What Are Roofing Supplements? The Complete Guide for Contractors

What Are Roofing Supplements? The Complete Guide

If you're a storm restoration contractor and the phrase "roofing supplements" doesn't make you pay attention, you're leaving thousands of dollars on the table with every job.

Roofing supplements — also called roof supplements, insurance supplements, or supplemental claims — are the formal process of requesting additional payment from an insurance carrier for line items that were missed, underscoped, or underpriced on the initial claim estimate.

This isn't about inflating claims. It's about getting paid for legitimate, code-required, manufacturer-specified work that the adjuster overlooked. And it happens on 78% of initial insurance estimates.

This guide covers everything: what roofing insurance supplements are, how the process works, when to file them, what roofing supplement companies do, and whether you should outsource or handle supplements in-house.

What Is a Roofing Insurance Supplement?

A roofing insurance supplement is a written request to an insurance carrier to revise an approved claim estimate by adding missing line items, correcting quantities, or adjusting pricing. It's submitted after the initial estimate has been approved and you've identified discrepancies between what the carrier approved and what the job actually requires.

Key facts about roofing supplements:

• They are a normal, expected part of the insurance claims process
• Every major carrier has a dedicated supplement review team
• Adjusters expect to receive them — they know initial estimates aren't perfect
• The average roof supplement adds $4,247 to a job (based on our data from 2,400+ claims)
• Well-documented supplements have an 89% approval rate vs. 52% for poorly documented ones

A roofing insurance supplement is NOT the same as a re-inspection request (asking the adjuster to come back) or an appraisal/umpire process (formal dispute resolution). Supplements are the first and most common step when the initial estimate doesn't cover the full scope.

How Do Roofing Supplements Work?

The roof insurance claim supplement process follows these steps:

Step 1: Review the Carrier's Estimate

When the insurance carrier issues their approved estimate, review it line by line against your own scope. Look for:

• Missing items — Components not included at all (drip edge, ice & water shield, pipe boots, steep slope charges)
• Wrong quantities — Incorrect measurements, wrong square footage, underestimated waste factor
• Underpriced items — Below Xactimate regional pricing for your area
• Missing code upgrades — Items required by current building code that weren't in the original scope

Step 2: Document the Discrepancies

For every line item you're supplementing, gather:

• Photo evidence — Clear, timestamped, geotagged photos proving the item is needed
• Code references — Specific ICC or local building code sections requiring the work
• Manufacturer specs — Installation requirements from the shingle or material manufacturer
• Xactimate codes — The correct line item codes for each supplement item

Step 3: Build and Submit the Supplement Package

Your roofing insurance supplemental application should include:

• Cover letter summarizing the request and total additional amount
• Itemized list with Xactimate codes, descriptions, quantities, and pricing
• Supporting documentation for each line item
• Revised total showing: original estimate + supplement = new total

Step 4: Track and Follow Up

After submission:

• Log the submission date
• Set follow-up reminders (if no response in 10 business days)
• Track the assigned reviewer
• Document all communication

For a detailed step-by-step walkthrough of supplement writing, see our guide: How to Write Roofing Supplements That Get Approved.

What Do You Need to Include in a Roofing Supplement?

The most commonly missed line items on insurance estimates — and therefore the most frequently supplemented — include:

Combined, these missing items average $4,247 per job. On 100 jobs per year, that's $424,700 in revenue most contractors never collect.

What Do Roofing Supplement Companies Do?

Roofing supplement companies are third-party services that handle the supplement process on your behalf. Here's what they typically do:

Services provided:

• Review the carrier's estimate against your scope
• Identify missing or underscoped line items
• Write and format the supplement package
• Submit the supplement to the carrier
• Handle follow-up communication with the reviewer
• Negotiate on disputed items

Typical pricing:

• Percentage-based: 8–15% of the approved supplement amount
• Flat fee: $150–$500 per supplement
• Hybrid: Small flat fee + percentage of approved amount

Pros of using roofing supplement companies:

• Expertise in Xactimate coding and carrier expectations
• Frees up your time to sell and manage jobs
• Often achieve higher approval rates due to specialization
• Handle the follow-up and negotiation process

Cons:

• Cost eats into your supplement revenue (8–15%)
• You lose direct control of the process
• Turnaround time adds days to your claims cycle
• Communication gaps between your team and the supplement company
• You're building their expertise, not yours

Should You Outsource Supplements or Do Them In-House?

The answer depends on your volume, team capability, and technology.

Outsource if:

• You're processing fewer than 5 claims per month
• You don't have someone trained in Xactimate
• You're just getting started in storm restoration
• You'd rather pay 10% than hire a supplement specialist

Bring in-house if:

• You're processing 10+ claims per month (the math favors in-house at scale)
• You want to build institutional supplement knowledge
• You want faster turnaround and direct carrier communication
• You have technology that identifies missing line items automatically

The technology option:

Modern roofing CRM platforms with built-in supplement engines can bridge the gap. Instead of paying a supplement company 10% or hiring a full-time supplement specialist, technology can:

• Auto-identify missing line items by comparing carrier estimates to your scope
• Flag commonly missed items based on carrier, roof type, and regional data
• Track supplement status through your claims workflow
• Store documentation so nothing gets lost between submission and approval

HailMate's Supplement Engine uses data from thousands of claims to automatically identify line items that are frequently missing from insurance estimates, giving your team a head start on every supplement.

What Is a Roofing Insurance Supplement vs. a Re-Inspection?

These are often confused but they're very different:

Roofing Insurance Supplement:

• Written request to add line items or adjust pricing
• Submitted to the supplement review team (not the original adjuster)
• Based on your documentation and Xactimate scope
• Doesn't require anyone to return to the property

Re-Inspection Request:

• Request for the adjuster to physically return to the property
• Usually requested when the initial inspection missed obvious damage
• Adjuster conducts a new inspection and may revise the estimate
• More adversarial — implies the adjuster's original work was incomplete

When to use each:

Use a supplement when you have line items that were missed but are supported by documentation you already have (photos, code references, manufacturer specs).

Use a re-inspection when the adjuster physically missed damage — for example, they only inspected one slope and missed damage on the back of the house, or they inspected before all damage was visible.

Most contractors should default to supplements first. They're faster, less adversarial, and have a higher success rate when well-documented.

Tracking Roofing Supplements in Your Workflow

The biggest revenue leak in storm restoration isn't losing supplement approvals — it's never filing them in the first place. Supplements get forgotten when:

• There's no system to track what's been filed vs. what's pending
• The rep who identified the supplement items leaves the company
• Follow-up reminders don't exist and the supplement sits unanswered
• The team moves on to new jobs and forgets about outstanding supplements

Your claims workflow should track every supplement: submission date, amount, status, reviewer, and follow-up dates. When supplements are tracked the same way you track jobs, nothing falls through.

Supplement & check tracking in HailMate shows every filed supplement across your entire operation — what's pending, what's approved, what's denied, and the total dollar amount at stake.

The Bottom Line

Roofing supplements and roofing insurance supplements are not optional for storm restoration contractors who want to maximize revenue. The numbers are clear:

• 78% of initial insurance estimates are missing legitimate line items
• $4,247 average supplement value per job
• 89% approval rate for well-documented supplements
• $424,700 annual revenue difference on 100 jobs

Whether you use a roofing supplement company, build an in-house team, or leverage technology — the worst option is not supplementing at all. Every job you close without reviewing the estimate for missing items is money you earned but never collected.

Related Reading

• How to Write Roofing Supplements That Get Approved — The step-by-step process for writing supplements that achieve 89% approval rates.
• Why Roofing Insurance Claims Get Denied (And How to Fix It) — Understand the denial reasons so your supplements avoid the same pitfalls.

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Data sources: HailMate internal data (2,400+ tracked claims, 2024–2025), Insurance Information Institute 2025 Report. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or insurance advice.