Paying for Your Roof: Deductibles, Phases, and Pay-Over-Time

A new roof is rarely something you planned to buy this month. Here is how homeowners in North Georgia actually pay for one: what you owe after an insurance claim, how we structure payment on self-pay jobs, the pay-over-time option built into our portal, what to do with a bigger balance, and the pitches you should walk away from.

After a covered claim, you usually owe the deductible

Most of the roofs we replace are storm claims. When your carrier approves a replacement, it pays for the roof minus your deductible, and the deductible is your share. That is normally the only money out of your pocket, unless you choose an upgrade such as a better shingle or gutter guards, in which case you pay the difference and we show that difference in writing before you decide.

Two things to know about the deductible. First, it is yours to pay. Georgia law does not let a contractor waive it, absorb it, or hide it in the invoice. We never do, and you should be wary of anyone who offers. Second, many Georgia policies now carry a separate wind and hail deductible set as a percentage of your dwelling coverage, which can be a larger number than the flat deductible you remember. Our wind and hail deductible guide shows you where to find yours before a storm does.

If your policy pays actual cash value instead of replacement cost, the depreciation is also your share. The ACV vs RCV guide explains the difference and how recoverable depreciation is released after the work is done.

Self-pay roofs: phases in writing before work starts

When insurance is not in the picture, we quote the job from measurements and put the payment schedule in writing before anyone sets a ladder. A self-pay project is split into phases: a deposit when you sign, a progress payment tied to the work, and a final payment when the roof is finished and you have walked it with us. The amounts and the trigger for each phase are in the agreement, and every payment shows up in your RoofMap portal next to the balance that remains.

That structure protects both sides. You are never asked for a large sum before materials and a crew are committed, and we are not carrying a finished roof for months waiting on an invoice. Our guide to paying for a roof without insurance covers how to compare self-pay bids without getting burned.

Pay over time inside the RoofMap portal

If a lump sum does not fit, there is a pay-over-time option at checkout in the RoofMap portal. It works on the balance you owe us, which after a claim is typically your deductible and on a self-pay job is the invoice itself. It is available for balances up to roughly twenty thousand dollars, with monthly payments spread over terms up to 36 months.

The plan options and terms are shown at checkout before you commit to anything, and approval is up to the lender, not us. The lender makes the credit decision and sets the terms; we do not. If the plan shown does not fit, you can close it and pay another way.

Larger balances

A big, steep, or complex roof can run past what the checkout option covers, and a metal roof usually will. For balances like that, homeowners in our area typically compare three routes:

• A home equity line of credit. Often the lowest cost of borrowing for people with equity, with the trade-off that it is secured by the house and takes longer to set up.
• A home improvement loan from a bank or credit union. Usually unsecured and quicker, and worth a phone call to the institution you already bank with before you sign anything else.
• A contractor financing partner. Convenient, since the application happens alongside the project. Read the terms with the same care you would give any loan, especially the promotional ones described below.

We are roofers, not lenders, and we do not give financial advice. We will tell you honestly what the roof costs now and what waiting tends to cost later, and leave the borrowing decision to you and your bank.

How deposits work

On a self-pay job the deposit is the first phase in the written schedule, due at signing. It reserves your place on the calendar and lets us order materials, it is a portion of the total rather than the whole thing, and the amount is stated in the agreement before you sign. On an insurance job, the carrier's payments and your deductible fund the roof, and the timing of each is spelled out in your agreement and tracked in your portal. A roofer who wants most of the money up front, in cash, today, is telling you something about how the job will go.

Not financing: the check with your mortgage company on it

If you have a mortgage, your insurance check will often be made out to you and your mortgage company together. That is not a loan and it is not a problem. The lender has an interest in the house and wants to know the roof actually gets fixed. You endorse the check, send it to the lender's loss draft department with the paperwork they ask for, and they release the funds, sometimes in one payment and sometimes in stages after an inspection. It adds days or weeks, so start as soon as the check arrives. We provide the invoice, the agreement, and the completion documents the lender asks for, and your project manager has walked homeowners through it before.

Red flags

Roof financing attracts pitches that sound generous and cost you later. The ones we see most in North Georgia:

• "We'll waive your deductible." Illegal in Georgia. The contractor either inflates the claim or quietly cuts corners on the roof to make the numbers work, and you are the policyholder whose name is on the claim.
• The "free roof." There is no free roof. There is a storm claim with a deductible, and anyone who skips that part is skipping other parts too.
• Long zero-interest teasers. Many promotional plans charge no interest only if the entire balance is paid within the promotional window. Miss it by a day and interest is often charged back to the first day of the loan. Read the deferred interest language before you sign.
• Financing pushed before the scope is in writing. You cannot evaluate a payment plan for a roof you have not seen a quote for.
• Large cash deposits on the spot. A written phase schedule, a reasonable deposit, and time to read it are normal. Pressure is not.

Our guide on the roofer who knocked on your door covers the rest of the storm-chaser playbook.

Start with the number

Every payment conversation starts with knowing what the roof actually needs. Our inspection is free, comes with photos, and ends with a straight answer: repair, replace, file a claim, or wait. If it is a replacement, you get a measured quote and a payment path that fits, in writing, before any work starts. Call (470) 887-6637 or schedule your free inspection online.

Does a new roof qualify for a tax credit in 2026?

Short answer: not under the federal energy credits, as of October 2026. A lot of older articles and roofing websites still say otherwise, so here is what changed and when.

Roofs came off the list in 2023. The old Nonbusiness Energy Property Credit once covered certain metal roofs with pigmented coatings and asphalt roofs with cooling granules, through property placed in service in 2022. Starting in 2023, the Inflation Reduction Act rewrote that credit as the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit, section 25C of the tax code, and removed roofs from the building envelope components it covers. From 2023 through 2025, the list was insulation and air sealing materials, exterior windows and skylights, and exterior doors, along with certain heating, cooling, and water heating equipment and home energy audits. A new roof by itself did not qualify in those years.

The credit ended after 2025. The budget law signed on July 4, 2025, commonly called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, ended the section 25C credit for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. The IRS confirms that cutoff in its guidance on the law and in the 2025 instructions for Form 5695. The Residential Clean Energy Credit, section 25D, which covered solar, also ended for expenditures made after December 31, 2025, and the IRS treats an expenditure as made when installation is complete, not when you pay. While it was available, some solar roofing tiles and shingles that generate electricity could qualify, but ordinary roofing never did.

So for a roof installed in 2026, there is no federal energy credit to claim unless Congress changes the law again. Proposals to restore these credits have been introduced, so ask a tax professional about the current status before you file.

Is a new roof tax deductible?

On your own home, generally not in the year you pay for it. The IRS treats a new roof as an improvement that adds to your home's cost basis, and its guidance on selling a home lists a new roof as an example, which can reduce the taxable gain when you sell. Rental and business properties follow different rules, and any state, local, or utility program is separate from these federal credits. We are roofers, not tax advisors, so please confirm anything here with a tax professional before you rely on it.

What we can help with is the number itself. Our inspection is free, our cost page shows honest ranges, and our roof financing guide compares the ways homeowners pay. Call (470) 887-6637 and we will help you find a path that fits.

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