Storm damage claim: what to photograph BEFORE the adjuster
Your insurance adjuster will look at your roof once, maybe twice, and then decide how much your claim is worth. What they see on that visit becomes the record. If something is missing from that record, you can argue about it later, but you are arguing uphill.
Your insurance adjuster will look at your roof once, maybe twice, and then decide how much your claim is worth. What they see on that visit becomes the record. If something is missing from that record, you can argue about it later, but you are arguing uphill. The photos you take before anyone shows up are the cheapest and most effective way to protect yourself. You do not need a drone or a professional camera. A phone with a decent lens and twenty minutes on a ladder-free walk around your property will do more for your claim than almost anything else you can do on your own.
One thing to understand first: adjusters are not villains. Most of them are overworked, they see dozens of roofs a week, and they write what they can see and verify. Your job is not to trick anyone. Your job is to make sure the damage that exists is documented clearly enough that it cannot be missed or dismissed as normal wear. That is the whole game.
1. Start with wide shots that establish where you are
Before you photograph a single shingle, take a set of wide photos that show your whole house from each side. Stand back far enough to get the entire roof slope and the ground below it in frame. These photos do two things. They prove the general condition of the roof before the storm, and they give the adjuster context for every close-up that follows.
Take one wide shot from the front, one from each side, and one from the back if you can get a clear angle. If trees block the view, photograph what you can see. Do not climb on the roof for this. Ground-level shots are fine.
Also photograph the four corners of your house at ground level. This matters because storm claims often involve more than the roof. Siding, gutters, window screens, and fences get hit too, and those are part of the same claim. If you only photograph the roof, you may leave money on the table.
2. Photograph the damage up close, with something for scale
This is the part most homeowners skip, and it is the part that decides claims. A photo of a missing shingle from fifteen feet away proves almost nothing. A photo of that same missing shingle with a tape measure or a coin next to it proves size, and size is what separates hail damage from a shingle that was already curling.
- Place a tape measure, a coin, or your hand next to the damage in the frame.
- Photograph each damaged area twice: once close, once from a few steps back so the adjuster can see where on the roof it sits.
- Get the slope, not just the damage. A close-up with no surrounding roof is hard to place.
- If you have granule loss, photograph the gutter and the ground below the downspouts. Granules collect there, and that is evidence.
Do not remove anything before you photograph it. Do not sweep up shingle pieces, do not pull out nails, do not clean the gutters. Photograph the mess first. You can clean up after the adjuster has been out, and if you need to make emergency repairs to stop water coming in, photograph before you cover anything and keep the materials you removed.
3. Document the interior water damage the same day
Roof claims are not only about the roof. Water gets in, and the interior damage is often a bigger line item than the shingles. If you have a stain on the ceiling, photograph it while it is fresh. Stains dry and fade, and a faded stain is easy for an adjuster to call old.
Photograph ceiling stains with a light source aimed across the surface rather than straight at it. Raking light shows the outline of a stain far better than a direct flash. If you have a moisture meter, note the readings. If you do not, photograph any sagging, bubbling paint, or discolored drywall. Put a bowl under active drips and photograph the bowl with water in it. That is a timestamp of an active leak.
If water reached insulation, flooring, or electrical fixtures, photograph those too. Attic photos are especially valuable because they show the underside of the roof deck. Look for dark streaks on the wood, daylight coming through, or wet insulation. Those photos frequently support damage that is invisible from the outside.
4. Capture the cause, not just the result
Insurance pays for damage caused by a covered event. A dented gutter is a result. Hail is a cause. If you can photograph evidence of the cause, do it. After a hail storm, photograph the hail stones themselves if any are still on the ground, next to a coin or a ruler. Photograph dents on your downspouts, your air conditioning unit, your grill, and your car if it was outside. Those dents are the same size as the dents on your roof, and they are much easier to see from the ground.
After wind, photograph fallen branches, damaged trees, and anything the wind moved. If a tree limb hit the roof, photograph the limb and the impact point together before you move the limb. If shingles are lifted but not torn off, photograph the lifted edge from a low angle. Lifted shingles are a real claim even when nothing is missing.
5. Know what the adjuster is measuring against
Adjusters use standard ranges to decide whether damage is real and whether repair or replacement is warranted. You do not need to become an expert, but knowing roughly what they look for helps you photograph the right things.
| What they check | Typical threshold | What to photograph |
|---|---|---|
| Hail hits per test square | 8 to 10 hits on a 10x10 foot area | Close-ups of bruised or cracked shingles with scale |
| Shingle age and condition | Under 15 years usually favors replacement | Wide shots showing overall roof condition |
| Granule loss | Bare mat visible on 20 percent or more of a slope | Gutters, downspout splash zones, bare spots on shingles |
| Wind lift | Shingles lifted or creased, not just missing | Low-angle shots along roof edges and ridges |
| Interior water intrusion | Any active or recent leak tied to the roof | Ceiling stains, attic decking, wet insulation |
These numbers vary by insurer and by policy, so treat them as a general guide rather than a rule. The point is that the adjuster is comparing what they see against a standard, and your photos should make that comparison easy.
6. Organize the photos before the adjuster arrives
A folder of two hundred unsorted photos helps no one. Before the appointment, sort your images into groups: exterior wide shots, roof damage close-ups, interior damage, and cause evidence. Name the folders clearly. If you want to go a step further, print the ten or twelve most important photos and have them on the kitchen table when the adjuster walks in.
Write down the date and time of the storm and the date you took each set of photos. If you have receipts for emergency repairs, tarping, or a hotel stay, gather those too. Keep your own copy of everything. Do not hand over your only set of photos, and do not let anyone take your phone to look through images without you present.
If you can, have someone walk the roof with the adjuster. You do not need to argue. You just need to be there to point out the areas you documented and to ask questions about anything the adjuster marks as not covered. Ask them to show you what they are looking at. Most will.
If you would rather not get on a ladder or you are not sure what you are looking at, that is a normal place to be. A free inspection will tell you whether you have a claim worth filing and will give you a documented set of photos taken by someone who looks at roofs every day. Call (718) 555-0142 to schedule one, and have your own photos ready before the adjuster shows up.