Verifying the date of loss on a roof claim

To verify a date of loss, look at what was recorded at and near the property on that storm day, then at the storms just before and after it. A claimed date with hail over the property is strong; a claimed date with nothing nearby, a week after a large storm, usually points to the wrong date. A storm report answers both questions for any date in the last five years.

What does a date-of-loss check show?

For the claimed storm day, four rings: at the property, within 1 mile, within 3 miles and within 5 miles. Each ring gives the radar hail size, the largest ground hail report and its distance, the strongest gust and its source, the closest tornado, and the NWS warnings and damage surveys. The finding is summarised in one sentence, such as "radar estimated 1-inch hail over the property; the largest hail report within 5 miles was 3 inches, 3.7 miles away," with a confidence rating and a damage chance for that day.

Why do the storms before and after matter?

Because a wrong date is the most common problem. Homeowners notice damage days or weeks later, and storms come in clusters. The check names the nearest storm day before and after the claimed one, with its hazards and largest hail and gust. If the claimed date shows nothing but a storm two days earlier shows golf-ball hail over the property, the evidence points to the earlier date.

What is a storm day?

A 24-hour window from 12:00 to 12:00 UTC, about 7 AM to 7 AM Central, labelled by the date it starts. That is how the National Weather Service and NOAA group severe weather, and it means an evening storm and the early hours after it count as one day. When a claimed date is the morning after a storm, check the day before too.

How do I check several possible dates?

Order one storm report for the property, then read it with each date. The weather data is stored when you order; the date of loss is read from each request, so re-checking another date costs nothing:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer rq_live_sk_..." \
  "https://api.roofquery.com/api/v1/storm/orders/rq_ord_7f3c2a91d04be615?dateOfLoss=2025-05-23"

The same parameter works on the PDF link, so the Date of Loss PDF can be re-issued for whichever date the evidence supports. Ordering a storm report covers the request.

Which document goes in the claim file?

The Date of Loss PDF: the finding, the four rings, the evidence, the nearest storm days, the hail swath map for that date and the hail history around it. For a hail-only file the one-page Hail Verification PDF, with the date of loss highlighted, is often enough; for wind claims, Wind Verification. Which PDF to send compares all five, and roof measurements in insurance claims covers the measurement side of the same file.