What happens if an insurance adjuster falls off your roof?
Videos of adjusters sliding off roofs circulate every storm season, and they make a real point: roofs are dangerous workplaces, especially steep, wet or mossy ones. If it happens at your house, here is how responsibility usually sorts out.
Who usually pays for the injury
- Staff adjusters are employees of the insurer, so their injuries generally go through the employer's workers' compensation coverage.
- Independent adjusters work through adjusting firms, often as contractors. Their coverage depends on the firm's arrangements and any policies they carry themselves.
- Your homeowners liability coverage matters mainly if someone alleges negligence, for example failing to warn about rotted decking you knew was soft. A professional's own misstep on an ordinary roof is generally treated as a risk of the job, though every case turns on its facts.
If someone falls
- Call 911 for any injury and do not move the person.
- Write down what happened, the weather and roof conditions, and who was there.
- Report the incident to your own insurer and let it handle any liability claim.
Does it affect your roof claim?
It should not. Your coverage depends on the policy and the damage, not on an accident during the inspection. If the inspection was cut short, ask the insurer in writing to finish it, by drone or with a ladder assist crew if needed. A written reinspection request keeps the claim moving.
Prevent it in the first place
Tell the adjuster about soft spots, loose shingles or slick moss before anyone climbs, and reschedule if the roof is wet or frosty. Steep roofs are exactly where drone photos and a roofer with proper safety gear help most. See how to prepare for the adjuster's visit and what roof adjusters look for so the inspection gets done right the first time.