How To File a Roof Insurance Claim in Louisiana

By Acadiana Roof Restoration LLC | Scott, LA | Veteran-Owned | IBHS FORTIFIED Certified | NRCIA Forensic Roof Inspector

The Law That Governs Your Claim

Louisiana Revised Statute 22:1892 sets the deadlines your insurer must meet on a property claim. Most Louisiana homeowners have never read it, and insurers rarely volunteer the timelines.

14 days. The insurer must initiate loss adjustment within 14 days of being notified of your loss, except in the case of catastrophic loss.

30 days. For a non-catastrophic claim, the insurer must pay within 30 days of receiving satisfactory written proof of loss.

90 days. Act 3 of 2024, signed 7 May 2024 and effective 1 July 2024, extended the payment window to 90 days for catastrophic claims.

The Penalty Most Homeowners Never Invoke

If the insurer fails to meet those deadlines and the failure is found to be arbitrary, capricious, or without probable cause, the penalty is 50 percent of the amount due, or 50 percent of the difference between what was timely paid and what was actually owed, plus proven economic damages, attorney fees, and costs.

That is a substantial lever. It is also why documenting the exact date you submitted proof of loss matters. Without a dated record you cannot establish that a deadline was missed.

Your Filing Deadline

Most Louisiana policies require the claim to be filed within one year of the date of loss. That clock runs from the storm date, not from when you noticed the damage. A leak that appears eight months after a hurricane is still tied to the hurricane date.

If your claim is denied, you generally have one year from denial to bring suit. Check your specific policy, since some carry shorter windows.

Filing, Step By Step

1. Document before you touch anything. Wide shots of all elevations, close shots of specific damage, interior water intrusion, attic. Date stamped.

2. Notify the carrier and write down everything. Claim number, adjuster name and direct number, deductible type and amount, and the date of notification. That date starts the 14 day clock.

3. Mitigate and keep receipts. Tarping and temporary repairs are usually reimbursable and are required of you by the policy.

4. Have a licensed roofer meet the adjuster. This is the highest leverage step available to you. The adjuster is measuring on behalf of the carrier. A roofer on the same roof at the same time catches what a single walk-around misses.

5. Submit written proof of loss and record the date. The 30 or 90 day payment clock starts here, and only a dated submission proves it.

6. Read the scope, not just the number. Carriers itemize in Xactimate. Underpayment usually hides in omitted line items rather than in a low unit price.

Supplements: Where Underpaid Claims Get Corrected

An initial estimate frequently omits items that are genuinely owed: drip edge, ice and water shield where code requires it, ridge venting, starter course, steep or high charges, code upgrade allowances, and detach and reset of solar or satellite equipment.

A supplement is a formal request to revise the scope with documentation supporting each line. This is ordinary claims practice, not an adversarial act, and it is where most underpaid Louisiana roof claims are made whole.

ACV Versus RCV

Replacement cost value pays what it costs to replace the roof at today's prices. Actual cash value pays that figure minus depreciation. On an RCV policy the carrier typically releases the depreciation holdback after the work is completed and invoiced, which means failing to submit the final invoice leaves real money unclaimed.

How Acadiana Roof Restoration Supports a Claim

Our inspector holds NRCIA forensic roof inspector credentials. We produce geo-tagged documentation, meet the adjuster on site, and review the Xactimate scope line by line against what the roof actually requires. We are a licensed Louisiana contractor with a physical address at 211 Hulco Drive in Scott, not a storm chaser working out of a truck.