What does Texas Insurance Code chapter 707 actually require?

Chapter 707, in force since 1 September 2019, states the rule in one sentence at section 707.002: a person insured under a property insurance policy must pay any deductible applicable to a first-party claim. It also lets an insurer withhold recoverable depreciation on a replacement-cost policy until you show reasonable proof you paid that deductible (section 707.004). Chapter 707 does not itself list contractor penalties; the criminal half of this rule sits in a companion statute, Business & Commerce Code section 27.02, covered next.

Can a roofer waive, absorb or rebate my insurance deductible in Texas?

No. Business & Commerce Code section 27.02, the statute the Texas Department of Insurance cites alongside chapter 707 in its own consumer guidance, makes it a Class B misdemeanor for anyone selling goods or services to advertise or agree to pay, waive, absorb or rebate a property-insurance deductible, or to help you avoid paying it in any other way, without your insurer's consent. A roofer who offers to make your deductible disappear is offering you a crime, not a discount.

Does chapter 707 mean I have to pay my full deductible no matter what?

Yes, on a first-party property claim under section 707.002, the deductible is the policyholder's bill, not a number a contractor can negotiate away. Section 27.02 does carve out one legal path: a seller can pay, waive or rebate a deductible if the insurer consents in writing. Absent that written insurer consent, treat any deductible-waiver offer as the same thing the statute treats it as.

What is the difference between ACV and RCV on a roof claim?

RCV, replacement cost value, pays what the roof actually costs to replace, usually releasing the withheld depreciation once the work is documented as done. ACV, actual cash value, subtracts depreciation for the roof's age up front and never gives it back, so an older shingle roof on an ACV policy can be worth well under its replacement cost before the deductible even comes off. Our hail claim calculator runs this arithmetic for a percentage or flat deductible on either policy type.

Can a roofer negotiate my claim or act as my adjuster?

Not legally, and not for pay. Public adjusting in Texas is a licence-holding profession under Insurance Code chapter 4102, and a contractor negotiating your settlement without that credential is practicing outside its lane. A roofer's legitimate role on a claim-driven job is the inspection, a written scope of the damage and the repair itself, not the phone call that sets your payout.

What should a legitimate insurance-claim roof estimate include?

The same things I look for before any company reaches this site's ranking: the material and manufacturer line named specifically, tear-off priced as its own line with a layer count, the city's permit line item shown as what it costs (not folded into "permits and fees"), a written workmanship warranty term, and the contractor's city registration number where the city requires one. An estimate that skips straight to "we'll handle it all with your insurance" and never itemizes those lines is missing the paperwork a real claim needs.

What are the storm-chaser red flags on an insurance-claim roof?

An unsolicited door-knock right after a hailstorm from a company you cannot find operating locally before that storm. An illegal offer to cover your deductible, the section 27.02 violation described above, stated as a sales pitch. Pressure to sign an assignment of benefits or a contract before an adjuster has even inspected the roof. And a company with no BBB history under its current name: our hand-check of every roster BBB profile on 24 August 2026 is exactly this kind of check, and it is what caught one roster company advertising 25-plus years of experience against a BBB start date consistent with about ten years under its current name.

Should I call my insurer or a roofer first after storm damage?

Get a documented inspection first: photos, a written scope and a repair estimate, so you can run the deductible and ACV/RCV arithmetic before a claim enters your history. Filing a claim that nets little or nothing over the deductible still shows up on your claims record even if the insurer pays it.

Where do I check whether a Texas roofing company is actually credentialed?

Texas has no state roofing license, so a license claim by itself proves nothing. Our legit-check guide walks through the seven public records that do mean something: city permit history, BBB grade and complaints, city contractor registration, RCAT's voluntary license, years under the same name, the review base, and chapter 707 red flags in the pitch itself.

What does an insurance-claim roof replacement actually cost?

The claim changes who writes the check, not the underlying job cost. Each metro's cost page has the sourced local per-square rates for a shingle or tile tear-off and replacement; a claim payout still has to clear the ACV/RCV and deductible arithmetic above before it covers that number.

Texas Roof Insurance Claims: What Chapter 707 Actually Says

Key insight, checked 26 September 2026: Texas Insurance Code section 707.002 puts the deductible on the policyholder in one plain sentence, and a separate statute, Business & Commerce Code section 27.02, makes it a Class B misdemeanor for a contractor to advertise or agree to pay, waive, absorb or rebate that deductible without your insurer's written consent. What it means for you: it is illegal for a contractor to cover your deductible as a sales incentive, so an estimate that leads with that offer is not a discount, it is a company advertising a crime as a selling point, and it tells you nothing good about anything else on that estimate.

The Statute, In Its Own Words

Chapter 707 is short. Section 707.002 reads: “A person insured under a property insurance policy shall pay any deductible applicable to a first-party claim made under the policy.” Section 707.004 lets an insurer that writes replacement-cost coverage withhold the recoverable depreciation on a claim until it gets reasonable proof you actually paid that deductible, a canceled check or similar. That is the entire substance of chapter 707 itself: it obligates the homeowner, not the contractor.

The contractor-facing penalty most people mean when they say “chapter 707” actually lives in a different statute, Business & Commerce Code section 27.02, which the Texas Department of Insurance cites alongside chapter 707 in its own consumer bulletins. That section makes it a criminal offense for anyone selling goods or services to advertise, promise, or actually pay, waive, absorb, or rebate a property-insurance deductible, or to help a customer avoid paying it any other way, unless the insurer consents. It also requires any contract over $1,000 paid from insurance proceeds to carry a specific boldfaced notice stating this. Read either statute yourself in the Sources list below; both are short.

What This Means When You Read An Estimate

Two red flags come straight out of the statute text. First, any offer to cover, waive, discount, or rebate your deductible without your insurer's written sign-off is the section 27.02 offense being pitched to you as a perk. Second, if your policy pays replacement cost value, expect the insurer to hold back the depreciation portion until you can show you actually paid your deductible; a contractor who tells you that requirement does not apply to your policy is wrong or is guessing.

Beyond the deductible rule, the same checks I run before a company reaches this site's ranking apply to a claim estimate. I want the material and manufacturer line named specifically, tear-off priced on its own line with a stated layer count, the City's $25 permit line shown as what it is rather than folded into a vague fees line, a written workmanship-warranty term, and the contractor's City registration number. An estimate that jumps straight to “we'll handle everything with your insurance” and skips those line items has told you it is optimized for the adjuster call, not for the roof.

ACV vs. RCV, Because The Deductible Is Only Half The Arithmetic

RCV, replacement cost value, pays what the roof costs to replace once the work is documented, releasing withheld depreciation after the fact. ACV, actual cash value, subtracts depreciation for the roof's age immediately and never returns it, so an older shingle roof on an ACV policy can be worth well under its replacement cost before your deductible is even subtracted. Which one your policy carries changes whether filing a claim nets you anything at all. Run your own deductible, depreciation and ACV/RCV numbers on the hail claim calculator, which does exactly this math for a percentage or flat deductible against either policy type, before you call your insurer.

What I Look For Before A Claim-Chasing Pitch, Not After

I hand-checked the BBB profile of every one of the 31 companies on this site's ranking on 24 August 2026, rather than trusting a directory badge, and storm-adjacent marketing is exactly where that check earns its keep. That same pass caught one roster company advertising 25-plus years of experience on its own site against a BBB profile showing a business-start date consistent with about ten years under its current name. The pattern chapter 707 exists to interrupt is the same one that inflated-experience claim points at: a company that shows up heaviest right after a hailstorm and is hardest to find a verifiable history for is the one most likely to be gone before a workmanship warranty ever gets tested. A company that has traded under its current name for years, files its own City permits, and does not lead with a deductible offer is telling you the opposite.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Texas Insurance Code chapter 707 actually require?: Chapter 707, in force since 1 September 2019, states the rule in one sentence at section 707.002: a person insured under a property insurance policy must pay any deductible applicable to a first-party claim. It also lets an insurer withhold recoverable depreciation on a replacement-cost policy until you show reasonable proof you paid that deductible (section 707.004). Chapter 707 does not itself list contractor penalties; the criminal half of this rule sits in a companion statute, Business & Commerce Code section 27.02, covered next.
Can a roofer waive, absorb or rebate my insurance deductible in Texas?: No. Business & Commerce Code section 27.02, the statute the Texas Department of Insurance cites alongside chapter 707 in its own consumer guidance, makes it a Class B misdemeanor for anyone selling goods or services to advertise or agree to pay, waive, absorb or rebate a property-insurance deductible, or to help you avoid paying it in any other way, without your insurer's consent. A roofer who offers to make your deductible disappear is offering you a crime, not a discount.
Does chapter 707 mean I have to pay my full deductible no matter what?: Yes, on a first-party property claim under section 707.002, the deductible is the policyholder's bill, not a number a contractor can negotiate away. Section 27.02 does carve out one legal path: a seller can pay, waive or rebate a deductible if the insurer consents in writing. Absent that written insurer consent, treat any deductible-waiver offer as the same thing the statute treats it as.
What is the difference between ACV and RCV on a roof claim?: RCV, replacement cost value, pays what the roof actually costs to replace, usually releasing the withheld depreciation once the work is documented as done. ACV, actual cash value, subtracts depreciation for the roof's age up front and never gives it back, so an older shingle roof on an ACV policy can be worth well under its replacement cost before the deductible even comes off. Our hail claim calculator runs this arithmetic for a percentage or flat deductible on either policy type.
Can a roofer negotiate my claim or act as my adjuster?: Not legally, and not for pay. Public adjusting in Texas is a licence-holding profession under Insurance Code chapter 4102, and a contractor negotiating your settlement without that credential is practicing outside its lane. A roofer's legitimate role on a claim-driven job is the inspection, a written scope of the damage and the repair itself, not the phone call that sets your payout.
What should a legitimate insurance-claim roof estimate include?: The same things I look for before any company reaches this site's ranking: the material and manufacturer line named specifically, tear-off priced as its own line with a layer count, the city's permit line item shown as what it costs (not folded into "permits and fees"), a written workmanship warranty term, and the contractor's city registration number where the city requires one. An estimate that skips straight to "we'll handle it all with your insurance" and never itemizes those lines is missing the paperwork a real claim needs.
What are the storm-chaser red flags on an insurance-claim roof?: An unsolicited door-knock right after a hailstorm from a company you cannot find operating locally before that storm. An illegal offer to cover your deductible, the section 27.02 violation described above, stated as a sales pitch. Pressure to sign an assignment of benefits or a contract before an adjuster has even inspected the roof. And a company with no BBB history under its current name: our hand-check of every roster BBB profile on 24 August 2026 is exactly this kind of check, and it is what caught one roster company advertising 25-plus years of experience against a BBB start date consistent with about ten years under its current name.
Should I call my insurer or a roofer first after storm damage?: Get a documented inspection first: photos, a written scope and a repair estimate, so you can run the deductible and ACV/RCV arithmetic before a claim enters your history. Filing a claim that nets little or nothing over the deductible still shows up on your claims record even if the insurer pays it.
Where do I check whether a Texas roofing company is actually credentialed?: Texas has no state roofing license, so a license claim by itself proves nothing. Our legit-check guide walks through the seven public records that do mean something: city permit history, BBB grade and complaints, city contractor registration, RCAT's voluntary license, years under the same name, the review base, and chapter 707 red flags in the pitch itself.
What does an insurance-claim roof replacement actually cost?: The claim changes who writes the check, not the underlying job cost. Each metro's cost page has the sourced local per-square rates for a shingle or tile tear-off and replacement; a claim payout still has to clear the ACV/RCV and deductible arithmetic above before it covers that number.

Sources

Texas Insurance Code, chapter 707 (Payment of Insurance Deductible). Sections 707.002 and 707.004, effective 1 September 2019. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/IN/htm/IN.707.htm. Checked 26 September 2026.
Texas Business & Commerce Code, section 27.02 (Goods or Services Paid For By Insurance Proceeds: Payment of Deductible Required), amended effective 1 September 2019. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/BC/htm/BC.27.htm. Checked 26 September 2026.
Texas Department of Insurance, Commissioner's Bulletin B-0007-25 (10 July 2025), citing Insurance Code chapter 707 and Business & Commerce Code section 27.02 together: “It is illegal for contractors to offer to waive a deductible or promise a rebate for all or part of a deductible.” https://www.tdi.texas.gov/bulletins/2025/b-0007-25.html.
Texas Insurance Code, chapter 4102 (public insurance adjuster licensing). https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/IN/htm/IN.4102.htm.
Better Business Bureau. Company profiles linked from each company page on this site, hand-checked 24 August 2026.

Texas Roof Insurance Claims:What Chapter 707 Actually Says