@CL Ziegler - we've had to live through this a couple of times with Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy. With Irene we needed to get the roof replaced. No matter how I approached it was a pain in the a$$. If you have a mortgage on your house the insurance company will make the check out to you AND your bank. And of course the bank (at least Wells Fargo) wasn't just going to sign the check and let me do with it as we pleased.
The first option was basically get the roofing company and the bank together and they would approve the estimate, pay the contractor out in installments and would only cut the final check when the job was finished, inspected and lien waivers were signed and submitted. The professional roofing companies that had experience working with insurance companies we're completely fine working this way but their price was about 20% over the insurance settlement amount.
The second option was to just pay the roofers ourselves and tell Wells Fargo I completed the work and then they signed over the check. I used my low APR Frequent Flyer Miles credit card, got some miles out of the deal and paid one months interest on carrying the $22K.
For Superstorm Sandy it was a little different because the insurance money was coming from National Flood Insurance Program / FEMA. They cut us a check for 75% (that the bank had to sign right over) of the amount right up front and paid out the remainder when the job was complete. Even though it was about 10x more than the damage from Irene it was much simpler to navigate.
Best of luck with the roofers - they are a funny bunch. I would see the guy that did our roof two or three times a year around the neighborhood and he would always say "Hi" and give me a business card. And I swear, over the years I bet you he gave me business cards with at least 5 or 6 different company names on them. Churn 'em and Burn 'em!
