Roof Insurance Claim Documentation: What You Need

The 2-year deadline in Illinois

Illinois statute (215 ILCS 5/143.1) gives policyholders 2 years from the date of loss to file a property damage claim. “Date of loss” means the date of the storm event, not the date you discover the damage. If you’re trying to claim damage from a storm 26 months ago, the carrier will deny on timeliness – even if the damage is real and obvious.

Practical implications:

• If you suspect damage from a recent storm, file within months, not years
• If you have damage you think might be older, look up NOAA storm data for the past 24 months to identify candidate events
• For damage that’s been accumulating from multiple events, file against the most recent applicable storm

NOAA storm data – establishing the event

Carriers want a verifiable storm event corresponding to your claim date. The standard reference is NOAA’s Storm Events Database, which records:

• Date, time, and location of severe weather events
• Hail size (when measurable)
• Wind speed (when measurable)
• Spotter reports and damage reports for the affected area

For Madison County (Godfrey, Alton, Edwardsville, etc.), NOAA data is searchable by county and zip code. We pull this data for every storm claim and include the relevant events in the damage report.

If the local storm record doesn’t show a significant hail or wind event on the date you’re claiming, the claim becomes harder to support. Sometimes the actual damage event was a day before or after the date you initially suspected – NOAA data helps narrow this down.

Photo documentation standards

Photos are the bulk of the documentation packet. Adjusters expect a specific set of shots:

Site context (5-10 photos):

• House from the street, all four elevations
• Driveway and any vehicles that were present during the storm
• Soft metals around the property (gutters, AC condenser fins, deck furniture)

Roof overview (10-20 photos):

• Each slope from a step ladder or drone, showing the field shingles
• Each penetration (chimney, vent stack, pipe boot)
• Each valley
• All flashing locations (step flashing at sidewalls, drip edge, chimney flashing)

Damage close-ups (15-40 photos):

• Each documented hail bruise or wind-damaged shingle, photographed with chalk marking and a reference object (coin or tape measure) for scale
• Test square boundaries clearly marked
• Soft metal impact marks (these establish the hail event)
• Dented metal flashing
• Granule accumulation in gutters

Trill Roofing provides 30-60 photos in a damage report typically. The report is delivered as a PDF you can submit directly to your carrier alongside the claim.

Test squares and damage counts

The standardized assessment unit is the 10 ft x 10 ft test square – exactly one “square” in roofing terms (100 sq ft). For each slope of the roof:

1. Pick a representative 10×10 area
2. Mark each hail bruise with chalk
3. Count and photograph
4. Record on the damage report by slope

Carriers have varying thresholds but a common functional-damage threshold is 8+ bruises per test square. Test squares should be done on slopes that would have been exposed to hail (windward), not on protected slopes.

The damage report includes:

• Per-slope test square counts
• Photos of each test square with chalk marks visible
• Total bruise count across the roof
• Recommended scope (full replacement vs partial vs repair only)

The adjuster meet

Once your claim is filed, the carrier assigns an adjuster who will come to inspect the property. Best outcomes happen when your contractor is on the roof at the same time as the adjuster. We coordinate this directly:

1. The adjuster contacts you to schedule the inspection
2. You let us know the time
3. We meet the adjuster at the property
4. We’re on the roof with them while they do their test squares
5. If our counts and theirs agree, the scope is approved efficiently
6. If counts differ, we walk through the discrepancies on the roof – typically resolved in real-time

Adjuster meets where the contractor isn’t present often result in low-scope settlements because the adjuster only sees what they can find independently in 30 minutes. Contractors who’ve inspected the roof beforehand know where the damage is and can guide the assessment.

Supplemental documentation

The initial settlement scope often misses items that the IL building code requires for a code-compliant repair:

• Ice and water shield extension – IRC R905.1.2 requires ice barrier at the eaves to 24″ inside the warm-wall line. Often missing from initial scopes.
• Drip edge replacement – IRC R905.2.8.5 requires drip edge at eaves and rakes. Often missed if the existing drip edge is original.
• Decking replacement – soft or rotted decking discovered during tear-off. Not usually in the initial scope; submitted as supplement.
• Ventilation correction – if existing ventilation doesn’t meet 1:300 NFA code, the corrected ventilation is supplemental.
• Flashing replacement – step flashing, chimney flashing, and pipe boots are sometimes scoped as repair when replacement is the code-compliant approach.

We submit supplements with code citations, photo documentation, and itemized line costs. Most major IL carriers approve supplements when properly documented – the work just has to be done.

What you pay vs what insurance pays

For an approved storm damage claim, your out-of-pocket cost is your deductible (typically $1,000-$2,500 on IL homeowner policies, sometimes higher for wind/hail-specific deductibles). The carrier pays the rest directly to the contractor (after the deductible is paid by you).

What we will not do: waive your deductible. Illinois law (215 ILCS 5/155.36) classifies deductible waivers as insurance fraud – a class A misdemeanor for the contractor and a problem for you if the carrier investigates. Any contractor offering to “waive your deductible” is asking you to commit fraud on the application. Walk away.

Getting started

If you suspect storm damage on your roof:

1. Schedule a free inspection at /free-inspection/ or call (618) 304-7094
2. We’ll inspect the roof, mark damage, pull NOAA storm data, and produce the documentation packet
3. You file the claim with your carrier using our documentation
4. We coordinate the adjuster meet
5. We complete the repair

Related reading:

• How hail damage is assessed on a roof
• Trill Roofing storm damage repair scope
• Class 4 shingles to reduce future claims

Related Trill Roofing Services

More guides: Asphalt Shingle Types Compared · Class 4 Impact-Resistant Shingles · Attic Ventilation Sizing

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