After a Kentucky roof claim, your insurer is on a clock — and the clock is written down. 806 KAR 12:095 is the Kentucky regulation that sets out unfair claims settlement practices for property and casualty insurance, and it puts specific day counts on acknowledging a claim, replying to you, deciding it, and paying it. Most homeowners never see the numbers. They are short, they are public, and knowing them changes how a storm claim feels.
How fast does a Kentucky insurer have to acknowledge a roof claim?
Fifteen days. Under 806 KAR 12:095 Section 5(1), every insurer must acknowledge receipt of a claim notice within fifteen days unless payment is made in that period.
Two details in that same subsection are worth keeping. If the acknowledgement is not in writing, “an appropriate notation of the acknowledgement shall be made in the claim file of the insurer and dated” — so there is meant to be a record even of a phone call. And “notification given to an agent of an insurer shall be notification to the insurer,” which means telling your local agent starts the clock.
Section 5(3) adds a second fifteen-day duty: the insurer “shall make an appropriate reply within fifteen (15) days on all other pertinent communications from a claimant which reasonably suggest that a response is expected.” Section 5(4) requires the insurer to promptly provide the claim forms, instructions and reasonable assistance you need to meet the policy’s conditions — and doing that within fifteen days counts as satisfying the acknowledgement duty.
What are the deadlines to decide and pay?
Thirty calendar days from proof of loss to offer payment, and thirty days from affirming liability to tender it. If the investigation drags, the insurer owes you a written explanation every forty-five days.
| What has to happen | Deadline | Where it says so |
|---|---|---|
| Acknowledge the claim | 15 days from notice | Section 5(1) |
| Reply to your communications | 15 days | Section 5(3) |
| Provide forms and assistance | Promptly; within 15 days satisfies 5(1) | Section 5(4) |
| Offer any payment due | 30 calendar days from receipt of proof of loss | Section 6(1)(a) |
| Tell you more time is needed, with reasons | 30 calendar days after receipt of proofs of loss | Section 6(1)(c) |
| Update you while the investigation is open | 45 calendar days from initial notification, then every 45 days | Section 6(1)(d) |
| Tender payment after affirming liability | 30 days, if the amount is determined and not in dispute | Section 6(5) |
Sections 5 and 6 are captioned as applying to all insurers. Sections further down the regulation deal specifically with motor vehicle claims — those rules are not about your roof, and it is worth knowing the difference before you quote one at an adjuster.
Every deadline in the regulation starts from a document. Which is why the dates on your photos matter more than the photos.
Two provisions homeowners almost never hear about
Section 4 restricts two moves that catch people out: denying a claim because the property was not exhibited, and settling partially with a release printed on the cheque.
Section 4(2) states that insurers “shall not deny a claim on the basis of failure to exhibit property unless there is documentation in the claim file of breach of the policy provisions.” Section 4(3) similarly bars denial based on a first-party claimant’s failure to give written notice of loss within a specified time limit “unless written notice of loss is a written condition” of the policy.
And Section 4(5) is the one to read twice: “Insurers shall not issue checks or drafts in partial settlement of a loss or claim under a specific coverage which contain language which releases the insurer or its insured from total liability.” If a partial payment arrives with release language on it, that is a thing the regulation addresses. Read what you are endorsing.
What is in the claim file, and for how long?
More than most people assume, and for six years. Section 3 requires insurers to keep claim data accessible and retrievable for examination by the commissioner.
Under Section 3(1) an insurer must be able to produce the claim number, line of coverage, date of loss, date of payment, and date of denial or date closed without payment — “for all open and closed files for the current year and the five (5) preceding years.” Section 3(2) requires documentation in each file sufficient to permit reconstruction of the insurer’s activities on the claim. That is the standard the regulator examines against.
What this means for how you document a storm
- Report the loss promptly and note the date and who you told — Section 5(1) makes notice to the agent notice to the insurer, so write down which one you called.
- Get the roof photographed before anything is moved or covered, with dates attached. That is the front half of every deadline in the table above; our photo-documented inspection exists for exactly this.
- Make the roof safe and stop the water without destroying the evidence. A temporary tarp and a dated photo set are not in tension — do both.
- Keep your own dated log of every call, letter and email. The regulation gives the insurer duties that run from dates; you cannot invoke a date you did not record.
- Read the wider sequence of a storm repair in our note on Kentucky storm restoration.
- If you want an independent set of eyes on the roof first, send photos through our free roof photo diagnosis.
On the roofs we look at after a storm, the difference between a straightforward claim and a slow one is almost never the damage. It is the file. A homeowner who can say “reported the fourteenth, photographs from the fifteenth, tarp on the sixteenth, estimate on the twentieth” is holding a timeline that lines up against the regulation’s day counts. A homeowner working from memory is arguing about what probably happened. The roof does not change between those two conversations; only the paperwork does.
Central Roof Repair is a roofing contractor. We inspect, document and repair roofs. We do not adjust claims, negotiate with carriers or give legal or insurance advice, and nothing here is a prediction about what any carrier will do on any claim. The regulation quoted above is 806 KAR 12:095, adopted under the authority of KRS 304.2-110, as published by the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, with its most recent effective date shown as 11-30-2021. Regulations change — read the current version at the link before relying on it. Questions about an insurer’s conduct belong with the Kentucky Department of Insurance, the state regulator, or with your own counsel. Central Roof Repair is owned by Marcos Gil, who is also a REALTOR® with Keller Williams Commonwealth and publishes Invest in the Gorge.
Does the 30-day payment clock start when I report the storm?
No. Section 6(1)(a) runs the thirty calendar days from the insurer’s receipt of proof of loss, not from your first phone call. The first call starts the fifteen-day acknowledgement clock in Section 5(1). Those are two different events with two different deadlines, and confusing them is the most common reason people think a carrier is late when it is not.
What if the adjuster never gets back to me?
Section 5(3) requires an appropriate reply within fifteen days to pertinent communications that reasonably suggest a response is expected, and Section 6(1)(d) requires a letter every forty-five days explaining why an investigation is still open. Put your follow-ups in writing so the dates exist. If you believe a carrier is not meeting the regulation, the Kentucky Department of Insurance is the state regulator for insurer conduct.
Do these rules mean my roof claim has to be approved?
No. 806 KAR 12:095 regulates how a claim is handled — the timing, the communication and the documentation — not whether a particular loss is covered. Coverage is decided by your policy and the facts of the loss. The regulation is about process, and process is the part you can actually control by reporting promptly and documenting well.
Last updated: September 22, 2026
By Marcos Gil — Central Roof Repair · Call or text (859) 310-1209.
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