Key numbers
The average U.S. homeowners insurance premium jumped 17% between 2021 and 2023, per Harvard JCHS (Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, 2021-2023).
| Up to 90% | Up to 90% of severe convective storm loss growth since 2000 is due to non-weather factors such as exposure growth and costs, per Gallagher Re data cited by Triple-I. Source: Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I), 2000-2025 |
|---|---|
| More than $5.6 billion | State Farm paid more than $5.6 billion in hail claims in 2025, over $600 million more than in 2024. Source: Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I), 2025 |
The short answer is no: you should choose your own roofer if you want to, and you do not have to hire the roofer your insurance company recommends. In Colorado, an insurer may not require you to use a particular repair business, may not suggest that your choice will delay payment, and must tell you that you may choose any repair business you like (C.R.S. 10-4-120). Some homeowners do well with an insurer’s preferred contractor, especially when time matters most. But the decision is yours, and the right roofer is the one who will document all the damage, build to your city’s code, and still be there when you need the warranty.
What Colorado law says about choosing your roofer
Colorado’s repair-business law came out of a 2007 act on insurer referrals. Under it, an insurer or its agent:
- may not require repairs or appraisals to be made by a specified repair business;
- may not say that using, or not using, a particular repair business may mean nonpayment or delayed payment;
- may not intimidate, coerce or offer incentives to steer you to one business, other than for warranty repairs;
- may not take a referral fee for sending you to a repair business;
- must tell you that you may freely choose any repair business, and must disclose any ownership interest it has in one it recommends.
The insurer may still offer a list of contractors for you to consider. A list is fine. Pressure is not.
In Texas
The Texas Department of Insurance’s advice for repairs after a claim is to get estimates from more than one contractor, never sign a contract with blank spaces, and never pay in full upfront. Texas also bars any roofer doing your work from acting as your public adjuster or offering to waive your deductible. Those rules apply to every roofer, whether your insurer suggested them or you found them yourself.
How insurer vendor programs work, fairly stated
Insurance companies and their program managers sign up contractors who agree to the program’s pricing, timelines and paperwork. For the homeowner, that can mean:
- Upside: a faster start, a contractor already screened by the program, and fewer calls to arrange.
- Trade-off: the contractor has agreed to work within the insurer’s process. When they disagree with an adjuster’s scope, they have a reason to accept it rather than push for a review.
- Warranty: the insurer typically does not guarantee the work. Ask who honors the workmanship warranty if the contractor leaves the program.
Neither option is automatically better. What matters is whether the roofer you pick works for you.
A roofer is not an adjuster
Whoever you hire, the roles stay separate. Your insurer’s adjuster decides what the policy pays. A roofer inspects, documents, writes the scope and builds the roof. Colorado lets a roofer with a signed contract discuss the scope of repairs with your insurer, but no roofer may act as a public adjuster in Colorado or Texas. That is why we say we make sure nothing gets missed in the scope, and leave the claim with you. For the full picture, see roof damage insurance claims: who does what.
Why an independent second look can matter
Code details are where scopes come up short. In El Paso County, the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department requires an ice barrier on homes above 7,000 feet that runs from the edge of the eave to at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall. On a house with a 24-inch overhang and a thick stucco wall, one row of ice and water shield may not reach that line, so the roof needs two. A roofer who knows the local code, and who works for you, will put that in the scope. The same goes for Denver’s and each metro town’s permit rules, which we compare on our Denver roof replacement page, and for Austin’s permit exemptions on our Austin roof replacement page.
Questions to ask any roofer
- How long have you been in business, and where is your office?
- Are you licensed where I live? In El Paso County you can look up a contractor’s PPRBD license online.
- Will the contract be in writing, with the scope, materials, dates and costs? Colorado requires all of these.
- Who pulls the permit, and who requests the inspections?
- What warranties do I get, from whom, and for how long, in writing?
- Will you be at the adjuster meeting?
- Will you ever offer to cover my deductible? (The only right answer is no. See why no roofer can pay your deductible.)
If you already have a roofer you trust from earlier work, you do not need to interview five more. Bring that roofer in.
Choosing Integrity
Integrity Roofing and Painting is veteran-owned and family-run since 1990, an Owens Corning Platinum Preferred contractor with 650+ Google reviews, and our contract is with you. Book a free inspection in Colorado Springs, Denver or Austin, or call (719) 488-2800, (303) 209-0152 or (512) 610-5897. Then follow the claim process step by step.
Sources: C.R.S. 10-4-120, 6-22-103, 6-22-104, 6-22-105 (unofficial reproduction); Texas Department of Insurance, Steps to getting your claim paid and Roofing and insurance: know the law; PPRBD Reroofing Guidelines.
