Who is actually allowed to argue your claim
Three different people can be involved in a Missouri roof claim and they have three entirely different sets of permissions. Contractors get this wrong in their advertising constantly, in both directions, and homeowners end up either overpaying for something they could do themselves or relying on somebody who is not allowed to do it.
The statute, in full
"A contractor shall not represent or negotiate, or offer or advertise to represent or negotiate, on behalf of an owner or possessor of real estate on any insurance claim in connection with the repair or replacement of roof systems."
RSMo 407.725(6)
Read the verbs. It is not only doing it that is barred. Offering to do it is barred, and advertising that you will do it is barred, which means the sentence on a roofing company's website is itself the violation whether or not anybody ever acts on it. RSMo 407.725(7) then makes a violation of the section an unfair practice under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, which carries private action exposure rather than a polite letter.
The same section bars a roofing contractor from advertising or promising to pay, waive, absorb or rebate all or part of an insurance deductible. That prohibition exists because a contractor who makes the deductible disappear is usually recovering it by inflating the invoice sent to the insurer, and the homeowner who signed that invoice is a party to it.
Three roles, three sets of permissions
Scroll the table sideways on a phone.
| Task | Roofing contractor | Licensed public adjuster | You |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get on the roof and photograph it | Yes | Yes | Yes, carefully |
| Measure it and write a priced scope | Yes, this is the core of the job | Yes | Rarely practical |
| Be present when the adjuster inspects | Yes, on site as the contractor | Yes | Yes |
| Submit the claim and correspond with the insurer | No. RSMo 407.725(6) bars it | Yes | Yes |
| Argue the amount of the loss for you | No. RSMo 407.725(6) bars it | Yes, this is the job | Yes |
| Charge a percentage of the settlement | No | Yes, and Missouri sets no cap on the percentage | Not applicable |
| Do the repair work on the same claim | Yes | No. RSMo 325.055 bars it | Not applicable |
| Sue the insurer | No | No | Yes, through a lawyer |
What a public adjuster actually is
A separate licensed profession, regulated under Missouri's insurance statutes at chapter 325. They must be licensed and bonded, and they work for the policyholder rather than the carrier, which is the whole point of them. On a large or genuinely contested loss they can be worth every penny of their fee, because they do this daily and you do it once a decade.
Three things to know before you sign one up. First, Missouri sets no cap on the fee, so whatever percentage is printed on the contract is the deal, and percentages in this trade vary far more than people expect. Second, there is a three business day right to cancel a public adjuster contract, which exists precisely because these agreements get signed on driveways in the week after a storm. Third, RSMo 325.055 bars a public adjuster from performing the repair work on a claim they adjusted, which is the structural protection: the person arguing what the repair is worth cannot also be the person selling you the repair.
If somebody arrives offering to do both, one of those two roles is being misrepresented.
How to hear the violation
These are the sentences that should stop the conversation. All of them appear on Missouri roofing websites today, and each one describes something a contractor may not offer here.
- "We work directly with your insurance company"A Missouri roofing contractor may not act for you with your insurer on the claim. What it may do is be on the roof as the contractor while the adjuster inspects, which is a different sentence and an honest one.
- "We handle the whole claim so you do not have to"Barred by RSMo 407.725(6), including the offer and including the advertisement.
- "We will get your deductible covered"Barred, and the mechanism behind it is usually an invoice that does not describe the real price of the work.
- "Insurance claim specialists"A title that describes a service a roofing contractor may not provide in this state.
- "We will fight them for you"That is a public adjuster's job or a lawyer's job. It is never the roofer's job here.
Not legal advice
This page describes what Missouri statutes say. It does not tell you whether to hire anybody, and it is not a substitute for advice about your own claim from a lawyer or a licensed public adjuster.
Documentation, in your name, whether or not you hire anyone
Keys Roofing is a roofing, gutter and downspout company working in greater St. Louis, and that is the only part of Missouri it can send anyone to. If your house is outside that radius, use the guide and hire locally. Nothing here changes based on where you live.
What an inspection produces is a set of photographs, slope by slope measurements and a written scope of the work the roof needs. You keep that file. If there is a claim in your story, the claim stays in your name and in your hands: under RSMo 407.725 a Missouri roofing contractor shall not represent or negotiate an owner's insurance claim, and Keys does not. The contractor's job is to document the roof accurately and to be on the roof as the contractor when the adjuster inspects it.
Ask for a roof inspection
Goes to Keys Roofing. Greater St. Louis only. No obligation, and no part of this form asks anything about your policy limits.
Nothing you type here is sent to any insurer, and nobody from Keys will contact one on your behalf.