Making a roof damage claim

Photograph everything, immediately

Wide shots that show the house, close shots that show the damage, and pictures of the inside where water came through. Dated, before anybody touches anything. An adjuster can work with photographs; they cannot work with a description.

Stop further damage, and keep the receipts

Emergency mitigation is normally recoverable and routinely forgotten. Save the paperwork for the tarp as carefully as the paperwork for the repair.

Know what your policy actually pays

The two clauses that decide the cheque are the settlement basis and the deductible. Some policies also carry a separate, larger deductible for wind and hail.

Mind the deadline

Policies impose time limits on reporting damage, and they are shorter than people assume. Damage found late — hail in particular — is often denied simply because too long has passed.

Get an independent assessment first

A written contractor assessment before the adjuster visits gives you a scope to compare against. If the two disagree, ask for the contractor to be present at a re-inspection — it changes the conversation considerably.

Read anything before you sign it

Be wary of any contract signed in a hurry after a storm, particularly one that ties you to the contractor regardless of what the insurer decides.

In short

Document first, mitigate second, file third. In that order it usually goes smoothly; in any other order it usually does not.