your carrier, and there are sensible arguments in both directions. We can tell you what the construction work involves and what we would charge for it. We cannot tell you what filing does to your policy and we would not guess at it.
Assessment request
Short, routing-only questions. Nothing here asks you to diagnose the roof yourself.