Carrier Wants Roof Photos? Here's Exactly What to Send

Why they're asking

Roofs are where property claims start. Wind, hail, age, ponding water, blown-off shingles — the roof is the most frequent and most expensive first-party loss on a commercial building. Carriers can't underwrite property without knowing what's up there.

When an underwriter asks for photos, they're answering four questions:

• How old is it, actually?
• What's it made of?
• What condition is it in right now?
• Is anyone maintaining it?

What they actually want to see

1. Four elevations. Each side of the building, taken from the ground, showing the full roof edge.
2. Overview shots. The whole roof surface, ideally from an elevated angle or drone. Shows patching, ponding, debris, equipment.
3. Close-ups of problem areas. Any patching, blistering, missing shingles, exposed fasteners, rusted flashing, cracked sealant. Showing it yourself builds credibility — hiding it destroys it.
4. The mechanicals. HVAC units, skylights, vents, solar. These are where leaks originate.
5. Interior ceilings. Water staining is the tell. If you have it, show it and explain what was done.
6. Documentation. Roof age (permit, invoice, or contractor letter), warranty if any, and the last service invoice.

How to take photos that don't get you declined

• Daylight, no shadows. Mid-morning to mid-afternoon. Overcast is fine.
• No filters, no editing. Underwriters look at metadata. Edited photos read as concealment.
• Label them. “North elevation — 4500 Etiwanda Ave, front.” File names like IMG_4471 help nobody.
• Include a date reference. A newspaper, a phone showing the date, or the photo's own timestamp.
• Wide, then close. Establish the context, then zoom in. A close-up with no reference point is unreadable.

What gets a submission declined

• Three-tab shingles beyond 15–20 years.
• Any active leak or unrepaired interior water damage.
• More than a small percentage of the roof patched.
• Flat roofs with visible ponding or failed membrane seams.
• Rusted or missing flashing.
• A roof that's been repaired repeatedly with no record of the work.

If you're in one of these buckets, don't hide it — plan for it. A roof replacement invoice is often the difference between surplus lines pricing and a standard market quote. Run the numbers: the premium difference frequently pays back the roof inside two or three years.

The order of operations that works

1. Ask the carrier for their specific photo requirements — lists vary.
2. Get a roofer out before you take your own photos. Their letter carries more weight.
3. Take the set on a clear day, labeled and dated.
4. Send everything at once. Partial submissions stall.
5. If anything is flagged, fix it and send proof rather than arguing about it.

The owners who get clean quotes are the ones who treat the photo request as an opportunity to prove condition — not a hurdle to get past.