Paying for placing a sign  in an insured’s yard is in fact considered a rebate since the insured  receive a betterment from their loss. When you submit an  invoice to the insurance company to recover the depreciation do you show  that you paid the insured? Do you show that you collected the FULL  & required dollar figure? If not, & you stated that you  collected hundreds or even thousands less than the correct deductible,  the insurance company would reduce the recoverable depreciation by the  amount you discounted the deductible.

I’m seeing language on claim summaries  now that address this issue informing insured’s that it’s illegal for  them to not pay their fully required deductible.

Example:
Insurance claim for a roof is estimated by insurance @ $ 10,000.00.
 Insured (homeowner) has a deductible for $ 1,500.00.
 This means the insurance company’s portion of “buying the roof” is $ 8,500.00.
 However, along comes “Roofer X” who only charges the homeowner / insured $ 500.00 & *not* the full amount.
 Roofer X then faxes off an invoice to the insurance co. stating that they collected $ 1,500.00 from the homeowner / insured.
 Roofer X is telling the insurance co.  they should send out the balance of the claim (the rest of the amount  due) & the insurance co. now thinks they have satisfied their part.
 If, on the other hand, Roofer X were to  send in an invoice with the dollar figure of $ 500.00 paid by homeowner /  insured & NOT $ 1,500.00, then the insurance co. would then back  off their final check by the amount that Roofer X did NOT collect.
 Homeowner / insured is happy, however,  because they just paid less than they were supposed to (“hey, it’s OK;  everyone does it, right?).

Fact: The very moment  Roofer X sends off a false invoice showing a higher dollar amount  collected from homeowner / insured, then Roofer X has committed fraud.

Fact: If Roofer X  provides an invoice (or receipt) to the homeowner / insured & they  (not the roofer) then forward this off to insurance, both parties have  now committed insurance fraud, however the homeowner has also committed  wire fraud AND they are also committing collusion (conspiring to perform  an illegal act). …How nice; Roofer X has just dragged the homeowner  down right along with them.

It’s really quite simple:
 Find a roofing contractor that has good  references & one that you think will provide you with the highest  level of service / do the best quality job. Pay your full & legally  required deductible.