I have stood in more driveways after a hail cell than I can count. The tarp is half on. The roofer is three weeks out. The adjuster wants photos yesterday. What you need is not a reel with music. You need a dated, GPS-tagged packet of the roof, the elevations, and the yard damage that you can hand to the carrier without arguing about when it was shot.
That is insurance claim documentation. I fly it commercially from Springdale, Arkansas. The hires that help a claim are quiet ones: clear stills, a simple markup, and a turnaround short enough that temporary repairs have not erased the evidence.
What claim documentation actually is
You are hiring a Part 107 pilot to record the condition of a property after a loss. Storm, hail, wind, or other exterior damage. The product is evidence for an adjuster, a public adjuster, a contractor estimate, or your own claim file.
A useful set usually covers:
- Establishing frames of the whole structure and lot so nobody asks which building this is.
- Full roof coverage: ridges, hips, valleys, eaves, flashing, vents, skylights, and rooftop equipment.
- Close stills of hail hits, creased or missing shingles, lifted flashing, punctures, and debris impact.
- Elevations and soft goods: siding, gutters, screens, fences, sheds, and vehicles if they are part of the loss.
- Yard and hardscape when it matters: downed limbs, fence runs, pool cages, detached buildings.
Ask for GPS-tagged stills and timestamps in the EXIF or a flight log. Carriers care about the date. Pretty JPEGs with no metadata are weaker than the same frames with location and capture time. Same-day or next-day after the storm is the window most claim teams want. Book early, and write the slip for weather and Temporary Flight Restrictions after a named storm.
What you actually get
Stills an adjuster can open
The product is a folder of high-resolution stills, named with address and date, not a private video link. If the first delivery is a vertical social reel and a "tell me which frames you like," you hired the wrong person. Specify stills in the PO. Video is fine as an add when you asked for it. It is not a substitute for the stills the claim file needs.
Roof and elevation coverage, not one beauty shot
Hail and wind leave patterns across a roof. One hover over the front slope will miss the back valley and the soft metal on the HVAC. Ask for systematic coverage of every roof plane and each elevation. Close frames of damage, not only wide establishing shots.
Annotated packet when you need it
A simple PDF with callouts on hail strikes, missing shingles, and flashing failures saves time. It is not a stamped engineering report. Ask whether annotations are included or an add. Keep the raw stills too. Annotations help the conversation. Raw files hold up when someone challenges the markup.
Optional: measurements and models
Some operators deliver an orthomosaic or a simple 3D model so a desk adjuster can measure roof area without climbing. Put that in the PO if you want it. Do not assume a stills packet includes a measurable model.
What this is not
Do not hire claim documentation if what you want is a radiometric thermal moisture scan. That is a different hire. Do not hire this for a stamped survey, a structural engineering letter, or a marketing flyover of the repaired property.
Do not treat drone stills as a policy interpretation. The pilot documents condition. Your adjuster, public adjuster, or attorney handles coverage. The photos support the conversation. They do not write the check.
Do not wait weeks "until things calm down" if the claim depends on storm-day condition. Calm often means the evidence is under a tarp or already torn off.
How to hire
Write the scope like a claim packet, not like "come fly the house."
Operator checklist
- Current FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate. Commercial flight in the U.S. requires it. Ask for the certificate number.
- Certificate of insurance if your carrier, HOA, property manager, or risk team asks. Use their minimums, not the pilot's default card.
- Airspace plan. Controlled airspace means LAANC or an ATC path before takeoff. After a major storm, Temporary Flight Restrictions can ground flights until airspace reopens. Confirm the operator checks both. Need the law on Part 107 and airspace? dronelaws.us.
- Storm or loss date on the PO, plus the address and which structures are in scope.
- Who owns the files, and whether you can share them with the carrier, a public adjuster, and a contractor without another license form.
Deliverable checklist
- High-resolution JPEG stills, GPS-tagged when possible, named with address and date.
- Coverage list: roof planes, elevations, and any detached buildings or yard damage you care about.
- Optional annotated PDF with callouts.
- Optional short horizontal video only if you asked for it.
- Turnaround in writing. Same day or next business day is a common claim window after a local storm.
- No flying over people standing in the yard watching the drone as a show.
Weather, access, and the tarp
Weather will slip flights. Rain on the lens, low ceilings, and wind above the aircraft limit cancel useful stills. Write the slip: the operator proposes the next flyable slot the same day or the next morning while the claim is still fresh.
If the only launch spot is a neighbor's yard or an HOA common lawn, get permission before the pilot shows up. A steep, wet, or half-tarped roof is exactly why you hired a drone. Do not ask the pilot to climb it "just to check."
Tell the operator what is already tarped or boarded so they know what changed since the storm.
What to put in the email
Subject line: Insurance claim drone documentation, [address], loss date [date].
Body: Part 107 required. Stills of roof planes and elevations, GPS-tagged, named with address and date. Annotated PDF yes or no. Video only if listed. Turnaround same day or next business day weather permitting. COI if we ask. Send certificate number and sample claim packet from a prior storm job.
Keep it short. The pilot who answers with a coverage list and a real turnaround is the one you want.
Find a pilot
Browse Part 107 pilots near the damaged property on Find a Drone Pilot. Ask for a sample storm claim packet, and lock the scope before the next cell rolls through. The claim file is built on what you can show. Hire for that.