The 72 hours after a storm decide whether your claim goes smoothly or becomes a year-long fight. The order of operations matters more than anything: document, mitigate, get an independent bid, then involve your insurer. Here is the playbook.
Photograph and video all damage before touching anything — wide shots for context, close-ups for detail, from the ground and inside the attic. Screenshot the weather event (date, hail size, wind speed from local reports). Save damaged items. Your phone timestamp is evidence; a tidy-up first is evidence destroyed.
Policies require you to prevent further damage: tarp the roof, board windows, extract water. Keep every receipt — emergency mitigation is reimbursable on most policies. Mitigation is not repair: do not authorize permanent work before the adjuster sees the damage.
Get a local, licensed contractor to inspect and write an itemized repair estimate. This tells you two critical things: whether the damage even clears your deductible (a $1,800 repair on a $2,500 deductible is not a claim — filing anyway still counts against you), and what fair scope looks like when the adjuster’s number comes in low. Many roofers will meet the adjuster on-site; good ones make sure nothing is missed.
After every major storm, out-of-town crews canvass with "free inspections" and pressure to sign day one. Never sign an assignment of benefits (AOB) or a contingency agreement on the doorstep — AOB hands your claim rights to the contractor, and you lose control of your own payout. Verify local address, state license, and reviews. If the deal cannot survive 48 hours of thinking, it was not a deal. Post the job on ConstructHelp and let vetted local pros bid instead.
Post your project once — verified, insured local pros send you free competing quotes, and escrow protects every payment.
Get 3 Free QuotesDocument and mitigate first, then get an independent local repair estimate. File once you know the damage exceeds your deductible — small claims still raise premiums and count against you.