Insurance Concept

What Insurance Adjusters Look For on Roofs

How a carrier's adjuster evaluates a storm-damaged roof - test squares, damage-vs-wear determinations, slope-by-slope counts - and why contractor documentation before the inspection matters.

What Is What Insurance Adjusters Look For on Roofs?

A carrier adjuster inspecting a hail or wind claim works a repeatable method: verify the storm date against the damage pattern; mark test squares (typically 10-foot-by-10-foot areas per slope) and count qualifying hail strikes within them; distinguish functional damage (fractured mats, granule loss exposing asphalt, creased or torn shingles) from wear, blistering, and foot scuffing; and check collateral indicators - dented soft metals, gutters, window screens, AC fins - that corroborate hail size and direction. The findings feed an Xactimate scope, which is why slope-by-slope photo documentation from the contractor's own inspection, taken before the adjuster meeting, is the policyholder's leverage: disagreements become evidence comparisons rather than opinions. Homeowners are entitled to have their contractor present at the adjuster inspection. On older roofs adjusters weigh storm damage against age-related deterioration, which determines whether the claim pays for repair, slope replacement, or full replacement.

Also Known As

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These are the search terms and phrases that commonly refer to this topic, so you can find it however you describe it.

How What Insurance Adjusters Look For on Roofs Relates to Other Topics

Adjusters test seal integrity by hand-lifting shingle tabs: a creased or unsealed shingle counts as wind damage even though it is still on the roof, because a broken seal is a broken shingle that has not left yet.

Related: Wind Creasing RELATED TO

The adjuster's roof inspection is where the carrier's scope is born: what gets photographed, chalked, and counted on the roof that day becomes the line items in the summary of damages, which is why documentation at the inspection matters.

Related: Summary of Damages RELATED TO

Related To What Insurance Adjusters Look For on Roofs

Adjusters chalk a 10-by-10-foot test square on each roof slope and count hail bruises inside it; the count per square, per slope, is what the carrier's repair-or-replace math actually runs on.

From: Hail Bruise RELATED TO

A contractor's inspection documents everything wrong with the roof; an adjuster's inspection documents what the policy covers - same roof, two different questions, which is why the two reports can honestly disagree.

From: Roof Inspection DISTINGUISHES FROM

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