The letter says wear and tear. Or the scope, which is the adjuster’s written estimate of what the company will pay, covers one slope when the hail hit four. Those are two different problems, and no statute tells you to answer them in a set order. If your claim has not been decided yet, start on the storm damage page. This one is for after the letter arrives. None of it is legal advice, and a roofer cannot negotiate any of it for you.
Why a roof claim gets denied or underpaid
The letter is one of two things. A coverage denial says the loss is not covered: wear and tear rather than storm, damage from an earlier storm, dents on a metal roof under a cosmetic-damage endorsement, or notice that came too late. That is an argument about evidence, and the hail versus wind damage guide covers the test squares and soft-metal dents that separate a storm from age. The other letter is a short scope: the loss is covered and the company values it lower than you do, one slope instead of four, no ice barrier on the low-pitch section, no permit fee. That is an argument about a number, and appraisal reaches only this second kind.
Wisconsin has no matching law. The Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI), the state agency that regulates insurers, says a company must pay to replace the part of the roof the wind damaged and not the part it did not, and the Court of Appeals has read “like kind and quality” to mean reasonably comparable rather than an exact match (Farmers Automobile Insurance Association v. Union Pacific, 2008, affirmed 2009). Whether all four slopes qualify is what the adjuster’s hit count decides, so document each separately and put the mismatch photos in the supplement.
Getting the written basis for a denied roof claim
Three things go in writing, and none waits on the others.
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Ask for the basis. Ask in writing. Wis. Admin. Code Ins 6.11(3)(a)5 makes it an unfair claim practice to fail, on request, to explain promptly which part of the policy or which law a denial or a reduced offer rests on, and Ins 6.11(4) defines prompt as responsive action within 10 days. Quote the rule and name the section you want addressed.
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Ask for a re-inspection. Ins 6.11 lists failure “to initiate and conclude a claims investigation with all reasonable dispatch,” but no statute gives you a right to a second adjuster visit, so this is a request. Attach the dated photographs and written damage report from the free inspection so the company has something specific to answer. With your express consent we can be on the roof for that visit, one of the two things Wis. Stat. 100.65 lets a roofer do.
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Supplement the scope. When the loss is covered and the number is short, the supplement is a written estimate submitted to your carrier with your consent, matched to what the scope left out. Proof of loss is the form the company sends you, or the signed, sworn statement the policy lets it request. Once both are in its hands, the 30-day payment clock below runs on any undisputed part.
Using the appraisal clause when the roof scope is underpaid
Appraisal decides how much, not whether. The wording below is the industry sample homeowner form, and a Wisconsin policy is that form plus the carrier’s state endorsement, so read the Appraisal condition in your own Section I Conditions first. If it is not there, appraisal is not an option.
Either side may demand it once you and the company fail to agree on the amount of loss. Each side picks an appraiser, the two pick an umpire, a court of record appoints one if they cannot agree (Wis. Stat. 631.85), and a decision by any two of the three sets the amount. You pay your own appraiser and split the umpire and other costs. The form asks for a “competent and impartial” appraiser and does not define impartial, so a contractor who bid the work is the obvious target for a challenge; confirm with your carrier or a lawyer before naming one.
A flat coverage denial usually does not reach appraisal at all. This is also one of the two places where order matters: Wis. Stat. 631.83(5) stops the lawsuit clock while an appraisal runs, but agreeing to meet and discuss does not count (Wieting Funeral Home, 2004), so get the demand and the acceptance in writing.
Filing a complaint with the Wisconsin insurance commissioner
Go to the company first and to OCI when the answers stop. File online at oci.wi.gov/complaints with the company’s exact name, the adjuster’s name, the policy and claim numbers, the loss date, and copies of the letters and photos. The company then has 20 days plus mailing time to explain itself, and OCI reviews the answer against Wisconsin law.
What OCI will not do matters as much: it will not act as your lawyer, establish the facts of the loss, or value the claim. A company that never answered your written request, or has sat on a completed proof of loss for months, is an OCI complaint; a disagreement over whether the north slope has eight hits or six belongs in appraisal.
How long you have to sue on a Wisconsin roof claim
Write the storm date at the top of the file and count 12 months forward. That is your outside limit for starting a suit on the policy, windstorm and hail included, and it runs from the day of the storm, not the day you found the damage (Wis. Stat. 631.83(1)(a), and Borgen, 1993).
That clock runs whichever option you are working on, and it does not wait for the company. After a regional event the adjuster’s first visit here can be two to six weeks out, and a re-inspection, a supplement and a complaint each add weeks. The May 15, 2025 hail across Eau Claire and Altoona shows a clock that has already run: it closed in May 2026, and the April 28, 2025 tornadoes closed that April. For those homeowners, late notice under Wis. Stat. 631.81 and a bad-faith claim are separate questions with their own clocks.
The other rule that turns on order is a wait: 631.83(4) bars a suit until 60 days after you furnish proof of loss, the company waives it, or it denies full payment, whichever comes first. Call a lawyer while appraisal or the complaint is still running.
One deadline runs against the company. Under Wis. Stat. 628.46 a claim is overdue if it is unpaid 30 days after the insurer has written notice of the loss and its amount, or 30 days after it has your proof of loss, and overdue amounts carry 7.5 percent simple interest. But nothing is overdue while the insurer has reasonable proof it is not responsible, which the courts treat as any coverage question that is fairly debatable, so the interest is leverage on an agreed amount, not on a denial.
What a roofer can and cannot do on your claim
Wis. Stat. 100.65 is the storm-chaser law, and it binds us the same as a crew from three states away. No residential contractor may represent you, negotiate for you, or advertise that it will, on any roof or exterior insurance claim, and none may promise to pay, rebate, or credit any part of your deductible, including in an ad. The penalty is a $500 to $1,000 forfeiture per violation, collected by the state rather than paid to you; report one to DATCP at (800) 422-7128.
What it permits, with your express consent, is discussing the damage with the adjuster, and providing an estimate and submitting it to your insurer. That is the whole of what we do on a claim: the free storm inspection, the photographs and written damage report, attendance at the adjuster visit when you ask, and an estimate you asked us to submit.
If the claim is denied in whole or in part after you signed a roofing contract the insurance was going to pay, 100.65(5) lets you cancel through the end of the third business day after the written denial reaches you, and a mailed notice only has to be postmarked by then. Every payment, deposit, and note comes back within 10 days, any cancellation fee is unenforceable, and the only thing you still owe is emergency work you acknowledged in writing as necessary. The contract has to carry that right in boldface type of at least 10 points with a detachable cancellation form attached; one without them is the first sign to walk away.
The statute says “denied in whole or in part.” Whether a scope that pays less than your contract price counts as a partial denial is not answered anywhere we can cite, so here is our answer: our repair scope and cost follow the insurance estimate, and we tell you before you file whether the claim is worth making. After the third business day that right is gone and the contract governs, so ask any roofer, us included, to put its answer in writing first.