Documenting Storm Damage for a Claim in the Lankershim corridor (Part 3)
What has to be documented on storm damage in the Lankershim corridor before you call a carrier, and what a denial usually means.
The difference between a claim that pays and one that does not is usually what was recorded in the first week. Here is how that works for storm damage in the Lankershim corridor.
What actually matters
Storm damage is a moment in time, and documenting it properly matters as much as repairing it. What is recorded in the first forty-eight hours decides how the rest of the process goes. For a claim that means the damage has to be described in terms of the system, not the surface.
Where claims go wrong
Claims are lost on scope far more often than on liability. Every affected element needs identifying at the start, because adding it later means a supplement and fresh evidence. Temporary protection has to be done in a way that does not cause its own damage. A tarp fixed through a sound part of the covering creates new holes in a roof that did not have them. Almost every difficult claim we see went wrong in the first week.
What is specific to the Lankershim corridor
Along the Foothill corridor the buildings are largely commercial: big low-slope areas carrying rooftop plant, walked on regularly by trades who are not thinking about the membrane. Dust off the slopes settles on the surface and washes into the drainage with every storm. Older commercial stock with large low-slope areas, parapets, and equipment that needs servicing.
What we look at on an inspection
- Displaced, lifted or missing units, slope by slope
- Seal integrity on the windward elevation, checked by hand
- Ridge, hip and perimeter fixing after wind loading
- Impact marks, splits and any debris strike on the surface
- Flashing displacement at walls, chimneys and penetrations
- Gutters and downpipes for detachment and blockage
- Interior and attic inspection for water entry already in progress
Common questions
What is a supplement?
A request to add scope that was not visible at the first assessment. They are normal, and they need the same photographic evidence as the original claim.
Why do claims get denied?
Most often because the damage cannot be tied to a dated event, so it reads as wear and tear. Wear and tear is not covered by any policy.
The honest summary
Get it documented, get it protected without adding damage, then get it assessed properly. Those three things in that order account for most good storm outcomes. In the Lankershim corridor the thing to watch is membrane condition around the rooftop plant, parapet terminations, and every drain and scupper on the roof.
Free inspection, drone photography where access is difficult, and a written estimate with deck repair priced per sheet. No obligation.
More on Storm Damage
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- Documenting Storm Damage for a Claim — Insurance in North HollywoodStorm Damage
- Documenting Storm Damage for a Claim — Insurance in the Hollywood HillsStorm Damage