Siding or Roof Damaged by a Nor'easter? How to Document It and File an Insurance Claim in New York

If a nor'easter just took siding or shingles off your house, do these three things before anything else: photograph everything before it is touched, stop the water from getting in, and call your insurance company within a day or two. The order matters. Damage that gets cleaned up before it is documented is damage the adjuster never sees.

We get called the morning after every big storm on Long Island, from Mastic Beach to Montauk, and the homeowners who have an easy claim are the ones who did those three things in that order. This is how to be one of them.

Step 1: Document before you clean up

Take more photos than you think you need, from the ground, with your phone. Do not get on the roof.

• Wide shots of every elevation of the house, so the adjuster can see where the damage sits on the building
• Close shots of each damaged area: missing or lifted shingles, cracked or missing siding panels, bent gutters, damaged soffit and fascia, broken window glass or screens
• Debris in the yard, where it landed, before you pick it up. Shingles and siding panels on the lawn are evidence of wind, not wear.
• Interior damage: water stains on ceilings, wet insulation, drips at light fixtures, with a photo of the ceiling and the room
• A photo of the date and time, or just make sure your phone's photo timestamps are on

Then write down what happened in a few lines: the date of the storm, roughly what time the damage occurred if you know, and what you saw. The National Weather Service posts storm summaries for Long Island; note the date so the adjuster can match your claim to a recorded wind event.

Step 2: Stop the water, but do not start the repair

Your policy almost certainly requires you to prevent further damage after a loss. That means tarping an open roof or covering a missing siding section, not re-roofing the house. Keep the two separate in your head and on paper.

We do emergency tarping across Suffolk County after storms. A tarp that is strapped and nailed into the deck above the damage, run over the ridge, and weighted correctly will hold through the next storm. One thrown over the hole and tied to the gutter will not. Keep the receipt for any emergency work; it is part of the claim.

Do not let anyone start permanent repairs before the adjuster has seen the damage or approved photos of it. If a crew knocks on your door the day after the storm offering to start now, that is the reason to say no.

Step 3: Call your insurer and open the claim

Most homeowner's policies ask you to report a loss promptly. Call the claims number on your policy, give them the date of the storm and a short description, and ask for the claim number and the adjuster's contact. Ask two questions while you have them:

1. What is my deductible for wind damage? Some Long Island policies carry a separate, higher windstorm or hurricane deductible, and it only applies when a named storm or a certain wind threshold is met. Know which one applies before you plan the repair.
2. Is a contractor's estimate required, and in what format?

Send the photos and your notes as soon as you have the claim number.

Step 4: Get a contractor's inspection and written scope

This is where we come in. We inspect the roof and siding, photograph what the ground shots missed, and write an itemized scope of repair: what is damaged, what it takes to fix it correctly, and what has to come with it. That last part matters. Matching a discontinued vinyl siding color or a 15-year-old shingle is often impossible, and New York adjusters generally recognize that a repair has to result in a reasonably uniform appearance. The scope should say so.

We also separate storm damage from pre-existing wear in the report. Granule loss across a whole slope is age. Creased, torn and missing shingles in a pattern on the windward side are the storm. An adjuster can tell the difference, and a report that is honest about it gets taken seriously.

Step 5: Meet the adjuster, or have us meet them

Adjusters are busy after a regional storm and may not come for a week or two. When they do, the inspection goes better with the contractor there to point out what is in the scope and why. We meet adjusters on Long Island roofs regularly and we know what they are looking for. If the adjuster's estimate comes in lower than the written scope, you can ask for a re-inspection, submit the contractor's scope as a supplement, and, in New York, dispute the amount through the policy's appraisal clause.

What a nor'easter does to Long Island houses

Knowing what to look for helps you photograph it.

• Siding: panels unlocked and blown off the windward gable, usually the northeast face; cracked panels where debris hit; J-channel pulled loose at corners; soffit panels pushed up into the eave
• Roof: creased shingles that lifted and folded back, tabs torn off along the rakes and ridge, exposed nail heads, missing ridge caps, flashing peeled at chimneys and walls
• Gutters: sections pulled off the fascia by ice and wind, downspouts separated
• Windows: cracked glass, torn screens, water around the frame where wind-driven rain got behind the trim

On the South Shore and the East End, add salt spray and flooding to the list; those are often a different coverage question than wind, so document them separately.

What is usually covered, and what is not

In general terms, sudden wind damage from a storm is the kind of loss a standard homeowner's policy is designed to cover, subject to the deductible. Wear, age, lack of maintenance and gradual leaks are not. Flooding from storm surge is usually a separate flood policy. Your own policy controls, so read the wind and windstorm sections, and ask your agent if anything is unclear. We are contractors, not adjusters, and we will tell you when a question is one for them.

After the storm, before the next one

Once the claim is settled and the repair is done, a few things reduce the odds of doing this again: heavier-gauge wind-rated vinyl on exposed elevations, a full roof system with sealed starter strip at the rakes and the manufacturer's high-wind nailing pattern, and soffit that is properly fastened at the eave. We build to those specs on every job near the water, claim or no claim.

If you are standing in the yard looking at shingles right now

Call us at (631) 972-0873. We will get a tarp on if you need one, document the damage properly, and give you a written scope you can hand straight to your adjuster. Request storm damage help.