How to Read Your Declarations Page
Your declarations page (or "dec page") is the one- or two-page summary your insurer sends every renewal. It contains everything the calculator needs - once you know where to look.
1. Dwelling limit (Coverage A)
This is the most important number on the page. Look for a table in the first section headed "Coverages" or "Coverage summary." You're looking for a line that says:
- Coverage A - Dwelling
- or just Dwelling
- or Section I - Property with a sub-line for Dwelling
The number next to it is your dwelling limit. This is not your home's market value or purchase price. It's the amount your insurer will pay to rebuild the structure from the ground up after a total loss. The number varies by home and insurer; yours is on your dec page. You can ask your insurer to recalculate it if you think it's wrong.
Why it matters for this calculator: If your policy has a percentage wind or hail deductible, that percentage is applied against this number - not against the claim amount. A 2% deductible on a $400,000 dwelling limit is $8,000, regardless of whether your roof damage estimate is $12,000 or $50,000.
2. Your deductible - flat or percentage?
The deductible section is usually a small table near the coverages section. Most policies list two separate deductibles:
| Label on your dec page | What it means | What to enter |
|---|---|---|
| All Other Perils (AOP) or "All Perils" | Applies to most claims: fire, theft, water damage. Usually a flat dollar amount. | Flat dollar - e.g. $1,000 or $2,500 |
| Wind / Hail or "Windstorm" or "Named Storm" | Applies specifically to wind and hail damage - which includes most roof claims. Often expressed as a percentage. | If it shows "1%" or "2%", choose % of dwelling limit. If it shows a dollar amount, choose flat. |
Which one applies to your roof claim? If the storm was wind or hail damage, the Wind/Hail deductible applies - not the AOP deductible, even if the AOP is larger. If you're unsure which peril caused the damage, call your insurer and ask.
If your dec page only shows one deductible with no label, it typically applies to all claims - enter it as a flat dollar amount.
3. Roof endorsements - the fine print that changes everything
This is the section most homeowners miss. Search your dec page and any attached endorsement pages for phrases like:
- Roof Surfacing Payment Schedule
- ACV - Roof Surfacing or Actual Cash Value Roof
- Limited Roof Coverage
- Cosmetic Damage Exclusion
- Functional Replacement Cost - Roof
Any of these means your roof is not covered the same way as the rest of your home. The most common version is an ACV endorsement on the roof: your main policy may be RCV, but the roof is paid on actual cash value - meaning depreciation is non-recoverable. This is increasingly common as insurers add this endorsement to older roofs at renewal, often without alerting the homeowner.
If you find such an endorsement, run the calculator using ACV as the policy type regardless of what the main policy says.
A "Functional Replacement Cost" endorsement is different: it pays to replace the damaged material with a similar but not necessarily identical product - for example, replacing a tile roof with architectural asphalt shingles. The payout is somewhere between ACV and full RCV. Ask your insurer how they calculate it before filing.
4. Policy type - RCV or ACV?
The main policy type for the dwelling is usually listed in the "Loss Settlement" or "Loss Payment" section. Look for one of these:
- Replacement Cost Value, RCV, or RC - your policy pays the full cost to repair or replace damaged property with new materials, minus your deductible. Depreciation is withheld initially and released after repairs are completed.
- Actual Cash Value or ACV - your policy pays the depreciated value only. Depreciation is permanent; you never recover it.
- Functional Replacement Cost - a hybrid. See section 3 above.
If the main policy says RCV but you found a roof endorsement in section 3, the endorsement overrides the main policy for roof claims. The endorsement controls.
5. When your dec page still isn't clear
Call your agent and ask these three questions directly:
- "Does my policy pay replacement cost or actual cash value for roof claims?" - Get the answer in writing (email is fine).
- "Is my roof covered under any ACV or functional replacement cost endorsement?"
- "What is my wind/hail deductible, and is it applied against the dwelling limit or the claim amount?" - The correct answer is the dwelling limit; an agent who says the claim amount should be corrected.
You are entitled to a clear answer to each of these. If your agent can't answer, ask for the policy number and call the insurer's claims line directly.