Someone knocked on the door after the storm.

Do not sign anything on the doorstep. Take their paperwork, take a photograph of the vehicle and the license plate, and tell them you will call after you have spoken to your insurer. A legitimate contractor is entirely comfortable with that. The reaction to that sentence is the single most useful test there is.

Why they are here

After a significant storm, roofing and restoration crews travel in from other states, because there is more work in one county than the local trade can handle. That is not inherently dishonest, and after a bad event out of state crews are part of how a place gets repaired.

The problem is that the same conditions attract people who are not going to be here in a year, and homeowners are making decisions while shaken, without power, and under time pressure. That combination is what the bad end of this trade exists to exploit.

The things that should end the conversation

“We can waive your deductible” or cover it, absorb it, or build it into the estimate. In most states this is insurance fraud, the homeowner is a party to it, and it can void the claim. Your deductible is a real number and nobody may make it disappear.

“Sign here so we can inspect.” Read what it is. Doorstep paperwork presented as an inspection authorization is often a contingency contract that binds you to use them if the claim is approved, or an assignment of benefits that transfers your rights under the policy to them. What an assignment of benefits actually does.

“Your neighbors have all signed.” Irrelevant, and usually untrue.

“This offer is only good today.” No roof needs a same day decision. A tarp might; a roof does not.

“We noticed damage from the street.” They may have. It is also the standard opener, and it is worth asking what exactly they saw and from where.

They offer to get on the roof right now to show you. Damage created during an inspection is a real problem in this trade. Nobody should be lifting or breaking anything to demonstrate a claim.

They want a deposit today, in cash, or by an app.

They have no local address, only a phone number, or the paperwork has no company details on it at all.

What a legitimate one looks like

• A license and a state registration number you can check, and no objection to you checking it.
• Proof of general liability insurance and workers compensation, provided as a certificate from the insurer rather than a photocopy from a folder.
• A physical local address, or an honest explanation of where they are based and how long they will be here.
• A written, itemised estimate rather than a number said out loud.
• No objection to you getting two more quotes.
• No objection to waiting for the adjuster.
• References from this area that you can actually call.

Ask one more question: who is doing the work, and are they employees or subcontractors? It is a fair question and the answer tells you who is accountable in two years.

The order that protects you

1. Report to your insurer first, before hiring anyone.
2. Get the emergency mitigation done if the house is open. That is urgent and it is usually covered. Emergency tarping.
3. Get your own inspection, with photographs of every slope and a written report.
4. Let the adjuster inspect. Have your roofer there at the same time if you can.
5. Then choose a contractor, from at least three written quotes, at least one of them local and established.
6. Sign a contract that states scope, price, timeline, and payment schedule.
7. Pay in stages against work completed. Never the full amount up front.

Paperwork worth reading twice

A contingency agreement commits you to using that contractor if the insurer approves the claim. Some are reasonable. Some carry a cancellation fee of a percentage of the claim if you change your mind, which turns a free inspection into a bill.

An assignment of benefits hands your rights under the policy to them. They then deal with the insurer directly, and any dispute becomes theirs to run, in your name, sometimes in court. There are places where it is normal practice and places where it has been restricted for exactly this reason. Read it away from the doorstep.

A direction to pay sends the insurance check to them rather than to you. Less severe, still worth understanding.

Whatever it is, the answer on the doorstep is the same: not today.

If you have already signed

Many states give a right to cancel a contract signed at your home within a short window, often three business days, and some extend that after a declared disaster. Look for the notice of cancellation in the paperwork, send it in writing within the window, and keep proof of sending.

If the window has passed and something is wrong, your state contractor licensing board and your state insurance department both take complaints.

The short version

Never sign at the door. Anyone offering to waive your deductible is proposing fraud you would be part of. Report to the insurer, mitigate, get your own inspection, let the adjuster come, then choose from three written quotes. A contractor who cannot wait a week for you to do that has told you something.