ACV vs RCV on a roof claim

The first insurance check is not the price of the roof. On a replacement-cost policy the carrier pays actual cash value up front and holds the depreciation until the work is done. If you never ask for that second check, you did part of the job for free.

1. What the two numbers mean

Replacement cost is today's price to put the roof back, same kind of material. Actual cash value is that price minus the age of the roof that came off. A carrier will depreciate a 12-year shingle hard. That does not mean the job is worth the smaller number. It means the smaller number is the first check.

2. A normal claim, with the deductible in it

Take an adjuster figure of $18,400 to replace the roof, $6,200 of depreciation, and a $1,000 deductible.

The first check is $11,200. That is $18,400, minus $6,200, minus $1,000.

You tear off, you install, you send the invoice and the photos they asked for. Then the $6,200 comes. Some desks want a certificate of completion. Get the list before you close the job, not after the crew is on the next one.

The $1,000 is the homeowner's. It is not in either check. Waiving it to get the signature is how you lose the carrier, and in a lot of states it is against the law. Leave it on the contract as their share.

3. Where it actually gets lost

Nobody is stealing it. The ACV lands, the roof gets built, and the depreciation has no due date, so it sits. By the time someone remembers, the homeowner has spent the first check and does not want to call the adjuster.

The other one is the supplement. The adjuster walked the front slope. You get up there and find a second layer, a steep charge, or ice and water the code requires and the estimate skipped. If it is not written up, with photos, it is not on the claim. On a full replacement that is often more money than the deductible.

4. Put the three numbers on the job the day the estimate arrives

RCV, depreciation, deductible, and the date you will ask for the second check. If those live in a text thread, they die there.

On Skallix, insurance claims are part of the job on Basic and Pro, so the amount still out is on the record after the first check clears. Starter does not include claims.