FranklyStep 1 — Document before anything is touched
Photograph the roof from the ground and, where it is safe, from a ladder — never by walking a wet or damaged roof. Photograph every interior stain, drip, and soaked item, with a timestamp. Note the date of the storm. Save any weather report for that date. This is the evidence base for the entire claim, and it cannot be recreated once a tarp goes on or a repair is made.
Step 2 — Mitigate, and keep the receipts
Your policy requires you to prevent further damage: tarping, water extraction, moving contents. Those are usually reimbursable costs, but only if you kept receipts and photos of the temporary work. Do not authorise permanent repairs before the insurer has inspected, and do not sign anything a door-knocking contractor hands you in the days after a storm.
Step 3 — File promptly and in writing
Report the loss to your insurer as soon as you reasonably can — policies require prompt notice, and California gives insurers deadlines to acknowledge and respond once you do. Get the claim number, the adjuster's name, and a written confirmation of what you reported. From that point, follow up every phone call with a short email summarising what was said. A claim file built on written exchanges is a much stronger position later.
Step 4 — Be present for the adjuster's inspection
Be there when the adjuster inspects, and have your photos and your own documentation in hand. Point out interior damage and previous repairs. Ask for a copy of the adjuster's scope and estimate — you are entitled to see what they wrote, and that document is what any later disagreement is actually about.
Step 5 — Compare the insurer's scope to a real repair scope
The common dispute is not whether the roof was damaged; it is what the repair scope should contain. Insurer scopes frequently omit flashing replacement, ventilation, underlayment appropriate to the assembly, code-required upgrades, and disposal. If your policy includes ordinance-or-law coverage, code upgrades triggered by the repair may be payable. This is where an independent read of the scope — against the documented condition, with nothing to sell you — is worth the most.
Step 6 — Supplements and disagreements
If the approved scope misses work that is genuinely required, the route is a supplemental claim with documentation and photos attached, not a phone argument. If a real disagreement over the loss amount persists, California policies contain an appraisal provision, and the Department of Insurance takes consumer complaints. Take those steps in order, with the paper trail behind you.
About the contractors who arrive after a storm
Storm chasing is a pattern, not a slur on every company that knocks. Be cautious with anyone offering to 'waive your deductible' — that is insurance fraud in California and it makes you a participant. Be cautious with a contract that assigns your claim benefits to the contractor. Check the licence number on cslb.ca.gov, and remember the state caps a home improvement down payment at $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less, and gives you a three-day right to cancel.