What actually starts a hail claim
A hail claim needs three things: a covered peril, physical damage to covered property, and a date. Hail is a named peril on essentially every US homeowners policy, so the fight is almost never about whether hail is covered. It is about whether hail damaged your roof rather than merely landing on it, and when that happened.
On asphalt shingles, the damage carriers accept without argument is a bruise: an impact that fractures the fiberglass mat under the granule surface. It has a soft, dented feel when you press it, and the granules around the strike are displaced in a rough circle. Granule loss with no fractured mat is a much harder argument, and it is the argument behind most disputes — see what it means when your insurer calls the damage cosmetic.
Collateral evidence carries a lot of weight. Soft metals dent at smaller stone sizes than shingles bruise, so dents in gutters, downspouts, roof vents, furnace and chimney flashing, garage door panels, and the fins of your AC condenser tell an adjuster that hail of a certain size fell here, and from which direction. Note the ones you can see from the ground before anyone touches anything.
Before you call your insurer
Spend thirty minutes on three things, in this order.
- Pin the date of loss. Use the hail history lookup to see the radar-detected hail signatures near your ZIP and the estimated stone sizes. If two storms are plausible, note both. The date you report drives every deadline in the claim.
- Photograph what you can safely reach. Ground-level shots of gutters, downspouts, window screens, siding, decking and the AC unit, plus anything on the roof only if you can do it safely. Our photography guide and the photo checklist tool cover the shots an adjuster actually looks for.
- Read your declarations page. You are looking for two numbers and one word: your wind and hail deductible (flat dollar amount, or a percentage of Coverage A), and whether the roof is settled on a replacement cost or actual cash value basis. That single distinction changes the payout more than anything else in the file. See ACV vs RCV.
Emergency measures to prevent further damage are expected and reimbursable — keep the receipts. Permanent repairs before the adjuster sees the roof destroy your own evidence.
Giving notice
Every policy contains a duty to give prompt notice of loss. You can do it by phone, app or in writing; do it in writing if you can, or follow a phone call with an email so there is a timestamp. Give the address, policy number, date of loss, and a short factual description. You do not need to know the scope yet, and you should not guess at a dollar figure.
You will get a claim number and an assigned adjuster or claim team. From here on, put that claim number on every photo set, invoice and letter. If you would rather send something structured, our claim letter generator fills the storm date in from our hail data.
How long you have to report is the most misunderstood part of the process, because there are several overlapping clocks — the policy's prompt notice duty, the proof of loss window, and a contractual suit limitation. We break them down in how long you have to file a hail claim, with a deadline tracker to keep the dates in one place.
The adjuster inspection
A field adjuster (staff or independent, hired by your insurer) comes out, walks the roof where it is safe, and documents. The standard method is the test square: a 10-by-10-foot area, 100 square feet, chalked or taped off on each slope, in which the adjuster counts hail strikes. Counts are recorded slope by slope — north, south, east, west — because hail is directional and a claim is often approved on two slopes and denied on the others.
There is no universal number of hits that triggers approval. A threshold in the range of roughly eight to ten strikes per test square is commonly quoted in the industry, but it varies by carrier, by state, and by the roof covering, and no carrier is obliged to publish it. What the adjuster is really deciding is whether the hits are functional damage — mat fracture, punctures, cracks that will shorten the life of the covering — or surface marks.
Other things that happen on that roof: a brittleness test, where the adjuster lifts and flexes a shingle to see whether it can be repaired without breaking, which is often the pivot between repair and full replacement on an older roof; measurements, usually by aerial report, converted into squares (one square = 100 square feet); and notes on pitch, layers, and access.
Be there. Walk the property with the adjuster, point out the collateral damage you photographed, and have your contractor present if you have one. Ask, before they leave, which slopes they are approving and what the test square counts were.
If you want an independent read first, a paid inspection is an option — see what a roof inspection should cost.
The scope of loss
The adjuster's estimate — the scope of loss — is the document the whole claim runs on. It is a line-item estimate produced in industry estimating software, priced from a regional price list, and it will list quantities and unit prices for tear-off, disposal, underlayment, starter course, field shingles, ridge cap, pipe boots, drip edge, valley metal, flashing, steep-slope charge, two-story charge, and so on.
Ask for a full copy, not the summary page. Then read it with your roofer next to you. The usual problems are omissions rather than bad prices: missing ice-and-water shield where code requires it, ridge vent priced as ridge cap, no drip edge, no detach-and-reset of solar or satellite equipment, no permit line, gutters and screens left out entirely.
The scope also determines whether you get repair or replacement, and whether matching comes into play — if the discontinued shingle on your damaged slope cannot be reasonably matched, many policies and several states' rules require a more comprehensive replacement so the result is a reasonably uniform appearance. This varies by state and by policy wording.
The first check, and your deductible
Once the scope is agreed, the insurer issues the first payment. On a replacement cost policy that first check is the actual cash value — the replacement cost of the agreed scope, minus depreciation for the age and condition of the roof, minus your deductible. On an actual cash value policy, or on an RCV policy carrying a roof payment schedule, that first check is close to the whole of what you will receive.
Wind and hail deductibles are frequently separate from and larger than your all-other-perils deductible, and are often written as a percentage of Coverage A rather than a flat amount. On a $300,000 dwelling limit, a 2% wind and hail deductible is $6,000 before anything else happens. Work the arithmetic for your own policy in the ACV vs RCV calculator.
Roofing prices vary enormously by market, pitch, material, access and how busy contractors are after a storm. Where we show ranges — here or in the replacement cost estimator — they are illustrative starting points built from published trade-price ranges and stated assumptions. See the methodology.
Hiring a contractor and doing the work
You choose the contractor. Get the estimate in the same line-item form as the insurer's scope so the two documents can be compared line by line — that comparison is what a supplement is built from. Confirm licensing and insurance, confirm who pulls the permit, and be careful with anything that asks you to sign over your claim rights or commits you to a contract contingent on approval you have not seen. Hail country attracts storm-chasing crews, some good, some not.
Two things to refuse outright: a contractor who offers to absorb or waive your deductible, and one who wants full payment up front. If you are also weighing whether a different covering makes sense this time, our materials guide covers how each type handles hail, and the roof condition quiz is a quick read on whether replacement was due anyway.
Recoverable depreciation: the second check
On a replacement cost policy, the depreciation the insurer withheld from the first check is recoverable. You recover it by completing the work and proving it — final invoice, certificate of completion, sometimes photos or a lien waiver. The insurer then releases the withheld amount, up to the point where total payments equal the replacement cost of the agreed scope minus the deductible.
You only ever get the depreciation back if the work is actually done. If you take the ACV check and stop, that is the end of the money. There is also a time limit on making the claim for the recoverable portion, written into the policy, and it starts running from the loss or the payment — one more reason to read the dates. Full explanation with worked arithmetic here.
Supplements and code upgrades
A supplement is a request to add to or re-price the agreed scope. It is a normal part of the process, not a confrontation. Supplements come from three places: things the adjuster missed, things nobody could see until tear-off, and things the building code requires.
Code upgrade items are the ones homeowners most often leave on the table. Depending on your jurisdiction that can include ice-and-water shield to a required distance up the slope, drip edge, upgraded underlayment, increased fastener counts, or a full tear-off where local code bars a second layer. These are usually paid under an ordinance or law provision, which is often a percentage of Coverage A and sometimes must be added by endorsement. If it is not in your policy, it is not owed, so check.
A supplement should be submitted in writing with photographs, quantities, and the code section or price-list reference behind it. Vague requests for more money get vague answers.
Final payment and closing the file
The last payment is the recoverable depreciation plus any approved supplement, minus anything already paid. If your mortgage servicer is named on the drafts, they will endorse and disburse in stages, typically with their own inspection at the end. Keep the full file: declarations page, scope, all estimates, all photos, every letter and email, every invoice, and the final certificate of completion. It matters at your next renewal, at resale, and if a second storm hits the same roof.
When it goes wrong
Most disputes are one of four things: the insurer says the damage is cosmetic; the insurer says the damage is old wear rather than this storm; the scope is too thin to actually rebuild the roof; or the claim was reported late. Each has its own path. Re-inspection is the cheapest and often the most effective. Beyond that there is the appraisal clause in your own policy, a complaint to your state Department of Insurance, a licensed public adjuster, or counsel. This site is not legal advice, and none of these routes is free of trade-offs.
Start with what to do when a hail claim is denied, which walks the options in order of cost and escalation.
Common questions
Will filing a hail claim raise my premium?
A single weather claim is treated differently by different carriers, and rate filings vary by state, so nobody can promise you a number. What is consistent is that claim history follows the property and is visible to other carriers, so it is worth knowing whether the damage is likely to exceed your deductible before you file.
Do I have to use the contractor my insurer suggests?
In general you choose your own contractor; the insurer owes the cost to repair, not a particular vendor. Preferred-vendor programs are optional, though some carriers offer a workmanship guarantee through them. Check your policy language and your state rules.
What if the adjuster and my roofer disagree?
That is normal and usually resolved by a re-inspection with both present, or by a supplement supported by photographs, measurements and line-item pricing. If it stays stuck, most policies contain an appraisal clause.
My mortgage company is named on the check. Why?
The lender has an insurable interest in the house, so large loss checks are usually made out to you and the lender together. The lender endorses and then releases funds in stages as the work is inspected.
How long does a hail claim take end to end?
It varies widely with storm volume. A straightforward claim can move from notice to first payment in a few weeks; after a major regional hail event, adjuster backlogs stretch that considerably.
Can I keep the money and not replace the roof?
You can generally keep the actual cash value payment, but recoverable depreciation is only released once the work is done and documented. Not doing the work also creates problems at your next renewal or sale.
Sources
Every factual claim on this page that comes from outside our own data is sourced below. Where a number is a model or a range rather than a measurement, it is labelled as one in the text.
- NAIC — directory of state insurance departments, where consumer complaints and state claim-handling rules live
- Insurance Information Institute — plain-language explanations of homeowners coverage terms, deductibles and the claim process
- NOAA NCEI Severe Weather Data Inventory — the radar and storm report data behind our hail dates
- Federal Trade Commission consumer guidance on hiring contractors and post-disaster repair scams