They Silenced the People Who Help You After the Storm
Across the country, insurance industry lobbyists are pushing laws that make it illegal for your roofer to help you navigate the claims process — leaving homeowners alone against billion-dollar insurers.
ACTIVE LEGISLATION: Insurance industry-backed bills restricting contractor speech are advancing in multiple state legislatures right now. See what's happening in your state →
The Law They Don't Want You to Know About
After a major storm, homeowners face one of the most complex and adversarial processes in their lives: filing a property damage claim against an insurance company that has every financial incentive to pay as little as possible.
For decades, roofing contractors have helped homeowners through this process — walking them through the damage assessment, explaining what the insurance policy covers, and advocating on the homeowner's behalf during the claims process. This help is free to the homeowner and comes from the professional who knows the damage best.
Now, insurance industry lobbyists are pushing state legislatures to make that help illegal. Under these laws, a roofer who tells a homeowner "I can help you navigate the insurance claims process" faces civil fines of tens of thousands of dollars per violation.
The stated justification is consumer protection. The actual effect is to leave homeowners without their most knowledgeable advocate at the moment they need help most.
The Bottom Line
These laws do not protect homeowners. They protect insurers from the one professional who knows exactly what your roof damage is worth.
Who Is Behind These Laws — and Why
The insurance industry spent more than $150 million on state lobbying in 2024 alone. A significant portion of that spending targets legislation that limits what contractors, public adjusters, and other advocates can say and do on behalf of homeowners.
The industry frames these bills as anti-fraud measures. But the laws are written broadly enough to silence any contractor who offers to help a homeowner understand their claim — regardless of whether any fraud is involved.
When a roofer is prohibited from saying "I can help you with insurance," the homeowner is left to navigate a complex claims process alone. Underpaid claims go unchallenged. Insurers keep more money. Homeowners get less of what they paid for.
When the law silences the one person who knows your roof best, the only winner is the insurance company.
What the Courts Have Found
In Iowa, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals examined the state's restrictions on roofing contractor speech and reached a conclusion that the state's own press release did not mention: when Iowa prohibited Shamrock Hills Roofing from telling homeowners it could help them navigate the insurance claims process, Iowa "regulated speech as speech."
That finding triggered strict scrutiny — the highest constitutional standard of review. The court found that the district court's failure to analyze how Iowa actually applied these statutes to the contractor "was error."
The First Amendment does not disappear because a state calls contractor assistance "professional conduct" rather than speech. As the Eighth Circuit wrote: "The First Amendment is no word game. And the rights it protects cannot be renamed away or their protections nullified by 'mere labels.'"
The First Amendment is no word game. And the rights it protects cannot be renamed away or their protections nullified by 'mere labels.'
What Homeowners Deserve
The right to choose your own advocate
Homeowners should be free to ask their roofing contractor for help navigating the insurance claims process. That relationship is between the homeowner and the contractor — not the state and the insurance industry.
Repeal of contractor speech restrictions
Laws that prohibit contractors from offering to assist homeowners with insurance claims are not consumer protection — they are industry protection. We are pushing for their repeal in every state where they exist.
Transparency about who wrote these laws
Every homeowner deserves to know that the laws restricting contractor assistance were written with insurance industry money and lobbying. Legislators who vote for these bills should answer for that choice.
Federal baseline protections
Congress should establish a federal baseline that protects homeowners' right to receive assistance from contractors during the claims process — preventing a race to the bottom among states competing for insurance industry investment.
Where the Fight Is Happening
Insurance industry-backed contractor speech restrictions have been introduced or passed in states across the country. The map is growing. Here is what we know.
Iowa's restrictions on contractor speech were challenged in federal court. The Eighth Circuit reversed dismissal of the as-applied First Amendment claim and remanded for strict scrutiny review.
Florida passed sweeping property insurance legislation that includes restrictions on contractor solicitation and assignment of benefits — limiting homeowners' ability to authorize contractors to work directly with insurers.
Texas has seen repeated attempts to restrict contractor involvement in the insurance claims process. Homeowner advocates have pushed back, but industry-backed bills continue to advance.
Colorado legislators have introduced bills targeting contractor solicitation after hailstorms — one of the most common causes of roof damage in the state.
Louisiana passed legislation restricting assignment of benefits and contractor involvement in claims, compounding an already severe home insurance crisis in the state.
Georgia has seen insurance industry lobbying push for contractor speech restrictions following several high-hail seasons that generated significant claims volume.
Your Voice Changes Policy
Contact your legislators, sign the petition, and make sure they know homeowners are watching — and voting.