After a hurricane or severe storm, the most frustrating process can be the insurance claim. Claims get delayed, denied, or underpaid for one primary reason: a lack of documentation.
Your insurance company’s adjuster may not arrive for days or even weeks. What you do in the first 48 hours after the storm will determine the outcome of your claim.
Here is your basic guide to documenting damage so your claim doesn’t stall.
1. Before the Storm: The “Proof of Condition”
This is the single most important thing you can do. It’s hard to prove a storm damaged your roof if you can’t prove what it looked like before.
- Take 100 Photos, NOW: Before storm season even starts (or right now if a storm is 3 days out), take a walk around your property.
- What to Photograph:
- Roof: Take photos from all four corners of the yard. Get as close as you can.
- Gutters, Siding, Windows: Document the condition of all exterior items.
- Interior: Take broad photos of all ceilings and walls, especially under the roofline.
- Valuables: Take photos of your “high-value” items (electronics, furniture, art).
- How to Store: Email them to yourself or upload them to a cloud drive (Google Drive, Dropbox) with the date. Now you have a time-stamped, off-site record of your property’s condition.
2. After the Storm: Document the Damage
As soon as it is safe, this is your next priority. Do not begin any cleanup or move anything (except to stop an active leak) until you have taken these photos.
- Take 300 Photos: You cannot take too many.
- The “Big Picture”: Take the same four-corner photos of your roof you took before. This “before and after” is incredibly powerful.
- The “Medium” Shot: Show the context. A photo of the fallen tree, and the hole it made. A photo of the blown-out window, and the room it’s in.
- The “Close-Up”: Get inches away. Show the lifted shingles, the hail dings on your A/C unit, the water stain on the ceiling, the “high water mark” on your wall.
- Video is Your Friend: Take a slow video, walking the property and narrating what you see. “This is the master bedroom ceiling, the leak is coming from here. This is the blown-out garage door.”
3. Mitigate Further Damage (This is Required!)
Your policy includes a “Duty to Mitigate” clause. This means you are required to take reasonable steps to prevent the damage from getting worse. If you let a roof leak go for weeks, your insurer may deny the claim for the subsequent mold and interior damage.
- What this means: You must stop active leaks.
- This is where a blue tarp FAILS: A cheap blue tarp that blows off in the next rain shower may not be seen as “reasonable mitigation.”
- This is where StormWrappers EXCELS: Hiring a professional to install a warrantied, durable shrink wrap enclosure is the definition of mitigating further damage. It is a definitive, insurable action.
Pro-Tip: Keep every receipt. The tarp, the plywood, the wet-vac rental, and especially the invoice from a professional mitigation company like StormWrappers. These are all part of your claim.
[StormWrappers works with all major insurance carriers. We provide the permanent-quality documentation and mitigation you need to get your claim approved, fast.]
