If a storm just rolled through and your roof took damage, the next two days matter more than most homeowners realize. The decisions you make in that window — what you document, who you call, and in what order — usually determine whether your insurance claim goes smoothly or turns into a multi-month headache.

This isn’t legal advice and it isn’t a substitute for reading your specific policy. But for most homeowners with a standard property policy, here’s the general playbook that tends to keep things moving.

Hour 1: Make Sure Everyone Is Safe

Before anything else: stay out of rooms where the ceiling is sagging, water is pooling, or wires are exposed. If shingles came off, do not climb up there to look. Roofs are slippery when they’re wet and even more slippery when they’re damaged. The damage will still be there in the morning. Your spine won’t be if you fall through soft sheathing.

Once you’re confident the house is safe to be in, move to containment. Buckets under active drips. Towels on hardwood. Move electronics and important documents away from anywhere water is coming in.

Hour 2 to 6: Document Everything

This is the step homeowners most often shortcut and most often regret. Adjusters work from documentation. The more of it you have, the harder it is for your claim to get reduced or denied later.

Take photos from inside and outside. Wide shots and close-ups. Get the time stamps if your phone allows it. Photograph not just the roof but anything the water touched on its way down — drywall stains, soaked insulation, ruined rugs, damaged furniture. Save receipts for anything you buy to contain the damage. Tarps, buckets, sheeting, even towels. Most policies reimburse those mitigation costs.

If you can safely walk the perimeter of the house, photograph the yard too. Branches on the lawn, missing siding, debris that landed against the house — all of it helps establish the storm’s intensity for your claim.

Day 1: Call Your Insurance Carrier

Most homeowners’ policies require prompt notification of damage — sometimes within a specific number of days. Don’t wait. Call your insurer’s claims line, file the claim, and get a claim number that day. If you’re unfamiliar with the process, this overview on filing a roof insurance claim in NJ walks through what to expect from the carrier side, what an adjuster typically looks at, and where homeowners often slow themselves down. Read it before the adjuster shows up — knowing the rhythm of the process makes the conversation a lot easier.

When you file, stick to facts. The wind blew. Shingles came off. Water entered through the ceiling. Don’t speculate about cause. Don’t agree to dollar figures over the phone. The point of that first call is to open the claim and get a claim number — nothing else.

Day 1 to 2: Get a Roofer Out for an Independent Assessment

Your insurance company will send an adjuster. That adjuster works for the insurance company. They are not on your side and they are not against you — they are doing a job that has its own incentives. The single best thing you can do is have a qualified roofer assess the damage independently before or alongside the adjuster’s visit.

A good roofer will note things adjusters sometimes miss: lifted shingle tabs that haven’t fallen yet, damaged underlayment, compromised flashing, hairline cracks in the deck. If the roofer’s findings differ from the adjuster’s, you have documentation to push back with.

If your claim ends up disputed, the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance is the state agency that handles consumer complaints against insurers. Most homeowners never need to escalate that far — but knowing the resource exists changes how you advocate for yourself in the meantime.

Day 2: Don’t Sign Anything You Haven’t Read

Some contractors show up after storms with assignment-of-benefits forms or contracts that hand over your right to collect from the insurer. Read every line. Take the contract home. Have someone you trust look at it. A reputable roofer will give you the time. A pressure pitch on day one is a red flag, not an emergency response.

The same goes for the insurance side. Don’t sign a final settlement until repairs are scoped and you’ve had time to review the scope against your roofer’s estimate.

Why Local Matters After a Storm

Out-of-state “storm chasers” follow weather events looking for fast jobs. They’re often gone before warranty issues come up. A local roofing contractor — one that lived through the same storm and will still be in town two winters from now — is almost always the better call. Ask how long they’ve been in business in your county. Ask how many similar storm-damage claims they’ve worked through with carriers. Hire accordingly.

The Short Version

Stay safe. Document everything. Call the insurer the same day. Get an independent roofing assessment. Don’t sign anything you haven’t read. If you do those five things in the first 48 hours, your claim is already in better shape than most.