Claim Documentation

How to Document Roof, Wind and Hail Damage the Way Adjusters Expect

By Mike — Licensed GC & Public Adjuster — 12 min read

Roof claims are won or lost on evidence, and most of that evidence disappears within weeks. Shingles blow off and get swept up, tarps go up, leaks dry out and contractors replace what was damaged. The adjuster who arrives three weeks after the storm is looking at whatever you preserved. This guide is the documentation protocol I would use on my own house: what to photograph, in what order, and how to keep the record intact.

Start with safety, not paperwork

Get the property into a safe, stable condition first — tarp the opening, stop the water, board the window — and photograph the damage before you do it. Never climb onto a damaged roof. Storm-hit shingles are brittle, wet decking is slick, and the injury risk is not worth the photograph. A zoom lens from the ground, a ladder placed carefully on level ground, or a pole-mounted camera gets the same evidence.

The photo sequence that tells the whole story

An adjuster needs three levels of detail on every damaged area: where it is, what it looks like in context, and what it looks like up close. Shoot in that order, and repeat it for each elevation and each interior room.

Put scale in the frame

A close-up of a torn shingle with nothing beside it is ambiguous — it could be the size of a hand or the size of a dinner plate. Include a tape measure, a coin, a ruler or your hand in the frame, and shoot a second frame without it. The pair proves both the damage and its dimensions, and it is the difference between a line item that gets paid and one that gets argued about.

Record a narrated video walkthrough

Ten to fifteen minutes of continuous video, narrated as you go, is the single most useful file in a roof claim. Walk the exterior first, then the interior, describing what you see, where you are standing and what caused it. Do not edit, trim or add music. A continuous recording with your voice explaining the damage carries an authenticity that a folder of stills cannot, and adjusters watch it.

Cover the date of loss, what you noticed and when, which rooms are affected, and any area you cannot access. If part of the attic or a second-story slope is unreachable, say so on camera — that record protects you from being blamed later for not documenting it.

Hail: test the soft metals

Hail damage on asphalt shingles is subtle: bruising, granule displacement, and mat fractures that are easy to miss and easy to dispute. What is not subtle is what hail does to soft metals. Check gutters, downspouts, vent caps, flashing, the tops of HVAC condensers, patio furniture and fence rails for impact dents, and photograph each one with scale.

Newer shingle systems are often impact-rated, and their damage pattern looks different from older shingles. Note shingle brand, product line and approximate age if you know them; a contractor's inspection report or the original roofing invoice is the best source. Age and product matter because they determine what the carrier owes, not just whether they owe.

Wind: prove the direction and the mechanism

Wind claims hinge on mechanism. Lifted and creased tabs, missing shingles concentrated on one elevation, seal-strip failure, and debris impact marks all tell the story of wind rather than wear. Photograph the pattern across the whole slope rather than one isolated area, because a single damaged shingle looks like age and a pattern looks like a storm.

Note the storm date and keep a record of the weather that hit your address, whether that is a neighbor's video, a local news report or a personal log. Matching the date of loss to a documented weather event at your location is one of the simplest ways to remove an argument the carrier might otherwise raise.

Interior damage: follow the water

Interior photos should connect the stain to the roof. Photograph the ceiling stain, the wall below it, and the room around it in one sequence so the location is unambiguous. If a moisture meter is used, photograph the reading against the material it is measuring. Preserve damaged material until it has been photographed and, ideally, inspected — do not paint over a stain or replace drywall before the record exists.

Itemize contents separately. A photograph of a wet, ruined rug on a wet floor supports a contents line item; a photograph of an empty room after cleanup supports nothing.

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