The post-storm playbook used on homeowners every hail season — deductible "waivers," door-to-door urgency, assignment-of-benefits traps — and the two-sentence script that ends all of it.
Storm scams work because they arrive when you’re rattled, they sound helpful, and each one has a version that’s almost legitimate. The pattern underneath is always the same: get a signature fast, get control of the insurance money, and be gone before problems surface. Know the signals and the whole playbook stops working on you.
The red flags
"We’ll waive your deductible." The classic. Your deductible is your legal share of the claim; a contractor who "eats" it either inflates the invoice to your insurer (fraud, with your signature on the claim) or cuts the corner out of your roof. Either way you’re the one exposed.
Pressure to sign today — "storm pricing," "last crew in the area," "this offer expires." Real damage and real prices are still there next week. Urgency exists to prevent comparison.
They knocked, unprompted, right after the storm. Not every door-knocker is a scammer — but every scammer starts with a knock or a cold call. The direction of contact matters: the contractor you found and verified is a different risk class than the one who found you.
"Sign this so we can inspect / talk to your insurer." Post-storm paperwork is rarely just permission. It may be a binding contract or an assignment of benefits (AOB) that hands your claim’s proceeds — and the right to negotiate with your insurer — to the contractor. Never sign anything you haven’t read at your own speed, and treat AOB clauses as a hard stop.
Large deposit up front, especially cash. Modest deposits are normal; "half now, cash" is how crews fund the disappearance.
They "found" dramatic damage you can’t see, and discourage a second opinion. Some crews create damage during "free inspections." If you didn’t verify them, don’t let them on the roof at all.
Offers to inflate the claim — billing for damage that isn’t there "so there’s room." That’s insurance fraud, and the homeowner signs the claim, not the crew.
No local, verifiable footprint: out-of-state plates, magnetic truck signs, a phone number and a first name. When the warranty call comes in two years, that number is disconnected.
The script that ends it
You don’t owe anyone at your door an explanation, a debate, or a look at your roof. Two sentences, said pleasantly, end every version of the pitch: "We don’t make decisions at the door. If we need work done, we’ll choose a contractor ourselves." Then close the door. A professional respects it; a scammer moves to an easier house. Either way you got the right outcome.
Why "never sign at the door" is the whole rule: Every scam on this list requires one thing: your signature, obtained quickly. Move any signature — inspection authorization, "estimate acknowledgment," contract — to your kitchen table, at your pace, after verification, and you are effectively unscammable. (Many states also give you a 3-day right to cancel door-to-door contracts; check yours if you’ve already signed.)
Make it structural: Print the No Soliciting sign from Print & Keep. It’s not about being unfriendly — it filters your doorstep down to people you invited, which is the entire point. And if a deal has gone wrong, your state insurance department and attorney general’s consumer protection office both take complaints and both have teeth.