Process

The adjuster appointment is an evidence meeting

This appointment decides most of what happens next, and it usually lasts under an hour. Almost all of the value is in the preparation, and after a regional storm the preparation is worth more than usual because the adjuster has less time than usual.

What the adjuster is doing

They are establishing three things: that damage exists, that it was caused by the peril reported on the date reported, and what it will cost to put right under the terms of your policy. They write a line-item scope in estimating software, and that scope becomes the basis of the settlement.

They are not deciding whether you deserve a new roof. They are applying a policy to observable facts, which is why observable facts are the thing to have ready.

What is different after a landfalling storm

A regional wind event generates an enormous number of simultaneous claims, and carriers meet that by bringing in independent adjusters, often from other states. The consequences for you are practical rather than sinister:

• The adjuster may not know the local housing stock. A slab-on-grade frame house with a large attic volume, shallow eaves and a simple hipped roof is the default here, and somebody who normally works a different market may read it differently.
• The appointment may be short and the schedule tight. Documentation you can hand over compresses an hour of looking into ten minutes of confirming.
• They may not be the person who decides. The field adjuster writes the scope; a desk adjuster or a supervisor may handle the file afterwards. Ask who to contact about the scope once you have it.
• Re-inspections are common after big events, and asking for one is not an accusation. It is an ordinary part of a high-volume claim season.

How to prepare

1. Have the documentation printed and on the table

   Photographs by slope, the date of loss, and the recorded storm data for your ZIP code. Paper is easier to hand over than a phone.

2. Know your own roof

   Roughly how old it is, whether it has been replaced or repaired before, and what you have noticed and when. Vague answers make a file harder to support. A permit record or the closing paperwork from when you bought the house is worth digging out, because the assumed age drives the depreciation.

3. Have your contractor there if they can be

   Not to argue, but so that the two people who have been on the roof are looking at the same thing at the same time. Disagreements resolved on the roof do not become disputes on paper. Your contractor may document and may write a scope; they may not adjust or negotiate the claim, and in Texas that limit is a legal one rather than a matter of etiquette.

4. Note interior damage too

   Stains, wet insulation, and anything in the attic. Resulting damage is part of the loss.

5. Know which deductible applies

   Wind and hail, or all other perils. If it is a percentage, know the product of the percentage and your dwelling limit before the conversation rather than after it.

6. Write down what was said

   Who attended, what was inspected, what was agreed to be looked at further, and the date. Memory is not a record.

What to ask before they leave

• Which slopes did you inspect, and did you get on all of them?
• What did you find, and what are you not including?
• Is this being written as actual cash value or replacement cost?
• Which deductible is being applied — the wind and hail one or the all-other-perils one — and how was it calculated?
• Is any part of this being treated as flood rather than wind?
• Does the scope allow for the windstorm inspection and certificate, if the address needs one?
• When will I receive the scope, and who do I contact about something that is missing?

Things that do not help

• Telling the adjuster what the neighbors received. Every claim is its own file.
• Presenting damage that is not storm damage as though it were. It is visible to somebody who does this all day, and it damages your credibility on the parts of the claim that are genuine. On a Gulf Coast roof, ultraviolet ageing and thermal cycling produce a lot of damage that is real and is not a loss.
• Refusing to let them inspect. They cannot write a scope for damage they have not seen.
• Treating it as a negotiation. The scope is a technical document; correcting it is a technical conversation.