The storm claim argument is about what the roof looked like before. Document it now

Storm claims are seldom denied on the basis that nothing is broken. They are denied, reduced or argued over on the basis that the condition was already there: an aging roof, a flashing that was lifted last year, gutters that had been pulling away for two seasons.

The insurer's position in those cases is not unreasonable, and it is very difficult to rebut without a photograph taken before the storm.

Which means the useful work happens now, in the quiet part of the year, and takes about an hour.

What to record, and how

1. The roof, from the ground, from all four sides. A phone camera at maximum zoom from the yard is sufficient. Nobody needs to climb anything for this.
2. Close shots of the known weak points: chimney flashing, valleys, vents, skylights, the edges where two roof planes meet.
3. The gutters and downspouts, including where the downspout discharges and whether water leaves the foundation.
4. Siding, trim, windows and doors, particularly on the side that faces the prevailing weather.
5. Fences, sheds, and any large tree within reach of the house, which is where a substantial share of storm damage originates.
6. The interior of the attic, photographed on a dry day, showing the underside of the sheathing without staining.

That last one is worth the trouble. A photograph of clean, unstained sheathing in April is a strong piece of evidence that a stain photographed in October arrived in between.

Making the date provable

Digital photographs carry a timestamp in their metadata, which is ordinarily sufficient. Two habits make it more robust. Take the photographs on a day with obvious weather characteristics, or include something dated in one frame, such as a newspaper on a step or a phone screen showing the date.

And email the set to yourself or upload them to a service that records an upload date, which puts a second timestamp outside the file itself.

None of this is because anyone assumes bad faith. It is because a file date on a laptop is easy to question and an email dated in April is not.

Where a roof inspection report changes things

A written condition report from a roofing contractor, dated before the season, is stronger than photographs and costs money. Whether it is worth buying depends on the roof.

It is worth it on a roof over about fifteen years old, on any roof that has had a previous claim, and after any repair, because those are the three situations where the age or condition argument is most likely to be made.

It is not worth it on a roof installed in the last few years with a documented installation, since the installation record already establishes the baseline.

What the report should contain is specific: age and material, condition of the flashing and penetrations, any existing damage described and located, and remaining expected service life. A one-line note saying the roof is in good condition does very little work in a dispute.

Fixing what the photographs show

The other half of the exercise is that documenting a defect and then leaving it produces the opposite of what you want. Most property policies require reasonable maintenance, and a photographed problem left unrepaired for two years is evidence against the claim rather than for it.

The short list of things worth correcting before weather arrives: secure loose flashing, replace missing shingles, clear the gutters and confirm the downspouts run, cut back branches that overhang the roof, and re-seal any obvious gap at a penetration.

All of it is inexpensive relative to the damage it prevents, and all of it is the sort of thing an adjuster looks for.

Keeping the file findable

Photographs scattered across a phone with four years of everything else are not a record. One folder per year, named by year, containing the walk-around images, any contractor report, and receipts for anything repaired. Stored somewhere that is not in the house.

Add the policy declarations page to the same folder. When a storm does hit, the two documents you want in the first hour are the declarations page and last spring's photographs, and having them in one place turns a bad morning into a straightforward one.

An hour in April, repeated annually, is the cheapest possible way to make the following conversation about the size of the loss rather than about whether it happened.