StormFile Blog · October 25, 2026 · Hail claims

Before the Storm Hits: A Homeowner's Pre-Storm Documentation Checklist

The most valuable hail claim evidence is the evidence you create before anything happens: a dated "before" record of your home's exterior.

After a hailstorm, the hardest question in a claim isn't always "how bad is the damage?" It's "was that damage already there?" Insurers deny or discount hail claims all the time on the grounds that the dents, cracks, or wear were pre-existing. And once the storm has passed, you can't go back and prove what your roof looked like the day before.

That's why the most valuable claim evidence is the evidence you create before anything happens: a dated, organized "before" record of your home's exterior. It costs nothing but an hour of your time, and it turns every post-storm argument about pre-existing damage into a simple before-and-after comparison.

StormFile is a documentation tool, not an adjuster or a legal advisor. This is practical guidance, not insurance or legal advice. Coverage decisions belong to your policy and your carrier.

Why a "before" record matters

Think about how a hail claim actually gets decided. An adjuster walks your property, photographs what they see, and compares it against what the storm could plausibly have done. If your shingles already had granule loss from age, or your gutters already had dents from a previous storm, the adjuster has to decide which marks are new. Without a "before" record, that decision is a judgment call — and judgment calls tend to favor the carrier.

A dated set of pre-storm photos changes the conversation. Instead of "was this dent here before?" the question becomes "here's the same gutter on March 1st, and here's it on June 15th after the storm." That's a much easier case to make, whether you're talking to an adjuster, a contractor, or a second adjuster on a reinspection.

The "before" record also protects you in the other direction: it keeps you honest. If you know your roof already had wear, you won't waste a claim — and a deductible — on damage that was never going to be covered.

When to do it

The best time is right now, on a clear day, when nothing is wrong. After that, refresh the record:

• At the start of every storm season (spring in most hail-prone regions).
• After any repair or replacement — new roof, new gutters, new siding. A fresh installation deserves a fresh baseline.
• After any storm that doesn't produce a claim — even a storm that causes no damage resets the baseline for the next one.
• When you buy a home — a move-in record is the single most useful "before" set you'll ever own.

If a storm is already in the forecast, a quick pass is still worth doing. Even same-day "before" photos, taken hours before the hail arrives, beat having nothing.

The checklist: what to photograph

Work around the house in order, one side at a time, and shoot every surface the storm can touch. You don't need a drone or a ladder — ground-level photos with a phone are fine for everything except the roof itself, and for the roof, long-lens or zoomed shots from the ground still establish condition.

• All four sides of the house. For each side, take one wide shot showing the whole wall, then closer shots of each material on that side: siding, brick, trim, windows, and doors. Note which side faces which direction — hail damage concentrates on the windward side, so the direction label matters later.
• The roof, from the ground. Photograph each slope you can see, ideally from an angle that shows the shingle pattern clearly. If you can safely photograph from an upstairs window or a neighbor's higher vantage point, do it. Don't climb onto the roof for this — a baseline record isn't worth a fall, and a ground-level record is enough to establish pre-storm condition.
• Gutters, downspouts, and fascia. These are the "soft metals" adjusters use to corroborate hail size and force. Photograph every run of gutter and every downspout, including the elbows. Dents here are the easiest pre-existing damage to argue about later, so get them on record now.
• Windows, screens, and skylights. Shoot each window straight-on, close enough to show the glass and frame. Cracked or chipped glass, torn screens, and dented frames are all things a storm can be blamed for — or that you can be blamed for having already.
• Doors and garage doors. Metal garage doors dent visibly in hail. Photograph the full door plus close-ups of each panel.
• Outdoor equipment. Air conditioning condenser, heat pump, vents, exhaust caps, satellite dish, mailbox, light fixtures. The AC condenser's fins are a classic hail casualty, and they're also easy to ding with a lawnmower — exactly the kind of ambiguity a "before" photo resolves.
• Decks, fences, sheds, and outbuildings. Wood fences and decks show hail marks as pitting and splintering. Photograph them now, especially any sections already weathered, so storm pitting can be distinguished from age.
• Driveway, walkways, and patio. Hail doesn't usually damage concrete, but wind-driven debris does, and a pre-storm shot of the patio furniture, grill, and planters establishes what was out there before the storm scattered it.
• The yard itself. One wide shot of each side of the yard, showing trees, fences, and anything that could fall on the house. If a tree comes down in the storm, you'll want proof of its pre-storm condition too.

How to shoot photos that hold up

A camera roll full of unlabeled close-ups is better than nothing, but a little discipline makes the record far stronger:

• Shoot wide first, then close. Every close-up should have a wide shot that shows where it was taken. A dent means nothing if nobody can tell which wall it's on.
• Include a reference for scale when it matters. A coin or a ruler next to a dent or crack gives the photo a size. You don't need this on every shot — just the ones showing existing wear.
• Keep the originals, with metadata intact. Phone photos carry timestamps and GPS by default. Don't screenshot them, don't run them through a filter, and don't crop out the timestamp data. The original file is the evidence; an edited copy is a weaker version of it.
• Label as you go. A simple note — "north side, June 2026, before storm season" — in a folder name or a notes app turns a pile of photos into a record.
• Photograph existing wear honestly. If the roof already has granule loss or the gutters already have dents, photograph them anyway. A baseline that hides old damage is worse than useless — it undermines the credibility of the whole record.
• Back it up off the phone. Cloud storage, an emailed copy to yourself, or a shared folder. A "before" record that lives only on a phone that gets hail-damaged in the same storm isn't a record at all.

Paperwork to file alongside the photos

Photos are the core, but a few documents make the record complete:

• Roof age and installation paperwork. The install date, shingle brand and type, and the contractor's invoice. Roof age is one of the first things an adjuster asks about, and "I think it was 2018" is a weaker answer than a dated invoice.
• Your policy's declarations page. Know your deductible and whether you have a cosmetic damage exclusion before the storm, not after.
• Previous claim history. If a prior storm already damaged the roof and was repaired, keep the repair invoices. Repaired damage that reappears is a different conversation than damage that was never fixed.
• A short written note. One paragraph: date, weather, who took the photos, and anything notable ("gutters replaced April 2026; north-side shingles show normal wear for a 10-year-old roof"). A sentence of context turns photos into a dated statement.

What to do when the storm actually comes

Once you've built the baseline, the post-storm job is the one most homeowners already know: photograph everything again, the same way, before anything gets repaired, and compare. Our guide on documenting hail damage before the adjuster arrives walks through that process step by step.

The bottom line

Nobody plans to file a hail claim. But in hail country, the odds say you eventually will — and when you do, the claim will be decided on evidence, not on memory. An hour of photos on a clear day, refreshed each spring, is the cheapest insurance supplement you'll ever buy. It doesn't change what the storm does to your house. It changes what you can prove about it afterward.

StormFile is a documentation tool — a timestamped, AI-assisted photographic record of visible condition. It is not an inspection, not an adjuster's opinion, and not legal or insurance advice. For questions about coverage or your claim, talk to your agent or a licensed professional.