We get paid when we repair roofs, and almost never any other way. The free inspection is how we find the roofs that need repairing: when it documents claim-worthy damage and you hire us, the approved insurance claim funds the work and you typically pay only your deductible. When it finds nothing, we absorb the cost. The inspection is our marketing budget, spent on your roof instead of on billboards.
What Does "Free" Actually Cost Us?
A real number: each inspection is about 45 minutes of a Haag-certified inspector's time on your roof, plus the drive, plus writing up a photo report with hit counts and section mapping. We do this at no charge, every time, including the inspections that find a healthy roof.
We can carry that cost for the same reason any established business carries marketing spend: enough inspections find genuine storm damage, and enough of those homeowners hire us, that the repairs fund everything else. With 25,400+ completed projects and over a dozen crews, the math works at scale. For a two-truck operation it often doesn't, which is one reason "free inspection" from a company with no local history deserves the storm-chaser questions.
| What It Costs You | What's Really Going On | |
|---|---|---|
| The inspection and photo report | Free, always. Yours to keep whether or not you hire us. | Our customer-acquisition cost. We absorb it on every roof that turns up nothing. |
| Claim documentation, adjuster meeting, supplements | Included when we do the repair work. | Part of earning the project. It's also what makes the claim approve at full scope. |
| The repair or replacement | Paid by your carrier's approved claim, plus your deductible. | This is the revenue. Everything else on this list exists to earn it honestly. |
| Your deductible | You pay it, typically split across the carrier's two checks. Never waived: that's illegal in Illinois. | Not our money in any direction. A contractor who offers to eat it is committing fraud. |
| Rotted decking | Charged if found, and disclosed up front, because crews can't stand on rotten boards. | The one out-of-pocket exception we name before anyone climbs a ladder. |
| Upgrades you choose | Your cost, quoted before you decide. | We're not in the upsell business. Insurance restores like kind; upgrades are your call. |
Insurance figures assume a covered peril and an approved claim; your policy controls. Deductible amounts and payment structure vary by carrier.
Where Does the Actual Money Come From?
The repair. On insurance-funded work, your carrier pays the approved claim scope and you pay your deductible. The carrier typically issues two checks, roughly 55% and then 45% of the job, which you sign over as the work progresses, with your deductible usually split between the two payments. Every dollar of that is itemized in the same Xactimate format we've shown you, reconciled to the approved claim.
That's the whole revenue model. We don't charge for inspections, estimates, adjuster meetings, or supplement filings. We don't take deposits on insurance work. And we never touch your deductible, because waiving it is insurance fraud in Illinois and the companies offering it are recovering the money somewhere you can't see.
Doesn't This Give You an Incentive to Find Damage?
Yes, and you should think about it rather than take our word. A contractor paid only when roofs need repair has a reason to see repairs everywhere. Here's the check on that incentive: we don't approve claims. Your carrier's adjuster inspects independently and pays only what the evidence supports.
Exaggerated findings don't survive that review. A contractor who repeatedly submits them torches the thing the whole model depends on: adjusters who trust their documentation, a Haag certification with teeth, and an Illinois license worth protecting. Our findings hold up because holding up is the business. And when a roof is healthy, we say so and leave, because a wasted claim helps nobody and the report we hand you is a dated baseline that makes your next storm claim cleaner.
The Inspection Is Free. The Report Is Yours.
45 minutes, full photo documentation, no obligation. If there's nothing claim-worthy up there, we'll tell you that too.
Get My Free InspectionOr call (630) 414-9160
What Do You Pay, and When?
On an approved claim: your deductible, typically split across the carrier's two payments as work progresses, plus exactly two possible extras, both disclosed before they happen. Rotted decking gets replaced and charged if we find it, because crews can't safely stand on rotten boards. And upgrades you choose, like stepping up to Class 4 impact-resistant shingles, are quoted so you decide with the price in front of you.
On cash work, you pay the itemized quote you approved. Nothing starts until you've seen the scope, and under our contingency agreement on insurance work, nothing starts until the claim is approved. If the claim is denied and can't be overturned, you owe nothing.
The free inspection is honest because the economics behind it are boring: repairs fund the business, documentation wins the repairs, and the carrier's independent review keeps the documentation honest. Take the free inspection whenever storm damage is the question. Pay for independence only when neutrality itself is what you're buying.
The free inspection is the right tool when
- A storm hit and you want to know if there's claim-worthy damage
- You want documentation before deciding whether to file
- You're comparing what an adjuster found against the roof
- You want a dated baseline while the roof is healthy
Pay an independent inspector when
- You're buying or selling the house and neutrality is the product
- A legal or appraisal dispute needs a disinterested expert
- A lender or insurer requires an independent report
- You simply prefer paying to owing nobody anything, which is fair
No-Risk Contract
You sign a contingency agreement. We don't start work until your insurance company approves the claim. If the claim doesn't go through, you don't owe us anything. No deposit. No cancellation fee. The contract doesn't screw anyone.
Your Budget, Your Call
If insurance approves less than the full scope we recommended, you decide what happens. You can spec down the project to match your payout exactly. Same materials. Same warranty. You won't pay for unapproved work unless you tell us to order it before the approval.
We Call You First
We don't silently revise your project to match whatever insurance approved. If there's a gap between our recommendation and the payout, we pick up the phone. We walk through the difference and help you keep out-of-pocket as low as possible. The only reasons you'd pay extra are to fix damaged lumber our crew needs to stand on or if you want to upgrade to luxury shingles.
Chicago Storm Pros is a service of C&N Construction, Inc. (cnroofs.com). Reviews, project counts, certifications, and ratings shown here reflect C&N Construction's work.
Related Decisions
- The Repairing Accuracy Method: what we actually do once you hire us
- Roof inspection cost, and when it's free
- Roof inspection without filing a claim
- How to tell a legitimate roofing bill from a padded one
Now You Know How We Get Paid
Which means you know the inspection costs you nothing and commits you to nothing. Free Haag-certified inspection, report yours to keep.
Get My Free InspectionOr call (630) 414-9160