You file with your carrier, they assign an adjuster, the adjuster inspects the property, and they issue a scope and a payment based on what they found. That is the whole process on paper. Where it goes wrong is almost always in the third step.
An adjuster is inspecting dozens of properties after a regional storm and will be on your roof for a limited window. Whatever they document is what gets paid. If the damage to the north elevation of the siding, the bent gutter run, the fence sections, and the water stain in the hall ceiling are not in their notes, they are not in the settlement either.
This is the single reason we ask to be on site when the adjuster comes out. Not to argue with them — adjusters are generally reasonable and doing a job under time pressure — but so that the damage gets looked at together, in person, with the photographs already in hand. Disagreements about whether something was documented are far harder to fix after the fact.
Two other things cost homeowners money regularly. The first is starting repairs before the inspection, which destroys the evidence. Emergency work to stop further damage is expected and reimbursable, but a full tear-off before the adjuster arrives is not. Keep receipts and photograph everything you do.
The second is not reading what the settlement actually covers. Most policies pay actual cash value first and release the remaining recoverable depreciation after the work is completed and invoiced. Homeowners who do not know that often think they have been underpaid when the second payment simply has not been triggered yet.
One last thing worth saying plainly: a contractor is not a public adjuster and should not tell you they can negotiate your settlement. What a good contractor does is document the property honestly, write a scope that matches the actual repair, and do the work correctly once the claim is resolved.