How to tell if a hail damaged roof?

B

Brisketexan

1,000+ Posts
We took a beating with the hailstorm on Friday (we're right around Mopac and 2222). Haven't talked to the neighbors yet to see if they have any roof damage -- we escaped any other significant damage.

How can I tell if there's real damage? I don't want the cruising storm chasers to come through my neighborhood and try to work up a claim for my insurance company.

Also (NICK -- this is for you), what will such a claim LIKELY do to my insurance and insurability? What other effects/outcomes are likely for a hailed roof claim?
 
Actually, AustinTejasFan and 12StudStan are the 2 who can more adeptly answer your question about rates, but weather related claims are not supposed to affect you. It really does take a trained eye to spot hail damage. I really don't think you do yourself a disservice to let a stormchaser worm get up on your roof. Just don't agree to anything with him. He's not going to want to waste his time and I think it's pretty unlikely that he's going to tell you that you have damage if your adjuster is going to come out and laugh at you. If stormchaser says you have damage, then call your carrier and tell them that you think you may have damage and want them to come evaluate it and don't submit a written claim if you can avoid it. If you go up on the roof and see what stormchaser is talking about and adjuster still denies it, then you have a basis to shove back. It's worth a look see. That's why you have insurance.
 
damage is not hard to see..

little dimples in the shingles just like you would imagine

go up on your roof with your adjuster. have him point out the damage or the lack thereof... if you see something, point it out to him/her and ask what it is.

there has never been a storm chaser that climbed up on a roof and came down saying "good news... no damage"

weather related claims dont affect you... unless... you have some other claims history to go with it.
 
Stop! Do not call your insurance agent!

Ever heard of CLUE? If you call your agent to inquire about coverage for any kind of "occurrence" it will end up on a CLUE (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) report, meaning that some future insurer can consider it before deciding to insure you.

Call a reputable, experienced roofer to come out and take a look at your roof before filing a claim.

About the only way a single homeowners claim can effect your future premiums is it may cancel out your "claims free discount". A licensed insurance company cannot surcharge your homeowners premium or non-renew you because of weather related claims, no matter how many you file.

And if anyone has questions about coverage or other issues on your homeowners/auto insurance, call the Texas Department of Insurance and get the correct information straight from the horses mouth (800-578-4677). Having problems with your insurance company? File a complaint on line: The Link

Hey Nick. I'mmmmmm back. Retired last March, returned to Department in August. Hope all goes well with you.
 
A good first step is to check around your house first. Are their any dimples in your air conditioner, did the landscaping take a beating...?
 
My dad is an engineer and does this kind of work for a living.

Dimples on your roof is NOT damage. If you just have dimples, in a couple of years the rest of the roof will weather to the same level as the dimples.

Where you have real damage is if the hail causes BREAKS in the shingles. In other words, IF the dimple coincides with a FRESH break, then you have damage. Note: I said FRESH... if the shingle has a big break and has shown weathering... this obviously was not then caused by the hail and is not covered.

IF IF IF... in a sample area you have 10% + of your shingles broken (Or some such random number) then you can bet that you have hail damage and you'll get a new roof.

Like someone else said, look at your A/C unit and at your fence. The hail will have to be bigger than golf-ball size to damage most roofs.
 
We had a roof replaced after a hailstorm a few years ago. After the storm, I called the insurance company, and they sent a guy out and he said everything was OK, and I got up there, and I couldn't see anything.
Then a few days later, a neighbor's house was getting a new roof, then another, then another...so I asked the roofers and they said every house within a certain distance had roof damage. So I had that guy go up, and he pointed out the little dimples in the shingles. They can dry out over time and start leaking eventually-there is some definition of one dimple every 6 inches, or some such, where your insurance will cover the replacement. We called the insurance company back, and they sent another inspector, and then had the roof replaced.
It didn't look like much damage to the untrained eye.
 
Looking at the a/c unit is a good idea. I think we might have escaped the worst of it -- it came down hard and loud, and there was a LOT of it, but the biggest stones looked to be about 3/4 inch in diameter, so not huge. It beat the CRAP out of the plants and trees, but I think that was more due to the volume and time as opposed to the size of the stones. It DID leave my peach blossoms on the tree, which I will appreciate come cobbler time in July.

I don't think anyone has any real vehicle damage on our block, so we may have gotten lucky. Still, it was the worst hail we've had in the 8 years we've been in our house.

I'll check out my roof in the daylight, and keep an eye on what's up with the neighbors.
 
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