The Slope Story: a roofing insurance claim photos checklist your crew can follow on the roof

The Slope Story in four shots

This is the checklist from our video on roof claim photos. The reason a roof close-up proves so little is that nobody knows which slope it's from. The Slope Story fixes that with four shots, always in this order.

1. The overview. The front of the house with the house number showing, then every side of the home.
2. The wide shot. One picture of each full roof slope, so every slope has its own starting point.
3. The mid-range. A shot that ties the damaged area to the slope it sits on.
4. The close-up. The damage itself, taken before any permanent repair.

Think of it like a map with a "you are here" pin: the wide shot is the map and the close-up is the pin. Roofing checklists describe the same pattern. Timemark's storm damage checklist puts it simply: the strongest roof damage photos follow wide, mid-range, close-up. FoxHaven Roofing explains why: a close-up alone doesn't show which slope it came from or how it relates to the rest of the roof.

This is contractor guidance, not an insurer rule. Carriers and policies differ, so if an adjuster asks for something specific, do that too.

Who this is for and what you need first

The Slope Story is for roofing contractors and storm restoration crews who document damage for homeowners' claims. You need:

• Phones with location turned on and the right date and time. FoxHaven recommends turning on the camera's location setting so each photo carries where it was taken.
• Chalk or a marker for circling hits, if that's your practice.
• One place for each job's photos, in your job software or a photo app, labeled by job.
• A crew lead who reviews the set before it leaves the truck.

Shot 1. The overview

Start on the ground, at the street. Timemark's checklist lists the overview shots: the house number or property sign, the front elevation, each side of the property and the full roof slopes.

Crew checklist:

• House number or mailbox in frame, with the house behind it
• Front elevation, whole house in frame
• Left side, rear and right side, shot from the corners so two sides show at once where you can
• Ground debris or granules near the gutters, before anything is cleared away
• Any damaged gutters, siding, screens or vehicles that are part of the same storm

Shot 2. The wide shot

On the roof, take one wide picture of each full slope, from a spot that shows the whole plane, edge to edge. Timemark's advice is that each slope should be photographed separately and labeled by direction. Do this even for slopes with no visible damage; an undamaged slope is part of the story too.

Crew checklist:

• Front slope, full plane
• Rear slope, full plane
• Left slope, full plane
• Right slope, full plane
• Any smaller planes (dormers, porch roofs), each on its own
• Label each photo with the slope name or direction

Shot 3. The mid-range

Now step closer to each damaged area and take a shot that shows the damage and something fixed nearby: the ridge, a vent, a skylight, a valley. That's what ties the close-up to its slope. FoxHaven recommends wide, mid and close for every damaged area, not just one per roof.

Crew checklist:

• One mid-range per damaged area, with a landmark in frame
• Test squares or chalk circles visible, if you use them
• Soft metals (vents, flashing, gutters) with visible dents

Shot 4. The close-up

The close-up only works because of everything before it. Get close enough to see the damage clearly, with a tape or a coin for scale if that's your practice. And take it before any permanent repair.

That timing matters to the homeowner. The NAIC's Post-Disaster Claims Guide tells policyholders to take photos or videos of the damage, keep all receipts for emergency repairs, and not make permanent repairs before talking with their insurance company, because the company may not pay for repairs it didn't authorize. USAA's homeowners claims FAQ also asks customers to prevent more damage and keep receipts for temporary repairs, and notes that photos sent with a claim may be enough to evaluate it. The NAIC's shorter guide to filing a homeowners claim starts the same way: take photos and videos of the damage. A tarp is fine; a new roof isn't, yet.

Crew checklist:

• Close-up of each hit or tear, with scale
• Photos of temporary repairs (tarps, boards) before, during and after
• Interior damage or attic entry points, if any

The review before it goes out

Before the set goes to the homeowner or the insurer, the crew lead checks it against the four shots. The simplest test: pick any close-up and find its mid-range and its wide shot. If you can't, the story has a gap.

An AI agent can do the first pass. It sorts the job's photos by slope (using the labels, location and the wide shots) and flags any slope missing its wide shot, or any close-up without a mid-range. The crew lead reviews the flags and the set before it goes out, the same approval-first setup we use for every agent. The AccuLynx AI integration guide shows what an agent can read in one common roofing system.

What to watch out for

• Wrong dates. A phone set to the wrong date undermines the whole set. Check it before the first photo.
• Mixed jobs. Photos from two houses on the same day get mixed up fast. Start each job with the house number shot.
• Edits. Don't crop or retouch claim photos beyond what's needed to read them. Keep the originals.
• Promises. Don't tell a homeowner what the claim will pay. That's between them and their insurer.

How to tell it's working

Over a month of claims, count how often the office had to ask a crew to go back up for a missing shot. That number should drop to near zero. You can also track how often an adjuster asked for more photos; it's outside your control, but a complete Slope Story set gives them less to ask for. To see where an agent fits in the rest of your roofing office, see the roofing industry page or book your free AI Operations Audit.