After A Windstorm
After a Toronto windstorm two things arrive: missing shingles and people knocking on doors. Deal with the first through your insurer and decline the second.
Short answer
Photograph the damage and the debris, report it to the insurer promptly, and get your own independent inspection rather than relying on a contractor who appeared after the storm. Insurers typically argue wear versus storm damage, and matching, so documentation of the pre-storm condition helps enormously.
The first day
Photograph everything: the roof from the ground with a zoom, the missing or lifted shingles, and the debris on the ground.
Collect the blown-off shingles, which establish what came from your roof.
Photograph any interior damage, and contain any active leak.
Report to the insurer promptly, which most policies require.
Arrange an emergency tarp or temporary repair if water is getting in, and keep that invoice separate.
And do not sign anything with a contractor who knocked on the door, which is the single most useful rule here.
Decline the door-knockers
A crew that appears after a storm offering a free inspection, finding damage and wanting a signature is a pattern rather than a coincidence. Some are legitimate and some are not, and you cannot tell on the doorstep. Get your own inspector, get your own quotes, and run the claim through your insurer process.
What insurers argue
Wear and age versus storm damage, which is the main argument. A roof at the end of its life that loses tabs in a storm will be argued as wear.
Whether the wind speed was sufficient, which they will check against weather records for your area.
Matching: whether a repair in the damaged area is sufficient or whether the slope needs replacing for appearance, which policies treat differently.
Whether the damage is cosmetic or functional, particularly on a metal roof or with hail.
Depreciation on the roof covering, which many policies apply on a sliding scale by age.
And deductible, which on a small loss frequently makes the claim not worth making.
Strengthening your position
An independent roof inspection with photographs and a written report, from somebody not quoting the work.
Any prior inspection report or photographs showing the pre-storm condition, which is why a roof inspection every few years has a value beyond the roof.
Weather records for the date, which are available and which the insurer will be using anyway.
The collected debris.
A written scope from a contractor rather than a number.
And escalating within the insurer process, or involving a public adjuster or the provincial ombudsman service, where a legitimate claim is being declined.
Common questions
Should I let a storm contractor inspect?
Get your own inspector instead, and run the claim through your insurer.
What do insurers usually argue?
Wear versus storm damage, and whether a repair or a slope replacement is owed.
What helps most?
An independent inspection report, and any prior photographs of the roof condition.