When a roof claim is approved, the homeowner usually expects one number: the cost to replace the roof. Then the first check arrives and it is thousands less. Nothing went wrong — the policy is doing exactly what it says. The gap has a name, and it comes down to two acronyms: ACV and RCV.
RCV — Replacement Cost Value — is what it costs to replace the roof today. New materials, current labor, the full scope. This is the number most homeowners have in their head.
ACV — Actual Cash Value — is RCV minus depreciation. The carrier subtracts value for the age and wear of the old roof. A 15-year-old roof on a 25-year shingle has used most of its life, so the depreciation — and the gap between ACV and RCV — is large.
Here is the part that matters: on most policies you can recover that depreciation. A Replacement Cost policy pays in two parts. First it pays the ACV. Then, once the work is actually completed and invoiced, it releases the difference — the 'recoverable depreciation' — up to the full RCV minus your deductible. The homeowner who understands this gets the whole roof paid for. The one who does not often pockets the first ACV check, never completes the work to spec, and forfeits the rest.
Not every policy is Replacement Cost. Some are ACV-only — they pay the depreciated value and stop. Older roofs and some carriers default to this. It is worth reading your declarations page, or asking us to, before you assume the depreciation is coming back.
There is also a deadline on recoverable depreciation, and missing it forfeits the money — that is its own subject, covered in our guide on the recoverable-depreciation deadline.
Why does a roofer explain this? Because Don spent five years as a Licensed Public Adjuster in Illinois before running DJK. The single most common reason a homeowner leaves money on the table is not a denied claim — it is an approved claim, paid at ACV, where the depreciation was never recovered because the work was never documented and completed to the carrier's standard. We document the scope, complete the work to it, and invoice so the recoverable depreciation is released. We never advertise paying or waiving your deductible — that is illegal in Illinois — but we do make sure the carrier pays what the policy actually owes.
