Colorado Homeowner Guide
Local Roofer vs. Storm Chasers
After a big Colorado hailstorm, out-of-state roofing crews follow the storm maps into damaged neighborhoods, sign fast, and move on. Two state laws protect you — C.R.S. 6-22-104 and 6-22-105 — and one habit protects you more: verify before you sign. Here's how the pattern works and what to check.
What Is a Storm Chaser?
Hail is an industry event. When a damaging storm crosses the Front Range, the same maps that tell us where to send inspectors tell roofing operations across the country where thousands of insurance-funded jobs just landed. Some of those operations load up crews, drive in, and canvass the damage path door to door.
There's nothing illegal about traveling for work — good out-of-town contractors exist. The storm-chaser patternis the problem: pressure to sign at the door while the claim is still fresh, promises about your deductible that Colorado law doesn't allow, and a warranty whose service department leaves the state when the crews do. What follows is worded carefully — these are patterns Colorado homeowners report after hail seasons, not claims about any specific company.
The Risks Worth Taking Seriously
The illegal deductible offer
“We'll cover your deductible” is the classic opener — and C.R.S. 6-22-105 flatly prohibits a roofing contractor from paying, waiving, or rebating any part of it. A company that leads with a statute violation has told you everything about how the rest of the job will go.
The unserviceable warranty
Any contract can promise a workmanship warranty. The question that matters is who answers the phone in year three when a flashing leak shows up — a warranty is only as good as the company's continued presence in Colorado.
Pressure outrunning diligence
The pitch is engineered for same-day signatures — before you've verified licensing, insurance, or references, and often before your insurer has even decided the claim. Colorado answered that pressure with C.R.S. 6-22-104: if the claim is denied in writing, you can rescind within 72 hours and get your payments back.
Nobody left to call
Roofs are systems — even good installs need occasional service. Homeowners report the hardest part isn't the install quality they got, it's the silence afterward: numbers that stop ringing once the crews follow the next storm out of state.
Side by Side
The right column describes patterns Colorado homeowners report after hail seasons and the statutes that exist because of them — not any specific company. Use it as a checklist of questions, whoever you're talking to. Including us.
| What to check | Established local roofer | The storm-chaser pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Local accountability | A staffed Colorado headquarters you can drive to, with local phone lines answered year-round. | An out-of-state registration and a cell number — homeowners often report both go quiet once the season ends. |
| Insurance-claim experience | Works Colorado hail claims every year and documents damage in the format local adjusters expect. | A volume model built around one storm's claims — speed of signing matters more than the quality of your file. |
| Warranty serviceability | A workmanship warranty backed by a company still in the state to honor it. | Paper is easy to print. A warranty is only worth the odds the company is here when your roof needs it. |
| License & insurance verifiability | Municipal licensing and insurance certificates you can verify with a phone call to a Colorado office. | Credentials from another state are hard to check quickly — and the sale is designed to move faster than your diligence. |
| Deductible handling | Tells you plainly the deductible is yours — because C.R.S. 6-22-105 makes covering it illegal. | "We'll take care of your deductible" is the classic pitch — and it's the one the statute specifically forbids. |
| Where they are next year | Same offices, same phone numbers, same crews. | Wherever the next storm map points. |
The Local Alternative
We're obviously not neutral here — Red Hawk Roofing is the local roofer in this comparison. So instead of adjectives, here's what you can verify: 5 Front Range office locations, with a staffed headquarters at 3535 S Platte River Dr Unit A, Englewood that you can drive to. Licensed and insured, built on the owner's 25+ years of Front Range roofing experience. 276 Google reviews across our listings with a 4.9-star average — a review history you can read back through past hail seasons, not just the last one.
We're also the Official Roofing Partner of the Colorado Avalanche and the Denver Nuggets. That's a marketing deal, sure — but it's the kind only a company committed to this market makes. Crews following storms from state to state don't sponsor your home teams.
- 5 Front Range offices — staffed HQ in Englewood, same address year-round.
- 276 Google reviews · 4.9★ average across our listings.
- 5-Year Workmanship Warranty— and honestly, that promise only means something because we're still in Colorado to answer it. Judge every warranty that way, including ours.
- The no-pressure path: a free inspection with a written photo report — so the decision runs on evidence, not a doorstep pitch.
Two Colorado Laws to Keep in Your Pocket
- No one may pay or waive your deductible. C.R.S. 6-22-105 prohibits a residential roofing contractor from paying, waiving, or rebating any part of your insurance deductible. Anyone offering to is proposing something the statute forbids — it's the single most useful storm-chaser filter in Colorado.
- You can back out after a denial. Under C.R.S. 6-22-104, if your insurer denies the claim in whole or in part, you may rescind the roofing contract within 72 hours of receiving the written denial, and the contractor must return your payments.
More on both, plus the full claims process, in our guide to filing a roof insurance claim in Colorado.
The Free Inspection
What's Included
- Full on-roof inspection plus attic check — 45–75 minutes
- Photo documentation of every defect we find
- Written report in adjuster-ready insurance format, typically within 24 hours
- NWS-confirmed storm date and severity documentation when damage is found
- 100% free — no obligation, no pressure
Storm Chaser Questions
A roofing operation that travels into a region after a major hailstorm, signs as many insurance-funded jobs as possible while the claims are fresh, and then moves on to the next storm market. The model isn't illegal by itself — the problems homeowners report are what comes with it: high-pressure door knocking, contracts signed the same day, and no local presence left to honor a warranty once the crews leave.
No. Colorado law (C.R.S. 6-22-105) prohibits a residential roofing contractor from paying, waiving, or rebating any part of your insurance deductible. It's one of the classic storm-chaser pitches — and a contractor who opens with an offer the statute forbids is telling you how they treat rules in general.
Yes. Under C.R.S. 6-22-104, if your insurer denies the claim in whole or in part, you may rescind a residential roofing contract within 72 hours of receiving that written denial, and the contractor must return your payments. That right exists precisely because of pressure to sign before the claim is decided.
Ask for a physical Colorado office address and drive past it. Look up how long their Google review history runs — a listing that only has reviews from the weeks after a storm is a signal. Ask for local references from previous seasons, proof of insurance, and where warranty service comes from in three years. A local company answers all of that without flinching.
Don't sign anything at the door. Get the facts first: pull a free 2-year storm snapshot to see the verified hail history at your address, then get a free inspection with a written photo report so you know whether you even have damage worth claiming. With those in hand, you can talk to your insurer — and any contractor — from a position of knowledge instead of pressure.