Your Insurer Wants to Settle From Photos. Check These First

A letter from your insurer may say the company has reviewed the photos, measured the roof from aerial images or a photo set, and is ready to settle without sending anyone up the ladder. Some carriers do this for smaller losses, and it can move quickly. It also means the file rests on whatever was photographed, by whoever took the pictures, on the day they took them. Before you accept a number built that way, find out exactly what that record contains.

Insurance claim

Start with the term itself. A desk review is a decision made from the file, without an adjuster or engineer standing on your roof that day. Your policy and your insurer's claim process decide whether a desk review is allowed on your claim and whether you can ask for an in-person inspection instead. Ask in writing. A request for an inspection is a dated record, and so is the reply.

Then ask for the file the decision rests on. You can ask your insurer which photos it holds, who took them, on what dates, and which slopes and elevations they show. Ask for the estimate line by line and for the source of the roof measurements, whether that is an aerial report, a sketch, or a field diagram. A roof measured from above can differ from the roof measured on the deck, especially where there are dormers, a second slope over a porch, or a valley that runs under another section.

Keep your own copy of everything. Log each call with the date, the name of the person, the claim number, and what was said. The same habit that works for insurer calls works for letters and emails: save the original, note when it arrived, and write down what you answered. Your claim stays yours to manage, and the file you hold is what lets you answer the next letter quickly.

What photos usually miss on a St. Louis roof

A photo shows a surface. Several kinds of storm damage are read by touch or by close inspection, and a desk review often includes neither. Hail bruises on asphalt shingles show as soft spots when pressed, and a granule loss pattern may be visible only in a close photo with the light angled across it. Ridge caps and hip caps take hits on the windward side and are often missing from a wide shot. The drip edge at the eave, the vent hoods, the pipe boots and the flashing at a wall can show damage that a roof-wide picture never resolves.

Look at the photos themselves. Are they original files or screenshots? Is there a scale reference, such as a ruler or a known object, in the frame? Is the back slope covered, or only the slope that faces the street? In a hail file, the damage count is usually taken from marked test areas, and a photo set may not show those areas at all. If the estimate is built on counts you cannot find in the photos, ask where the counts came from.

Winter adds its own problem. Freeze and thaw cycles lift the edges of shingles that were already loosened, and a crack that formed in January can look different by June. A desk review done months after a storm may not separate the storm damage from the wear that followed it. That is not a reason to refuse a fair settlement. It is a reason to ask which date the photos were taken and whether anyone looked at the roof after the first hard freeze that followed the storm.

What it costs

Your insurer's number and your roofer's number are two different documents, and neither should be read as the other. An insurer estimate reflects the carrier's pricing, its labor rates, and its treatment of items like starter strip, drip edge, ridge vent and ice and water shield. A roofing scope reflects what the job needs once the crew is on the roof. When the two disagree, the difference is usually a set of named lines, and those lines are where a homeowner gets answers.

If you want a roofer to look at the roof before you accept a desk settlement, ask whether that visit is charged. Get the answer in writing, along with whether the visit is credited toward a job if you hire that roofer. A visit that costs nothing and comes with photos and measurements is a different thing from one billed by the hour. Keys Roofing documents damage, puts a written scope with photos and measurements in the homeowner's hands, and attends as the contractor while the homeowner deals with their own insurer. Missouri law (RSMo 407.725) bars a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating a homeowner's insurance claim, so the insurer conversation stays with you.

What to ask

1. Is this a desk review, and can I request an in-person inspection before I agree to the figure?
2. Which photos are in the file, who took them, and on what dates?
3. Which slopes, elevations and accessories were photographed, including the back slope, ridge and hip caps, vents and flashing?
4. Where did the roof measurements come from, and can I see the diagram?
5. Which hail or wind counts are used, and where are the marked test areas shown?
6. Which line items are priced, and which are missing, such as starter strip, drip edge, ridge vent and underlayment?
7. Does the figure include any code upgrade items, or does that need a separate request?
8. Will the decision be in writing, with the reasons, before I sign anything?

When to decline a photo-only figure

Declining a settlement is a decision you make on your own file, and the reasons should be written down. You can say the photos do not show the areas you believe were damaged, that the measurements do not match your roof, or that a close inspection is needed before a figure can be agreed. Nothing on this page tells you what your insurer must do with that request. Your policy wording and your insurer's process govern it. What you control is the record: the dated letter, the list of photos you asked for, and the roofer's written scope with its own photos.

If the roof has open areas while the claim sits, keep the receipts for any temporary protection and photograph the protection itself. Do not throw away damaged material until the insurer has had a chance to see it. If you want a second look at the roof before you respond, call Keys Roofing at (314) 220-2333 and ask for a written scope with photos and measurements.