Roofers: asking for reviews after insurance jobs

After a hail storm, every homeowner on the street gets the same knock on the door. Some of the people knocking are good roofers. Some are not, and the homeowner knows it. The FTC’s advice to people hiring after a storm is blunt: “Use online review sites you trust to see what others are saying,” and search a contractor’s name with words like “scam,” “review” or “complaint” (FTC).

That makes your reviews from the last storm part of how you win the next one. Insurance jobs are also where review requests most easily go wrong, because the roof is only half of what the homeowner is dealing with.

What the homeowner is going through

A storm customer has a damaged house, an insurance claim, an adjuster’s visit, an estimate they may not understand, a deductible to pay and, often, a stack of flyers from contractors they have never heard of. The FTC warns them about contractors who “tell you to sign over your insurance check,” ask them to “pay for everything up front” or offer “a discount, but only if you sign a contract right away.” It also tells them: “Don’t rely on a contractor to tell you what’s covered.”

So the homeowner who chose you did it carefully, and is still watching. Anything in your review request that looks like a deal, a favor or a link to their claim reads as exactly the behavior they were warned about.

When to ask: after the roof and after the money

On a cash job, the roof is done when the crew leaves and the invoice is paid. On an insurance job, the paperwork can run on after the last shingle. Payments may come in stages, and a homeowner can be waiting on the insurer while your crew is already on the next street. Texas law gives one example of why: an insurer with replacement cost coverage “may refuse to pay a claim for withheld recoverable depreciation or a replacement cost holdback” until it receives reasonable proof that the homeowner paid the deductible (Texas Insurance Code 707.004).

A homeowner still chasing a check is not ready to write about you. Ask when three things are true:

1. The roof is finished, the yard is clean and you have done the final walkthrough together.
2. The homeowner has paid what they owe you. The FTC tells consumers to “never make the final payment until the work is done and you’re satisfied.” Once they have made it, they have told you something.
3. Nothing about the claim is waiting on you: no missing photos, invoices or certificates you promised to send.

If the insurer’s last payment drags on for reasons that have nothing to do with you, do not hold the request forever. Ask about the roof, once your own part is done, and say nothing about the claim.

Keep the review away from the claim

This is the rule that matters most on insurance work. The review is about how you did the job. It must not touch the deductible, the supplement, the insurer’s check or the warranty paperwork.

• No discounts, credits or gifts for a review. Google bans incentives “such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services” in exchange for any review (Google). The FTC rule bans incentives conditioned on a positive review, and FTC staff give this example of an implied condition: “Tell us how much you loved your visit to John’s Steakhouse and get a $5 coupon” (FTC).
• Watch the deductible in particular. In Texas, a seller paid from insurance proceeds commits an offense if, without the insurer’s consent, it provides “a rebate or credit in connection with the sale of the good or service that offsets all or part of the amount paid by the insured as a deductible.” It is a Class B misdemeanor, and contracts of $1,000 or more paid from a property claim must carry a notice about these rules (Texas Business and Commerce Code 27.02). A “review credit” or “marketing allowance” that lowers what the homeowner pays out of pocket on a claim job looks a lot like that credit. Other states have their own rules; check yours before you offer anything at all.
• Do not make the request part of the contract, the warranty registration or the final invoice terms. A review that feels like a condition is not a genuine one.

One more group to leave out: the people around the claim. Google treats content “based on a conflict of interest” as rating manipulation, including “a contractual or consultory relationship.” The adjuster, a public adjuster you work with, your material supplier and your subcontractors should not be reviewing you. Your customer is the homeowner.

What to say at the final walkthrough

Walk the roof line with the homeowner, show them the flashing and the cleanup, hand over the warranty. Then one sentence:

“I’ll text you a link for a Google review in the next day or two. Folks around here read them after every storm, so it helps.”

Then leave. Google’s policy says merchants should not “require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews while on the premises,” and a homeowner standing in their driveway with your crew watching is under some pressure whether you mean it or not.

Four texts to copy

Copy your link from your Business Profile under Read reviews, then Get more reviews (Google). Our guide to your Google review link explains how to check it.

1. Insurance roof replacement, after final payment

Hi [first name], it’s [your name] from [business]. Thanks again for trusting us with your roof after the storm. If you have a few minutes, an honest Google review helps your neighbors pick a roofer: [link]

2. The claim is still open, your part is done

Hi [first name], [your name] at [business]. I know the insurance side is still moving, so this is only about our work on the roof. If you’d like to share how the job went on Google, here is the link: [link]

3. After an emergency tarp and the permanent repair

Hi [first name], [your name] from [business]. Glad the [roof / chimney flashing] is properly fixed now, not just tarped. If you are willing, a Google review about the job helps us a lot: [link]

4. One reminder, a few days later, only if no review came in

Hi [first name], [your name] again. Sending the link once more in case it got buried: [link]. And if anything about the roof isn’t right, reply here and we’ll come back out.

Notice what none of them say: nothing about the deductible, the insurer, stars or what to write. That is deliberate.

An example

A roofing company finishes an insurance replacement on a Thursday. The homeowner pays the deductible and the first insurance check that week, and the company still has to send the final invoice the insurer needs to release the depreciation. The owner mentions the review at the walkthrough but waits to send the text until the day after the final invoice goes out. Nothing in the text refers to the claim.

The short version

1. Finish the roof and the walkthrough.
2. Get your own paperwork to the homeowner and the insurer.
3. Mention the review once, in person, and leave.
4. Text the link when the money side is settled, and say nothing about the claim.
5. Offer nothing in return, not even on the deductible.

For timing on other jobs, see review request timing. For the federal rule on rewards, read should you pay for reviews?. And because insurance disputes sometimes end in a bad review anyway, keep how to respond to a bad Google review close.