The Picture That Pays: The Power of Visuals in High-Stakes Claims

Photo documentation plays a critical role in property insurance claims

Reporters often agonize over finding just the right wording to make an article land — much like I do when drafting a letter to a client or carrier, preparing an expert report for a jury, or writing a coverage argument to challenge a flawed denial.

But really, most of the time, it’s the image that is most memorable — from U.S. troops raising the flag on Iwo Jima, to the three firefighters hoisting the flag amid the ruins of the World Trade Center. These images don’t just capture moments. They define the emotional memory of an entire generation.

The Bonn Institute, a respected nonprofit in the field of journalism and media psychology, compiled 27 peer-reviewed studies in August 2023 from institutions like MIT and publications such as Cognitive Psychology.  Their findings were interesting:



• We process images in as little as 13 milliseconds.
• Images trigger emotional responses faster and more powerfully than words.
• Pictures are significantly more memorable than text, increasing the likelihood of engagement and recall.

When it comes to complex property losses, people don’t remember file numbers. They remember their experiences, and the often inescapable images of their disaster. They remember the soaked drywall collapsing in a luxury condo or the before-and-after aerial of a hurricane-wrecked factory. And most importantly, insurers, attorneys, and decision-makers remember them too.

But imagery alone is not enough. The ability to select, frame, and contextualize those images effectively comes from experience. At Eastern Public, we bring that experience to every case we touch. We don’t rely on guesswork, AI shortcuts, or flashy presentations. We rely on the hard-earned skill of having managed hundreds of claims and seen firsthand what moves the needle in high-stakes negotiations.