The one that is actually a crime
An offer to pay, cover, waive, absorb or "eat" your deductible. It is presented as generosity and it is insurance fraud, because the contractor inflates the scope to recover it and your name is on the claim. Several states make it an explicit offence. No legitimate contractor offers it, and a contractor who does is telling you what else they are willing to do with your paperwork.
The related version is "we will do extra work for free to make up the deductible". Same act, softer words.
The paperwork tricks
A contingency agreement handed over as an inspection form. You sign what you think is permission to look at the roof, and it is a contract assigning the job to them if the claim is approved, often with a cancellation penalty. Read the top of any document before you sign it on a doorstep, and never sign anything on a clipboard you have not read.
An assignment of benefits. This hands your claim rights to the contractor, who then deals with your carrier directly and you lose control of your own claim. It is legal in places and it is almost never in the homeowner’s interest.
A blank or single-number estimate. No line items means nothing to hold anyone to.
The money tells
A large deposit before any material is ordered, or payment in full up front. A deposit against materials is normal; a deposit that funds the crew’s travel is not.
A demand for cash, a personal cheque made out to an individual rather than a company, or a payment app transfer.
A price available only while they are standing on your step. Urgency is the only real advantage a transient crew has, and it is manufactured.
The identity tells
No local address, or an address that is a mailbox service. Look it up while they are standing there.
A licence from another state, an expired licence, or "we work under someone else’s licence". In Maryland, residential home improvement requires an MHIC licence and you can verify it yourself in the state database in under a minute. Virginia licences are searchable at DPOR.
No general liability certificate and no workers compensation certificate they can produce. If an uninsured worker is hurt on your roof, that exposure looks for the homeowner.
A claim to be "working with", "approved by" or "preferred by" your insurance company. Carriers do not deputise contractors. Anyone saying that is either confused or lying, and it is the single most common line used on storm doorsteps.
The five checks that take ten minutes
Verify the licence number in the state database yourself — not a photo of a card.
Ask for the general liability and workers compensation certificates, emailed from the insurer or broker rather than as a PDF the contractor holds.
Ask for three local addresses of completed work and go and look at two of them.
Ask who honours the labour warranty in year five, and get the answer in writing with a company name on it.
Do not sign anything at the door. A real contractor will leave and come back.
Why we are the ones telling you this
Because we compete with these crews and we lose jobs to them on price, in the two weeks after a storm, every year. The only defence a local company has is that the homeowner knows what to check.
Our position: MHIC #111971 in Maryland, Virginia Class A #2705183185, GAF Certified, A+ accredited with the BBB, family-owned since 2005, and an office in Bethesda you can drive to. The inspection is free, the photo report is yours whether you hire us or not, and you file and own your own claim — we are a licensed contractor, not a public adjuster, and we do not negotiate claims. On an approved claim your deductible is typically your out-of-pocket cost, and nobody honest will offer to make it disappear.
Get it looked at, free
We inspect across Maryland — Montgomery, Prince George's, Howard, Anne Arundel, Frederick, Carroll and Baltimore counties. Free inspection, photo report within 24 hours, and the report is yours to keep whether or not you hire us.