When a windstorm comes off the bay and takes shingles with it, the difference between a smooth insurance claim and a miserable one is usually decided in the first afternoon, long before an adjuster sees the house. Here is how the process actually works, from the roofers who get called in both directions.
What insurance covers, and what it does not
Home insurance covers sudden and accidental damage from a covered peril: wind, hail, falling trees and limbs. It does not cover wear: a 22-year-old roof that leaks because it is a 22-year-old roof.
The friction in most claims lives in the grey zone between the two. Wind rarely strips a healthy mid-life roof at random; it finds the aged, brittle sections first. Adjusters know this, so a wind claim on an older roof gets scrutiny. That is not a reason to skip the claim; it is a reason to document properly.
The first-hour checklist
- Photograph everything before any cleanup. The roof from the ground on all sides, every shingle and piece of flashing on the lawn, interior stains, the fallen limb where it lies. Time-stamped phone photos are perfect. This is the single highest-value thing you can do.
- Note the date and time. Insurers verify weather events; your claim should match the record.
- Stop the water, safely. Insurers expect you to mitigate further damage, and emergency measures are generally claimable. That means professional tarping and stabilization, not you on a wet roof.
- Keep every receipt, including the tarp job.
- Call your insurer before signing anything else. Report promptly; most policies require it.
Do not sign that clipboard
After every major blow in Simcoe and Grey counties, out-of-town trucks appear with clipboards, offering to “handle everything with insurance” if you sign on the spot. Some of those documents are assignments of your claim proceeds. Once signed, you have handed a stranger control of your claim and, sometimes, your payout.
A legitimate local roofer will document the damage, give you a written scope and price, and talk to your adjuster with your permission. You should never need to surrender your claim to get your roof fixed. If you are not sure how to tell the difference in the moment, our guide to vetting a roofer before you sign lays out the questions that expose a storm-chaser fast.
What a good roofer’s report gives your adjuster
When we do a storm assessment, the adjuster receives photos of each damaged slope, a count and location map of missing or creased shingles, flashing and eavestrough damage, interior evidence, and a line-item repair or replacement scope. Clear scope, faster claim. Vague scope, weeks of back and forth.
One honest note: sometimes the wind finished a roof that was already near the end. When that is the case we say so, because a denied claim plus a surprise is worse than a straight answer. You can see what a full replacement runs in our roof cost guide; insurers pay for storm damage, not for age, and knowing which side you are on saves everyone time.
Deductibles and small claims
Get a repair price before filing. If the fix is $900 and your deductible is $1,000, filing gains you nothing and puts a claim on your record. A quick repair quote first costs you nothing and tells you whether the claim is even worth opening.
When the storm hits
Call any day: (249) 499-0101. Storm damage goes to the front of the queue, and the emergency work is quoted separately from the permanent repair so you are never buying more than the situation calls for. Prefer to start with the form? Request a visit here.