Do I Have to Use My Insurance Company's Water Damage Restoration Company?
Key Takeaway
When water damage strikes, your insurance company may recommend one of its preferred vendors. You are not required to use them. As the homeowner and policyholder, you have the right to choose your own restoration contractor, and your insurer still has to pay the reasonable cost of restoring your property to its pre-loss condition. This post explains where that right comes from, why insurers steer claims toward preferred vendors, and how to keep control of who works on your home.
It happens more often than it should. A pipe bursts at two in the morning, water is spreading across the floor, and you do exactly the right thing: you call a restoration company you trust and they get ready to dispatch a crew. Then you call your insurance company to start the claim, and the adjuster says, “We’ll send out one of our preferred vendors instead.”
At that moment a lot of homeowners assume they have no choice. They cancel the company they called and wait for whoever the insurer sends. That assumption costs people the contractor they wanted, and sometimes it costs them part of their claim.
Here is the short version: you choose your restoration company, not your insurance company. Let’s walk through why that is true and what it means for you.
The short answer: you choose your restoration company
Your insurance company can recommend a contractor. It cannot require you to use one. As the property owner and the policyholder, you have the right to hire the qualified restoration company you want, and your insurer is still obligated to cover the work under the terms of your policy.
This is not a loophole or a gray area. It is how property insurance is designed to work. The insurer’s job is to pay for the covered loss. Who physically does the repairs is your decision.
What an insurance “preferred vendor” actually is
A preferred vendor is a contractor that has an ongoing business arrangement with the insurance company. Think of it like an in-network provider with your health plan, except there is no rule that keeps you in network. Insurers build these networks so they can manage pricing, move quickly, and keep the claims process predictable on their end.
None of that is sinister, and many preferred vendors are competent companies. The important point is simply this: a preferred vendor is an option the insurer offers you, not an obligation you have to accept.
Why insurance companies steer you to their preferred vendors
Insurance companies are businesses, and a large part of running that business well is controlling the cost of claims. Preferred vendor programs help them do that. The contractors in the network have agreed to certain rates and procedures, and the insurer gets volume, consistency, and a faster file to close.
That arrangement serves the insurer’s interests. It does not automatically serve yours. When the same company that pays the bill also helps decide how much work gets done, the incentives do not always line up with restoring your home as completely as possible.
To be fair, not every carrier handles this the same way. Some will recommend a reputable independent restoration company and leave the final call to you. Others move more quickly to steer the work toward their own preferred vendors, sometimes even after you have already chosen and hired the company you want. Knowing where your insurer stands, and knowing the decision is still yours either way, is what keeps you in control when the pressure is on.
What your insurance company is actually obligated to pay
Your insurer is obligated to pay the reasonable and necessary cost of restoring your property to its pre-loss condition, up to your policy limits, regardless of which qualified company performs the work. That is the part that gets lost in the pressure of the moment, so it is worth being precise: the obligation is not to pay “whatever you spend,” and it is not tied to using their vendor. It is tied to the documented cost of making you whole.
That distinction matters, because it is where a good independent contractor earns its keep. The cost of the work gets paid based on a documented scope, not on which logo is on the truck. A restorer who measures and photographs everything, identifies hidden moisture before it becomes mold, and writes the scope in Xactimate (the same estimating software adjusters use) is making sure the full extent of your loss is on the record. That is how you get a claim paid in full rather than partially.
Your right to choose a restoration contractor in New York
New York homeowners have clear support here. The New York State Department of Financial Services, the agency that regulates insurers in the state, advises that you can get your own contractor’s estimate to compare against the insurance company’s, review the estimate line by line with the adjuster, and get a second opinion if you disagree. If you and your insurer cannot agree on the amount of the loss, your policy includes an appraisal process to resolve it. At no point are you bound to the insurer’s chosen vendor.
The same basic right to choose your own contractor applies in Connecticut and Massachusetts as well. KPM Restoration serves homeowners across all three states, and the principle holds everywhere we work: the insurer pays for the covered loss, and you decide who restores your home.
How to tell your insurer you are using your own contractor
You do not need to argue or get adversarial. A calm, clear sentence is usually all it takes. For example:
- “Thank you, but I’ve already chosen my restoration company. Please send the claim details to them.”
- “I understand you have preferred vendors. I’m exercising my right to use my own contractor. Who should they coordinate with on your team?”
That is it. You are not refusing to cooperate with the claim. You are simply directing it to the company you have chosen, which is your right.
Who your restoration company actually works for
Here is a distinction that matters more than it sounds. Even when we bill your insurance company directly, we work for you, the property owner, not the carrier. Our only relationship is with the homeowner whose property was damaged, which means our job is to document the full extent of the loss and restore your home completely.
When a claim is handed to an insurer’s preferred vendor, that company also has an ongoing, high-volume relationship with the insurer to protect. That relationship can quietly shape how a scope of work gets written. It is not that preferred vendors do bad work. It is a question of who they answer to first. We answer to you.
In practice that independence shows up in a few concrete ways:
- We document the complete scope of damage, including the hidden moisture behind walls and under floors that turns into a mold problem weeks later if it is missed.
- We estimate in Xactimate and coordinate directly with your adjuster, so the conversation is contractor to adjuster, with you informed at every step.
- We are accountable to you for the quality and completeness of the restoration, because you are the one who hired us.
What to do right now after water damage
If you are dealing with water damage as you read this, here is the order of operations:
- Stop the source if you safely can, for example by shutting off the water supply.
- Document everything. Take photos and video of the damage before anything is moved or cleaned.
- Call a restoration company you trust and get a crew moving. Fast extraction and drying limit the damage and the cost.
- Then notify your insurer and tell them which company you have chosen. You can start the claim and keep your contractor.
The key is that steps three and four are both yours to control. Reporting the claim does not hand the keys to your home over to the insurance company.
Bottom line: you choose your restoration company, not your insurer
Your insurance company can recommend a restoration vendor. It cannot require you to use one, and it still has to pay the reasonable cost of restoring your property no matter who does the work. The next time you have water damage and an adjuster suggests “their” company, you can say, politely and confidently, that you have already chosen yours.
KPM Restoration responds to water damage emergencies within 60 minutes, works with every insurance carrier, and bills your claim directly in Xactimate. If you have a loss, see our water damage restoration services or get in touch and we will take it from there.