Checked against the named sources on 22 August 2026
The check is free and it takes about five minutes. Every Gulf state runs a public licence lookup, and the difference between a licensed contractor and a truck with a magnetic sign is a search box.
Look the licence up yourself
Not the copy they hand you, and not the number on the card: the state's own register. Ask for the legal business name and the licence number, then check it against the board that issues it. Requirements and thresholds differ by state and by the size of the job, so if you are not sure what a job needs, the board is the place to ask.
- Mississippi State Board of Contractors
- Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board
- Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors
- Florida DBPR licence search
- Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
Texas is the one to read carefully rather than assume: it does not license general residential contractors the way its neighbours do, so "licensed" means something narrower there, and checking what a particular trade actually requires matters more.
The paperwork worth refusing
- Anything that hands over your insurance claim. An agreement that lets a contractor deal with your insurer on your behalf, or that assigns them your claim benefits, changes who controls the money and who can settle. Read anything like that slowly, and get advice before signing rather than after.
- A large deposit before materials are on site. Ask what the deposit buys and when the materials arrive. A schedule of payments tied to work completed is normal; a big cheque tied to nothing is not.
- An offer to cover your deductible. Your deductible is what you owe under the policy. Anyone offering to make it disappear is describing something for the insurer to look at, and it is your name on the claim.
- Pressure to sign today. The roof will still need doing tomorrow. A contractor who cannot leave a written scope and a price overnight is telling you something.
What to keep
A written scope of work and a written price. Proof of licence and insurance. Every invoice and receipt, including the emergency tarping. And a log of every call: the date, who you spoke to, and what they promised. That log is the single most useful thing a homeowner keeps after a storm and almost nobody keeps it.
Where to complain, and it is free
Two different places, depending on what went wrong. Licensing boards, above, handle the contractor. Insurance departments handle the claim:
- Mississippi Insurance Department
- Alabama Department of Insurance
- Louisiana Department of Insurance, consumers
- Florida Department of Financial Services, consumer services
- Texas Department of Insurance, consumer help
If the job is being done because a storm took the roof off, it is also the cheapest moment to rebuild to a stronger standard, and four Gulf states will pay toward that. The programs are here.
- Storm season, start to claim · what to photograph before the cleanup, and how a wind claim differs from a flood claim.
- The roof grant programs · rebuilding is the cheapest moment to build back stronger.
- Your hurricane deductible, in dollars · the number an offer to \u201ccover your deductible\u201d is talking about.
What this page is not
This site is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, any insurance department, wind pool, licensing board or standards body named above. Their rules are theirs, they change, and their pages always win over this one. Nothing here is insurance, legal or financial advice: it is a map, drawn on the date stamped at the top.