The storm is the easy part. Call (201) 676-3099 or book a free estimate.
The storm is the easy part. The claim is where people lose money — a photo nobody took, a door-knocker's contract signed on the porch, a permanent repair done before the adjuster saw the damage. Here are the seven steps, in order, that keep your claim clean and get your house fixed. We're contractors, not adjusters, so this is the honest version from the side that does the repairs.
Do this right now
Stay off the roof and away from downed wires. If you smell gas, get everyone out and call the gas company from the driveway. If water is coming through a light fixture, switch off that breaker — only if you can reach the panel without standing in water.
Furniture, rugs, electronics, photo albums — out from under the drip. Bucket under it. If the ceiling is bulging, poke a small hole in the low point over the bucket.
A real person answers day or night. We dispatch the same day to tarp the roof or board up the window, and photograph everything before we cover it. Then call your insurer. Both calls, tonight.
The 7 steps
Nearly every policy expects you to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage — a tarp on the roof, plywood over the window, water pulled off the floor. Do that first and keep the receipt; emergency work like this is often reimbursable. A tarp in New Jersey typically runs $350 – $900, fixed. What you don't do yet is the permanent repair. The adjuster needs to see the damage, not a new roof.
Wide shots of each side of the house, then medium, then close. Inside: every stain, every wet spot, the attic. The tree, the limb, the shingles on the lawn. Take a slow video walking through it; your phone stamps the date. Keep the broken pieces — torn shingles, the bent gutter, the chunk of siding — in the garage until the adjuster has seen them. Photograph the ceiling stain today and again tomorrow. A stain that grows is a live leak.
Call your insurer or use the app the same day. Give the date of the storm, what happened and what you've done to stop the damage. Write down the claim number, the adjuster's name and every call after that — date, who, what they said. Ask two questions on the first call: what do you need from me, and do you reimburse emergency tarping and board-up.
Tarping, board-up, a dehumidifier rental, a night in a hotel if the house wasn't livable, the food that spoiled if the power was out for days. Put all of it in one folder or one shared photo album with the pictures. Claims go sideways when the paper is in six places.
Adjusters work from line items: tear off and replace 22 squares of architectural shingle, replace 6 sheets of decking, reflash the chimney, replace 40 feet of gutter, cut and replace 60 square feet of ceiling drywall, prime and paint. A scope like that with photos attached gets read. "Roof repair — $14,000" gets a phone call. Ask for the contractor's New Jersey HIC registration number on it. And don't sign anything from someone who knocked on your door after the storm — especially a contract that lets them deal with your insurer or says they'll do the work "for whatever insurance pays." That's your claim. Keep it.
Walk the adjuster through it: the photos, the attic, the scope. A contractor who knows what he found points out the decking under the tarp and the wet insulation the adjuster can't see from the lawn. Ask for the adjuster's estimate in writing. If it's lower than the scope, that's normal — the two get reconciled line by line with the documentation you've built since step 2.
Know your deductible before you decide anything. If the repair is close to it, paying out of pocket may be smarter than a claim on your record. If the claim goes ahead, understand how your policy pays: many pay a depreciated amount first and the rest after the repair is finished and invoiced, so send in the final invoice. Then, and only then, the permanent repair — with permits, by a licensed crew, on a fixed written price.
New Jersey things worth knowing
- Wind, hail and a tree on the house are usually covered under a standard homeowners policy. Rising water is not — flood is a separate policy. That line matters at the Shore, along the Passaic and the Hackensack, and in any basement that took water from outside.
- Check whether your policy has a separate hurricane or wind deductible. Some New Jersey policies do, and it's a percentage of the house, not a flat number.
- Public adjusters are licensed in New Jersey and work for a percentage of the claim. Worth a conversation on a big loss; overkill for a dozen shingles.
- A neighbor's tree on your roof is generally your policy's problem, not theirs, unless they were told the tree was dead and ignored it.
- Anyone doing paid repair work on your house has to be a registered NJ Home Improvement Contractor. Look the number up before you sign. Storm chasers usually don't have one.
What First Call does — and what we won't
We stop the damage: same-day tarping battened with strapping screwed to the decking, board-ups that actually secure the house. We document before we cover, with dated photos, and write an itemized scope your adjuster can read. We'll meet the adjuster at the house. Then the same crew does the permanent repair, outside and in — roof, siding, gutters, the wet ceiling, drywall and paint — on one contract with no deposit.
What we won't do: pad a scope, "find" damage to chase a bigger check, or take over your claim. Your insurer decides what your policy pays. Our job is an honest record and a repair that's right.
Questions people ask next
Should I file a claim for a few missing shingles?
Maybe not. If the repair is close to your deductible, a claim can cost you more over the next few years than the repair does today. We'll give you the fixed repair price first — usually within a day — so you decide with real numbers.
Do I have to use the contractor my insurance company suggests?
No. You choose who repairs your house. The insurer's list is a convenience for them, not a rule for you. Any registered New Jersey contractor can do the work, and their itemized scope gets reconciled with the adjuster's estimate.
How long do I have to report storm damage?
Policies say "prompt" notice, and each defines it differently. The practical answer is the same day, or the next morning. Waiting a month invites the question of whether the second storm did it, and hides the water that's been running into the wall the whole time.
Will filing a claim raise my rates?
Honestly, we can't tell you — it depends on your company, your history and how they treat weather claims, and they don't share that with contractors. Your agent can. Ask before you file what a claim on the record does at renewal.
Need storm damage repair near you?
If you searched “storm damage repair near me” anywhere in New Jersey, that's us. First Call Contracting is based in Paramus and sends its own licensed crew to all 21 counties — written price before work starts, no deposit, a real person on the phone 24/7.
Storm hit? Stop the water, then call.
Same-day tarping, honest photo documentation and an itemized scope your adjuster can read. One crew for the roof and the ceiling under it.
Or call Alex direct: (201) 676-3099