The adjuster’s visit is the point where a roof claim turns into a figure. The adjuster is there on behalf of the insurer to establish three things: what is damaged, what caused it, and what your policy pays for it. Everything you can usefully do beforehand is aimed at making the first two easy to see and hard to dispute.
It is a short visit with a lot riding on it, so preparation is not fussiness. On most houses the inspection takes under an hour, and the estimate written from it is the document every later conversation refers back to.
What to have ready
| Document | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Your declarations page | Shows the deductible that applies and the roof payment basis |
| Dated photographs from before the loss | Establishes the condition the roof was in |
| Photographs taken immediately after | Records damage before any temporary work covered it |
| The date of the storm and local weather records | Ties the damage to a specific event |
| Previous inspection reports and repair invoices | Evidence of maintenance and of what was already known |
| Your roofer’s scope or estimate | Gives a basis for comparing measurements and line items |
| Receipts for emergency protection | Normally reimbursable and easy to forget |
| A written list of interior damage | Points the visit at rooms that would otherwise be skipped |
The pre loss photographs are the item almost nobody has and everybody wishes they had. If your roof is sound today, photograph it today, because the value of that record only appears later. A dated roof damage report does the same job more formally.
Before the day
- Report the loss and get the claim number, then confirm who is attending and when.
- Make the roof accessible, including gates, ladders, dogs and anything parked where a ladder has to go.
- Open up the attic or the ceiling void if water has come through, and leave it open.
- Leave the damage uncovered where it is safe to do so, and photograph anything you have had to cover.
- Keep every piece of debris that came off the roof, rather than clearing it away.
- Arrange for your roofer to attend if you have one, and tell them what time.
- Read your own policy for the wind or hail deductible and the roof settlement basis, so nothing in the estimate is a surprise.
Point five costs nothing and is routinely ignored. A bag of torn shingles, a length of displaced ridge or a piece of edge metal is physical evidence that the roof lost material in a storm.
What happens on the roof
The adjuster measures the roof, usually by slope, and often with aerial measurement data already in hand. They inspect each elevation for damage consistent with the reported cause, mark and count test squares on a shingle roof, photograph what they find, look at the flashings, vents and penetrations, and then examine the interior where water has come through.
They are reading for two things at once: whether the damage is the kind the reported peril causes, and whether it happened in that event rather than over years. What insurers look for after wind sets out that pattern in detail, and hail damage claims does the same for hail.
What to ask while they are there
- Which parts of the roof were inspected, and how.
- Whether the damage they found is being accepted as storm related.
- How the roof is being measured, and from what source.
- Which deductible is being applied, and whether it is a percentage.
- Whether the roof is being settled at replacement cost or actual cash value.
- When you will receive the estimate, and in what format.
- What they need from you next.
Write the answers down with the date. Not because anybody is being evasive, but because a claim involves several people over several weeks and the file is the only thing that remembers.
What happens after the visit
The adjuster writes an estimate, usually line by line, with depreciation applied where the policy requires it. That estimate becomes the basis of the first payment, and on a replacement cost policy a further payment normally follows once the work is complete and documented.
Read the estimate against your roofer’s scope rather than against your expectations. Most disputes about roof claims are not disputes about whether there was damage; they are disagreements about measured area, about accessories that were left out, or about depreciation. How to get an insurer to pay for a roof replacement covers what to do when the estimate is short, and the wider claim process sets out the stages either side of this one.
Where to go next
If the estimate has already arrived and the scope looks thin, the next step is a documented second opinion rather than an argument, and our guide to underpaid roof claims covers the options. This site is educational. It explains the process so you can handle your own claim with your eyes open, and it does not file, negotiate or settle claims for you, which is licensed work.
Common questions
Who is the insurance adjuster working for?
The insurer, whether they are a staff employee or an independent contractor hired for the storm. Their job is to investigate the loss and apply the policy to it, which includes paying what is owed. They are not working for you, and they are not your opponent either.
- Staff adjusters are employed by the carrier
- Independent adjusters are contracted by the carrier
- A public adjuster is the one you can hire yourself
- All of them work from the same policy wording
- Ask which kind is attending your inspection
Knowing which kind is coming tells you something about the visit. After a large storm, carriers bring in independent adjusters by the hundred and they may be handling a heavy caseload across an unfamiliar area, which makes the quality of your documentation matter more rather than less. A staff adjuster is more likely to be familiar with the carrier's own estimating practice. In either case the decisions are made against your policy and the evidence available, so the useful preparation is the same: make the damage easy to see and easy to verify.
How long does an adjuster spend on a roof?
Usually under an hour on a house, often considerably less, and that is the single best argument for having your evidence ready. They are inspecting, measuring and photographing to support an estimate, not conducting a full condition survey of the building.
- Expect a focused inspection, not a long survey
- Slopes are measured, often from aerial data
- Test squares may be marked and counted
- Interior damage is photographed as well
- More complex roofs take proportionately longer
Because the visit is short, anything that saves them time works in your favor. Clear access to the roof and to the attic, ladders and keys ready, interior damage uncovered, and a marked up list of locations all mean more of the hour is spent looking at damage. On a large or steep roof, or where a drone or a steep assist contractor is needed, the inspection may be split or delayed, and that is normal. What is not normal is an estimate produced without any inspection at all, and it is reasonable to ask how the roof was assessed.
Can I get a copy of the adjuster's estimate and photographs?
You are entitled to the estimate that your settlement is based on, and you should ask for it in writing with the line items shown. Photographs and internal reports are a different matter: practice varies by carrier and by state, and some will share images while others treat them as their own file.
- Ask for the full line item estimate, not a summary
- Check the measurements and the number of squares
- Look for the waste factor and the accessories
- Ask what was depreciated and by how much
- Request the scope notes if they are available
The line item estimate is the document that matters, because every disagreement about a roof claim is a disagreement about a line in it. Compare the measured area against your own roofer's measurement, check that items such as underlayment, flashing, ridge, valleys, drip edge, vents and disposal appear, and read the depreciation applied to each. A missing accessory or a short measurement is a correctable error rather than a dispute. [How payments arrive and what moves a stalled file](/articles/process/what-to-expect/) covers what happens next.
What if the adjuster will not go onto the roof?
It happens, and it is worth asking how the roof was assessed instead. Steep slopes, fragile tile, ice, wet conditions and carrier safety rules all stop an adjuster climbing, in which case the assessment may rely on a drone, aerial imagery, a steep assist contractor or your own documentation.
- Safety rules legitimately prevent some climbs
- Drone and aerial measurement are widely used
- A steep assist contractor may be sent separately
- Your photographs become more important, not less
- Ask for the method to be recorded in the file
The risk with a remote assessment is not dishonesty, it is resolution. Lifted shingles, broken seals, creasing and bruising on tile are hard to see from altitude and impossible to feel, which is exactly the damage most often missed. If the roof was not walked, supply close photographs of the damage with a scale and a location reference, and say plainly that you are asking for the findings to be based on them. Where the conclusion still does not match what is on the roof, an independent report from somebody who did walk it is the normal next step.
Can I have my roofer present at the adjuster visit?
Yes, and on a roof claim it is usually a good idea. A contractor who has already inspected the roof can point out damage, explain what a repair involves and discuss the measurements, which is far more effective than relaying all of that afterwards by email.
- Arrange it in advance rather than on the day
- Your roofer walks the roof with the adjuster
- Damage is pointed out while both are looking at it
- Measurements and scope can be reconciled on site
- You stay the decision maker throughout
Two cautions. The meeting works when your contractor brings a documented scope and photographs, and it works badly when it becomes an argument in your driveway. And the person you invite should be somebody you have chosen because of their work on roofs, not somebody who knocked on the door after the storm offering to handle the insurance. Representing you in a claim negotiation is licensed work in most states, and a contractor is not licensed to do it. [The claim process](/articles/process/) sets out where each role fits.