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“Because your company is only as STRONG as you are.”
Forward-thinking roofers tune in to get help building STRONG companies, sales teams, leaders, systems, marketing, relationships, culture, and financials.
Whether you own a own a roofing company, manage one, or sell roofs - subscribe to the channel for content that will help you:
1) Close even more roofing sales.
2) Adapt to new roofing industry trends and changes.
3) Take control of your roofing marketing and lead generation.
4) Improve D2D roofing sales.
5) Build the roofing company of tomorrow.
Hosted by Adam Bensman
- Started in D2D roofing sales in 2011
- Former Roofing Company COO (multi-state)
- Creator of the Roof Strategist Sales System (used nationwide for retail + storm)
- Founder of The Roofing STRONG Alliance by TAMKO™ (formerly known as the Roofing & Solar Reform Alliance)
- Author of the #1 Best-Selling Book: The Roofing Sales Survival Guide: Beat the Odds, Overcome Yourself, and Win Big
Content produced on or before 5/13/26 was previously produced by The Roof Strategist, TAMKO makes no representations or warranties regarding the content.
What is a contingency agreement?
Well, I'm gonna be answering
that question in this video.
So whether you are a roofing
salesperson, or whether you might
be a homeowner or property owner
who stumbled upon this video, I'm
gonna help demystify the wonders of
what this contingency agreement is.
Point out some of the fallacies
behind the, the idea behind
them, and to help you understand.
Why it is actually in your best
interest to both use them and to use
them with the contractor of choice.
Before we go any further, I just
wanna introduce myself quick.
Uh, my name is Adam Benjamin, the
roof strategist, and my mission
is to help roofing sales reps
like you smash your income goal.
But this is the important part, and give
every customer in amazing experience.
So this video, again, I, I recognize
being YouTube that homeowners
may stumble upon this video.
And if you are a homeowner that
is watching this, I just want you
to know that everything I teach
is designed about, around creating
an amazing experience in the home.
My personal mission is to bring joy
back to the process of working with a
contractor, cuz it's known that roofers
in general have a horrible reputation.
There's deception used, there's
scams that are all over the
internet and all over the news.
And what I wish to do is to create a
platform for homeowners and contractors
to connect, to do business with
good people and bring some happiness
through, quite frankly, usually not
a happy time to replace your roof.
So I hope this video helps.
And for the, the sales folks who are
tuning in this video is for you to
understand what this contingency is.
How do I communicate it to homeowners?
And maybe you even wanna share
this video with them to help them
really understand what's inside.
All right, now let's get to it.
Now a contingency agreement is truly
an authorization to work together.
And many people wonder, is it binding?
Is it legally enforceable?
How do I cancel it?
So I'm gonna address kind
of all that and more.
And then at the end of this
video, I'm gonna link to you,
uh, to a whole bunch more videos.
I've done covering those in more depth.
So let's first cover just the
core concept of what a contingency
agreement is, because some roofing
companies, quite frankly, use them.
The wrong way.
They make it all about them.
Like, I need this, you need to sign this.
And then it becomes very pushy.
It's very aggressive.
Many homeowners get buyers' remorse
where they like autograph something and
they'd be like, oh no, what did I sign?
Do I have to buy a roof?
What if we don't need a roof?
Do I need to give them money?
And they, and they panic and rightly so.
So it's very important for both
sides, the roofing salesperson and the
homeowner to, to again, communicate and
understand what this whole thing is.
So the authorization to work together
goes as follows, see a roofing company.
Working with a homeowner through a storm
damage process, this often includes an
insurance company who may decide to cover
the damages that have occurred to a home
due to a severe weather event like hail,
wind, or hurricane, maybe even sometimes
like a tree falling on the house.
Something like that, meaning
severe weather impacted the roof a.
Roofer who is a storm damage expert and
has replaced storm damage roofs in the
past, is investing a tremendous amount
of time, energy, and expertise to serve
the homeowner through that process.
As you can imagine, if I were to
buy my roof electively, which in
our world is called a retail roof
replacement, meaning my roof's, you
know, 25 years old, I need a roof.
I'm gonna jump, jump on Google search and
call the company up and get an estimate.
When we do that, that roofing company
shows up and they're like, well,
here's my estimate, and they rock
and roll and get the project done.
But when serving a homeowner who has
experienced some significant damage,
there is a lot more work and steps
that a storm damage expert provides to
a homeowner that we do not bill for.
But as a business, the operational
side, there's a tremendous amount of
work and most importantly, value that
is provided to the property owner,
which includes a few of the following.
Number one, it often includes meeting
with the insurance adjuster on site.
So there's a whole separate
visit to the home and the.
Representative of the roofing company
is there to meet with the insurance
adjuster, to act as another set
of eyes and to act as an assistant
to help identify everything.
Sometimes these insurance adjusters,
they are not contractors, so there
may be some discrepancies regarding
the repair process where they say,
Hey, we can, we are gonna do this
repair, or is this damage, is it not?
Do you need to access this?
And these questions require a contractor
who's familiar with the process.
To help through the adjuster appointment.
So that's service number one.
Okay.
Service number two that the roofing
company provides to the homeowner is
helping throughout the entire process.
Now, let me explain a little bit further.
When the insurance company is out in the
very beginning, they can sometimes omit.
Leave out or not include items of the
repair process that need to be in there.
And oftentimes this is not ill
will, it's not an insurance
company trying to work an angle.
And I know that if that stuff
comes up, that's a legal affair.
That's beyond my scope of expertise.
Okay.
But it, it often comes up and in
fact, when I was a contractor,
And about 98%, which I know sounds
crazy, but it's, it was true.
About 98% of the projects we worked
on with the insurance company came
back and said, this is what they
call our scope of repairs, meaning
line items of what needs to get done.
We came back with more because
we understood the whole process.
We understood the.
Code items, the the updated
code items that were there.
In very similar, if you were to
replace a vehicle transmission,
I'm not a mechanic, and I just
said, replace transmission 4,000.
The mechanic might be like, what?
But I need to, I need to pull
the whole undercarriage out.
I need to detach the engine from
the transmission, which is gonna
require a transmission fluid flush.
And then I gotta pull the transmission
out, do the service, put it back together.
So in order to get to the transmission,
we have all these other points.
And the same applies with a roof.
So someone might come up there and
be like, well, we're gonna do this.
But they didn't realize the whole scope of
what needs to happen to get to that item.
So as a storm damage expert, we
serve homeowners through that process
to say, okay, listen, you may have
received X amount or X scope of loss
from the insurance company, but we
understand the scope of repairs and
we need to submit documentation.
To the insurance carrier regarding
the scope of the repairs.
Okay?
That insurers, that you don't have
any surprise expenses because a normal
roofing company is gonna be like,
all right, here's your estimate,
and, and you're gonna be like, well,
this estimate's here and this what.
Which by the way, if you are someone who's
searching for more estimates and you think
that you need to get three, surprisingly,
you actually don't, and, and hang with
me, I'll explain that in this video.
Uh, what to do if your insurance
company tells you to get three
estimates, and that's for both
homeowners and for contractors.
Okay.
Alright.
Now, as we go through that process,
again, that is a tremendous value that
is provided to the homeowner because
otherwise, and this happened to me, I
had a gentleman call me out for his roof.
I, I gave him an, an estimate
cause I didn't know it was,
uh, storm damage process.
I start doing the roof.
There were surprises beneath it that no
one saw, including the insurance company.
At this point.
I didn't know that it
was insurance damage.
I thought it was just a guy
that needed a roof, and the
roof price literally doubled.
We found that one layer, not
two layer, three layers of roof.
We had to tear it all off the entire
roof, needed to get red deck with
new plywood, and I had to call and be
like, it's gonna be an extra $8,000.
And this was way back when, when the price
of roofing was like half what it is today.
And the guy says to me, he goes,
Adam, wait, this is, this is, uh, I'm
going through a storm damage process.
Does that change anything?
And I said, well, yes it does.
So we ended up doing, is I, I came
out and I said, let's just authorize
this contingency agreement that
allows me to communicate with the
insurance company regarding the
scope of the, of the repair process.
I submitted all the photographic evidence.
Uh, of what needed to get done.
And the homeowner ended up only coming
out pocket his deductible, which I
think was like a thousand or 1500 bucks.
So I saved him nearly $8,000,
7,000 in change because of
providing this additional service,
which again, I didn't bill for.
And if we just look at this like
objectively, I could have just
been like, well, tough luck.
Like I'm gonna get paid no matter what.
It's in the contract that he signed.
But a storm damage company who's
an expert understands the value,
and we're here to serve homeowners
through these turbulent times and make
sure there's no financial surprises.
Okay, so that's, that's value
number three, excuse me.
Number two, to the homeowner.
Now, value number three to the homeowners.
What what's called, what I
call our price lock guarantee.
Now, that's my language that I use, and
I know folks who are using our system.
Often use that language as well.
What does that mean?
That means that your
obligation is your deductible.
No more, no less without.
And there is some fine print.
I just wanna be clear.
The fine print includes if
there are code items that your
insurance company does not cover.
Sometimes that might be, Hey, in order
to get this to code, we need, uh, an ice
and water shield, which is like a, a leak
barrier, uh, placed here, here and there.
And if there's no code endorsement of
policy, we have to follow building code.
So that could be a rare exception.
So do, do communicate that with you,
uh, in your working relationship.
It, it does not include elective upgrades.
So if you decide that you wanna go
with a nicer shingle or a premium
color, or a premium shingle or an
impact resistant shingle, those
are, those are outside there.
And then the other item that is the
disclaimer is any rotted decking.
And again, there are some situations where
an insurance company could cover that, but
sometimes it is not covered and we just
wanna be sure that it's crystal clear.
And the billing rates for those are,
are usually detailed on the agreement.
All right.
Now that price lock guarantee just ensures
that it's our job to document everything
so there's no financial surprises.
And those are mitigated.
Those, those three disclaimers, again,
elective upgrades, if you don't wanna
do those, that's out the window.
If you have code coverage,
that's out the window.
And the third one is right, a decking.
And generally a, a prior roof
inspection or a quick peek in the
attic, we're gonna get a really clear
pulse on what that might look like.
So it's actually quite safe and
secure to use the contingency
agreement in this fashion.
And then in terms of the big
question of like, Well, what happens
if our roof doesn't get approved?
Do we still owe you?
The answer is no.
Hence the name.
Contingency agreement means that if
the insurance company comes out and
determines that they're not going
to cover any damage or repairs, then
that agreement's dust in the wind.
You don't owe the contractor anything, so
the homeowner does not owe the contractor
anything at all to get the roof.
Done.
You're not like required to buy a roof.
So there's truly everything to
gain and literally nothing to lose.
And at the end of the agreement is
the important part that everyone
needs to be on the same page.
That should you sign this contingency
agreement and your storm damage expert
serves you throughout the process.
They do not bill for the time,
energy, and expertise to meet with
the adjuster, document any additional
items that might have been missed
to again, avoid that falling on you.
The only way that the contractor
gets compensated is by actually
being the contractor of choice.
To do the work, whether that's
repairs or replacements.
So the contingency agreement is an
authorization that says, Hey, I like you.
Let's work together.
I'm gonna autograph this and authorize
this working relationship to let you, Mr.
Contractor, meet with my insurance
adjuster, navigate this process.
Help if there's any items that
might have been missed to avoid
financial surprises landing on me.
And we're, I'm not going to,
the contractor will not bill a
homeowner at all for any of this.
And then the only way that we
get compensated is by actually
doing the work at the end.
So it's like a good faith and added
value and added service because what
many people realize is that, uh, don't
realize is that like a traditional
roof replacement and a storm damage
claim are completely different animals,
very, very different animals and much
more on that in, in later sections.
So in summary, the contingency
agreement says three things.
One, it allows the contractor to
discuss the details of repair with
the insurance company on your behalf.
Cuz I can, you can only imagine that
your information's protected, right?
It's private.
Number two, it states that your
contribution is your price lock guarantee.
There are no uh, surprises.
You're not locked in anything and it
is completely contingent upon approval.
So when I say locked in, I mean
you will be using a contractor.
If they get everything set up the
way it needs to be for you to get
the roof replacement, but you're not
required to go buy a roof if they don't
need to, and there's no surprises.
Your contributions, your deductible,
no more or less with the exception
of those code items, elective
upgrades or routed decking.
And the third thing states that
they'll become the contractor
of choice to actually do the
work should it get approved.
So again, there's everything
to gain and nothing to lose.
And as a homeowner, my best advice is
make sure you're comfortable with the
contractor and knowing that this actually.
Provides a a very valuable working
relationship for you as opposed to
something that you're locked into.
So there you have it.
That's what the contingency agreement is.
And once that roof gets approved and
you begin through the process of getting
the replacement done, all the financial
transactions, everything will be detailed
onto what will become then a contract.
So you have documentation of
all that work, all the financial
transactions and all that jazz.
So I hope this helps you
understand the big question,
what is a contingency agreement?
Now, if you want more on this topic
and if you're in roofing sales, click
this playlist right up here and in
that playlist on using the contingency
agreement as a closing tool, you're
gonna learn how to position it
and communicate it appropriately.
You're gonna learn should
you use it, yes or no.
Cuz a lot of people still do this
handshake deal and I'm just not about it.
I'm not willing to do put in that
much time, energy, and expertise
to serve a homeowner if they're
not willing to work with me.
Because they often get canceled or we
get taken advantage of, and questions
like, are they even enforceable?
And again, jump in that playlist, you'll,
you'll get answers to all those questions.
So thanks for joining me.
Whether you're a homeowner or welcome, I
appreciate you being here, salesperson.
I hope this video helped you understand
what this contingency is so you
can not feel afraid any longer or,
or nervous about bringing it up.
And if you are in roofing
sales and you wanna learn.
How to present the contingency
agreement in a way that that homeowner
actually truly wants to sign it.
And, and if you wanna start closing
deals confidently in the house without
sounding or feeling sleazy, salesy, or
pushy, then invite you to learn more
about my roofing sales training system.
And there's a link in the
description, uh, or you can text
the word demo, d e m o to 3 0 3.
2 2 2 71 33.
That's 3 0 3 2 2 2 71 33.
Hey, thanks for joining me on
this video and just cuz our
time here is about to wrap up.
Doesn't mean your and my time has to.
So if you are new and haven't
yet done it, jump into my free
training center right here.
And if you wanna learn more about
the contingency agreement, jump
right into this playlist and
I'll see you on the next one.