9 Line Items Routinely Missing From Your Insurance Roof Estimate

Insurance adjusters are not the enemy. Most are doing their best with a heavy caseload and estimating software that generates a scope from templates. But templates miss things, and the same things get missed repeatedly.

If your approved estimate doesn't cover a correct installation, that isn't a reason to cut corners on your roof. It's a reason to file a supplement. Here are the nine omissions we document most often on Indianapolis claims.

1. Drip edge

Metal flashing along your eaves and rakes that directs water into the gutter instead of behind the fascia. Without it, water wicks back under the shingle edge and rots the fascia board and decking edge.

It's required by current code in most applications and it's inexpensive — yet it's one of the most commonly omitted items we see. It's also frequently listed for eaves only, when rakes need it too.

2. Ice and water shield

A self-adhering membrane at eaves, valleys, and around penetrations that seals around fasteners and blocks water backing up from ice dams. In our climate this is not optional — Indiana winters produce exactly the freeze-thaw conditions it exists for.

Estimates often include generic underlayment while omitting ice and water shield entirely. They are different products doing different jobs.

3. Chimney crickets

A small peaked structure built on the upslope side of a chimney to divert water around it rather than letting it pool against the masonry. Code generally requires one on chimneys above a certain width.

Crickets are almost never in an initial estimate. And a chimney without one, on a wide chimney, is a recurring leak that will keep coming back no matter how many times someone re-flashes it.

4. Step and counter flashing

Where a roof meets a vertical wall or chimney, water needs a layered metal path out. Estimates frequently show "flashing" as a single line without distinguishing step flashing, counter flashing, or apron flashing — or assume existing flashing can be reused.

Reusing old flashing on a new roof is a false economy. It's bent, it's fatigued, and it's the most common leak point on any roof.

5. New pipe boots

The rubber collars sealing plumbing vent penetrations. The rubber is typically the first thing on a roof to fail — often cracking years before the shingles wear out.

Estimates sometimes budget for "resealing" existing boots. Caulking a cracked boot is a temporary patch, not a repair. New roof, new boots.

6. Ventilation

Ridge vents, box vents, or soffit intake — sized to your attic volume. Many older homes were built with inadequate ventilation, and simply replicating what's there perpetuates the problem that aged the last roof prematurely.

Correct ventilation requires balanced intake and exhaust. Adding a ridge vent with no soffit intake accomplishes very little.

7. Decking replacement allowance

Nobody can see the condition of your sheathing until the old roofing comes off. A responsible estimate includes a per-sheet allowance so there's no argument mid-project.

When there's no allowance and rotted decking appears, you get a change order at the worst possible moment — with your roof already open.

8. Detached structures

Sheds, detached garages, barns, pole buildings, and gazebos. Hail does not distinguish between your house and your shed. Detached structures fall under a separate policy provision and get overlooked routinely — especially when an adjuster inspected before a homeowner mentioned the outbuilding.

We had a recent claim where a hail-damaged shed was missed entirely on the initial inspection and added later once documented. It was real damage from the same storm. It simply hadn't been looked at.

9. Code upgrade coverage

Many policies include coverage for bringing a repaired or replaced roof up to current code. Since code has changed substantially over the decades, an older roof often requires upgrades the original build never had.

This coverage exists in your policy. It frequently doesn't appear in the initial estimate. Check your declarations page for ordinance or law coverage.

How to handle an incomplete estimate

Get a copy of the full adjuster estimate — every page, not the summary. You are entitled to it.

Have a roofer review it line by line against what a correct installation actually requires. We do this at no charge, including on claims where the homeowner ultimately uses someone else.

Understand that a supplement is normal. It is a routine part of the claims process, not a confrontation. Carriers process supplements constantly.

Support it with documentation, not opinion. Photos, measurements, code references, and a written technical explanation of why each item is necessary.

What we won't do

We won't pad a supplement with items your roof doesn't need. We won't invent damage. And we won't offer to cover your deductible, because that's insurance fraud and it puts your policy and your standing at risk.

What we will do is make sure the approved scope actually pays for a roof installed correctly.

Have an estimate you'd like a second set of eyes on? Send it over or call (317) 822-1846. We'll walk you through it line by line, free, with no obligation.