Scene 01 · The driveway visit
Homeowner wisdom
Document the damage
Pictures, video and notes of the event itself: the time, the place, the direction it came from. Our observation is that most homeowners remember the storm and can prove none of it.
Scene 00 · The claim, walked end to end
Six chaptersOur numbersNo pressure, no invented damage
THE MAP · SIX CHAPTERS · OUR OWN PUBLISHED PROCESS
- STEP 01 OF 06A free look at the roofStorm damage first, claim talk second. The look costs nothing.
- STEP 02 OF 06Call in the claimEvery carrier runs a hotline, and Dakota keeps the numbers on hand.
- STEP 03 OF 06The adjuster visitOfficial, independent, or working for you alone. Know which one is on the roof.
- STEP 04 OF 06Claim summary and first paymentRCV, ACV, and the depreciation held between them.
- STEP 05 OF 06The build, and the argumentThe build starts while the argument continues.
- STEP 06 OF 06The supplementThe re-measure at the end is what funds the finish.
Scene 02 · The phone call
Homeowner wisdom
Call the carrier before any quick fix
A carrier can approve emergency tarping or board-up. DIY repairs made before that call can shrink or void the claim. If you have to act first, photograph before and after.
Scene 03 · Whose clipboard it is
By Dakota’s telling the inspector usually shows up about 20 minutes early, takes a lot of pictures, walks the whole house for collateral damage, and only then gets on the roof and gutters.
Carrier adjuster
Can issue a claim or a denial on the spot, cut the first check, and will usually tell you to get three bids.
Independent adjuster
Offers a quick overview without promises. The formal answer comes later, from the carrier.
Our standing advice
Have your contractor on the roof next to whoever inspects. That is when the scope gets argued, and it is the part we have done more than a thousand times.
Scene 04 · The claim math
ACVDEPRECIATIONRCV
Scene 05 · Roof up, case open
Their published numbers
0%
of the actual damage is what carriers typically pay on the first check, by Dakota’s account.
>0%
of claims get modified from the carrier’s first scope. Their number, and the reason the argument is half the job.
Scene 06 · The last check
Homeowner wisdom
A denial is an opening position
You can request another inspector. Our advice is to have a contractor present when the second one comes, so the damage gets argued by someone who argues it for a living.
Do not get on the roof. It is dangerous up there.Our words, on our own page. The free look exists so nobody has to climb anything to find out where the claim stands.
Scene 07 · The paper fight
All repairs covered. One deductible, only one time.
>0%
of claims get modified from the carrier’s first scope, by Dakota’s own published count. The supplement is how that gap gets argued back in.
Behind a difficult case, by our own list: documentation and case building, proposals presented to the carrier, engineering support, and a legal team when a case needs one.
Bring us this
- AThe original or latest claim papers, so we can see the carrier's loss information
- BRoof measurements or an EagleView report, plus any contract, permits, certificates of completion, and ITEL reports
- CLabor, materials and payments collected so far, in case an item was missed
- DPictures of the home, before, during and after
Our own count: during a job we may take up to 0 pictures of the work.
What the final invoice shows
- The completed trades, listed
- The original ACV amounts per trade
- The specific increases per the settlement
- A formal request for release of depreciation, with the amount
- The final amount due, netting the down payment, the increases, and the final RCV
The other side of the table
Seven carriers we have worked claims with, listed the way we list them, with no partnership or endorsement implied. Just the desks our paperwork has crossed.
- State Farm
- Nationwide
- USAA
- Auto-Owners
- AAA
- Farm Bureau
- Farmers
CHAPTER ONE IS FREE
A free look at the roof, before anyone says the word claim. If the damage is there, you just read what happens next.