A roof inspection for insurance is only as good as the record it produces. The insurer or loss adjuster needs to establish what the damage is, where on the roof it sits, and when it was documented — and every day between the event and the capture makes those questions harder to answer.
Our part is narrow and deliberate. We capture the roof: CASA-licensed aerial imagery, delivered dated, positionally referenced and with metadata intact. We do not assess the claim, apportion cause or estimate the loss. The adjuster, the insurer and the licensed building consultant do that. We provide the evidence layer they work from.
This is general information about documenting a roof. Claim requirements vary by insurer and by policy — check what yours asks for before relying on anything here.
A roof inspection for insurance: why timing matters after a storm
Roof evidence degrades faster than most people expect, and it degrades in ways that are difficult to argue back.
The weather keeps going. A hailstorm on Tuesday is followed by rain on Thursday and a hot week after. The physical marks stay, but the surrounding evidence washes away — debris scatter, the position of dislodged material, water staining, the direction of impact.
Temporary repairs happen, and they should. Tarps go on, gutters get cleared, loose sheeting gets fixed down. Property owners have a duty to mitigate further loss, so this is correct. It also covers over the exact surfaces the adjuster wants to see. A capture taken before the tarp goes on is worth considerably more than one taken after.
Trades attend. By the time a claim is properly under way, several people may have walked the roof. Foot traffic on a compromised roof adds its own damage, and later it is hard to separate storm damage from access damage.
The practical rule: get the roof captured as early as it is safe to fly, and before remediation begins. If a tarp has to go on first for safety, capture it with the tarp in place too, and note the sequence.
What an insurer or loss adjuster actually needs to see
An insurance roof inspection answers a narrower set of questions than a general condition report. Broadly, an adjuster is working out whether the damage is consistent with the event claimed, how extensive it is, and what it will take to make good.
That means the imagery has to support:
- Full coverage, not highlights. Every roof plane, including the ones with no visible damage. Undamaged areas are evidence too — they establish the pattern and help distinguish event damage from pre-existing wear.
- Located damage. Each defect tied to a point on the roof, not “rear elevation”. An orthomosaic gives the whole roof as one geometrically corrected top-down image that close-range shots can be pinned to.
- Scale. Damage you can measure across, rather than estimate from a photo taken at an unknown distance.
- Context and detail together. Wide shots showing the building and its surrounds, close shots showing the defect, and a clear relationship between the two.
- Surrounding evidence. Debris on the ground, damage to adjacent structures, tree fall, the state of gutters and downpipes.
- Date, time and conditions of capture. Recorded, not remembered.
For a storm damage roof inspection, the direction of impact and the consistency of the pattern across the site is usually what the assessment turns on. That is a coverage question, and aerial capture suits it well.
Why loose phone photos are not enough
Photos taken by a property manager the morning after are better than nothing, and we would never tell someone not to take them. They are just weak as evidence, for structural reasons rather than anything to do with photo quality.
They are unlocated — a close-up of a lifted sheet does not show where on the roof it came from. They are partial, because people photograph what they can see and reach, which leaves the middle of a large roof out of the record. They are not measurable, with no scale reference and no fixed geometry, so a 300 mm split and a two metre split look much the same.
Their metadata is usually gone: photos forwarded through messaging apps or pasted into documents get stripped and recompressed, and the EXIF — capture date, time, camera, position — goes with it. And they are not repeatable.
A dated, positionally referenced capture with intact metadata solves all five at once. That is the whole argument for doing it properly — the imagery still means something when someone questions it later.
Chain-of-custody discipline, and why independence matters
The value of a capture depends on how it is handled after the aircraft lands.
We deliver the original files unaltered, with EXIF and capture metadata preserved, alongside a manifest listing every file, a methodology statement describing how the capture was flown, and a file integrity ledger so any recipient can confirm nothing has changed since delivery. Processed products — the orthomosaic, elevation data — are supplied in addition to the originals, never instead of them.
Independence is the other half. We have no interest in the outcome of the claim: we are not quoting the repair, we do not write the assessment, and we are not paid on the result. That neutrality is what makes the data useful to an insurer and a policyholder alike, and it is why we keep the line between capture and assessment sharp.
Our Site Record Packs are the productised version of that discipline, in three tiers depending on how much rigour the matter justifies.
The pre-event baseline: proving what changed
For anyone managing a commercial property portfolio, the strongest position after a storm is a capture from before it.
A baseline capture is straightforward. Each roof in the portfolio is flown once, on a documented methodology, and the record is filed. When an event happens, the same roofs are flown again at the same altitude and overlap, and the two sets are directly comparable. The argument stops being “this looks like storm damage” and becomes “this is what the roof looked like on 14 March, and this is what it looks like now”.
Pre-existing wear is the most common friction point in a commercial roof claim. Corrosion, fatigue cracking, previous patching and ponding are all things an insurer may reasonably attribute to age rather than the event. A baseline settles that with a record rather than a debate.
It earns its cost outside claims too — maintenance planning, capital works budgeting, handover records at acquisition or disposal, and evidence for an owners corporation before a levy discussion.
Where our role stops
We are an aerial data capture business. We are not loss adjusters, licensed builders, registered building inspectors or roof plumbers, and we do not assess claims, determine causation or estimate repair costs.
The loss adjuster or insurer assesses. The licensed contractor or building consultant forms the condition opinion and scopes the repair. We fly the roof, document it properly and hand over data that holds its integrity. All of those parties work better when the imagery underneath is complete, dated and located — and that is the only job we claim.
If you are unsure what your policy requires or how a claim should be presented, speak to your insurer, your broker or a solicitor. This article is general information, not legal or claims advice.
Frequently asked questions
How soon after a storm should a roof be inspected for insurance?
As soon as it is safe to do so, and before temporary repairs cover the damage. Evidence degrades quickly — subsequent weather washes away debris patterns, tarps obscure affected surfaces, and foot traffic from attending trades adds damage that is hard to separate later. Capture first where you safely can, then mitigate.
Will an insurer accept drone photos for a roof claim?
Most insurers and loss adjusters accept aerial imagery, particularly when it is dated, positionally referenced and supplied with metadata intact and a methodology statement. Requirements vary by insurer and policy, so confirm what yours needs before the capture. Imagery supports an assessment; it does not replace the adjuster’s determination.
What is a pre-event baseline capture?
A documented aerial capture of a roof taken before any damage occurs, filed as a reference record. After a storm or hail event, the same roof is flown again on the same methodology and the two captures compared directly. It is the clearest way to separate event damage from pre-existing wear across a commercial property portfolio.
Can you tell me whether the damage is covered by my policy?
No. We capture and deliver the data; we do not assess claims, determine cause or interpret policy wording. Coverage questions are for your insurer, your broker or the appointed loss adjuster. Keeping that line clear is part of what makes our capture useful as independent evidence.
Why does metadata matter in an insurance roof inspection?
Capture metadata records when an image was taken, with what, and from where. Once it is stripped — which happens routinely when photos are forwarded or pasted into documents — the image can no longer establish its own date or position. We deliver original files unaltered, with a manifest and integrity ledger, so the record stays verifiable.