The term on your estimate letter

Recoverable depreciation: the part of your claim they hold back.

The word is printed on the insurer's own estimate — which is why you're searching it. Here is what it means, in plain words: your policy promises the full cost to replace what was damaged, but it pays that promise in two parts, and the second part has conditions. This page is the whole mechanic, start to finish.

The mechanic, in one paragraph

On a replacement-cost (RCV) policy, the insurer first pays actual cash value (ACV): the replacement cost, minus depreciation for age and wear, minus your deductible. The depreciation they subtracted is labeled recoverable — you can recover it, in a second payment, after three things happen: the work is actually completed, you submit proof (the contractor's final invoice, receipts, photos), and you do it inside the deadline. The second payment is also capped at what you actually spent: spend less than the estimate, and the difference stays with the insurer.

A worked example

LineAmount
Full roof replacement (the estimate)$20,000
Depreciation withheld (age and wear)− $8,000
Deductible− $2,000
First check (ACV)$10,000
Second payment after repairs + proof (the recoverable depreciation)$8,000

Worked example in the shape published by The Zebra's claim guide (checked Oct 20, 2026). A second published example (LegalClarity) with 50% depreciation puts $10,000 of a $20,000 claim in the holdback. Either way, 40–50% of the claim routinely sits in the second payment — and it is forfeited if the deadline passes or the work is never documented.

The three conditions, stated plainly

  1. Finish the work. The depreciation is released against completed repairs or replacement — not against intentions, deposits, or a signed contract alone.
  2. Prove it. The standard proof set: the signed contractor invoice showing work actually performed, receipts, and photos of the completed work tied to the scope of loss. Insurers also release depreciation in stages as receipts for completed phases arrive — partial recovery is possible, and rarely explained.
  3. Beat the deadline. The standard policy form gives 180 days from the loss to notify the insurer of your intent to claim the full replacement cost. Your state's law may set a longer floor — California 12 months, Maryland 2 years, New Mexico none allowed. The deadline page has every clock.

Two look-alikes that are NOT this

And if a mortgage company is named on your policy, the payments route through the lender's escrow process — see who gets the check.

Run your own numbers. The free checker takes your state, your dates, and the figures on the insurer's estimate — and returns the dollars still held back, your real deadline, and the next document to send. Run the checker →

The working papers for this fight

The pages above are the map. The kit is the paperwork: the proof packet that releases the money, the letters that protect the clocks, and the complaint pack for when the stall continues.

Included in the $39 DepreciationDecoded Kit

  • The proof packet: the completion-evidence checklist (final invoice, photos tied to the scope of loss, completion certificate) plus the submission letter that asks for release in the insurer's own language
  • The intent-to-repair notice: the short written notice that protects the 180-day intent clock in the standard policy form — send it before anything else
  • The extension request letter: good-cause wording (permit delays, material and contractor shortages, the insurer's own delays, mortgage-company escrow delays) with the statutory hooks for floor states built in
  • The supplement request pack: how to document missed line items and code-required items, catch depreciation applied twice to the same line, and argue overhead and profit on multi-trade jobs — in the estimate's own line-item language
  • The appraisal demand letter plus the clock card: written demand, each side's appraiser within 20 days, the umpire in 15, any two decide — what appraisal can fix (the amount) and what it cannot (a coverage denial)
Get the $39 DepreciationDecoded Kit

One payment, yours to keep. We never ask you to upload your policy — you file everything yourself. See everything inside the kit →

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