Storm damaged roof claim reversed after 4 months, one DOI complaint, and a public adjuster - sharing the full timeline

Wanted to write this up because when I was in the middle of it I read every post on this sub and they helped, so adding mine to the pile.

Timeline:

January 4: Big windstorm in our area, multiple shingles visibly missing from the back slope. We called in a claim same week. Adjuster came out January 12 and was on the roof for about 20 minutes. Two weeks later we got the denial: "wind damage not consistent with reported event, observed damage attributed to age and lack of maintenance." Roof is 11 years old, architectural shingles, no prior claims.

February: Hired a public adjuster recommended by my neighbor (4 houses on the street had similar damage from the same storm). The PA charged 10% of any recovery. He brought a roofing consultant who took drone footage, did a brittleness test on the shingles, and pulled NOAA weather data showing 67 mph gusts on the storm date. Total cost of the assessment was zero out of pocket because of the PA arrangement.

March: PA submitted a reconsideration package. The carrier sat on it for 6 weeks. The PA filed a complaint with our state DOI for delay in handling.

April: Two weeks after the DOI complaint went out, the carrier reopened the claim, sent out a different adjuster, and authorized full roof replacement under the policy. Final payout was $24,800 less depreciation, and we agreed to recoverable depreciation on completion. Net to us after the PA fee was about $22,300.

Things I learned: the first denial was clearly a fishing expedition. They had no real basis. The DOI complaint did the actual work. And the PA earned every dollar of his fee, I would not have known to ask for the brittleness test or the NOAA data.