Hail just hit. What to check and when.

Look at the soft metal around the house first: gutters, downspouts, vent hoods, window screens, the air conditioner or heat pump fins, and any metal trim. Those dent when a roof gets hit, and they are visible from the ground. If they are dented, the roof was very likely hit hard enough to matter even if it looks untouched from below.

Photograph everything within a couple of days, while the evidence is fresh and the date is not in question.

Why hail damage hides

Hail rarely punches through a roof. It bruises it: the impact fractures the mat under the surface and knocks the protective granules off, which shortens the life of the shingle without producing a hole. From the ground it looks like a roof. From a few feet away it is a pattern of dark circular spots where the granules have gone.

That is why a hail claim so often turns on an inspection rather than on photographs of an obvious hole, and why insurers and roofers argue about it more than any other kind of storm damage.

The ground level checklist

Work around the house and photograph each one, dented or not:

• Gutters and downspouts, top surfaces and the outward faces.
• Vent hoods, turbine vents, and pipe collars on the roof, visible from the ground with a zoom.
• The air conditioner or heat pump. The fins on the outdoor unit dent easily and are one of the clearest indicators.
• Window screens and frames, and any vinyl or aluminum trim.
• Siding, particularly on the side the storm came from. Vinyl cracks; wood and fiber cement bruise.
• Fences, decks, and outdoor furniture.
• Cars, which are a separate claim on the auto policy and often the strongest evidence of hail size.
• Any soft plants stripped or shredded, which dates the event.

Collect a hailstone if any survive, photograph it next to a coin for scale, and note the time. Size is the thing everyone will ask about.

Then get the roof inspected

By a roofer or a licensed inspector, not by you, and not by the first person who knocks.

What a proper inspection produces: photographs of each slope, a marked test square showing the number of impacts in a measured area, close ups of bruising with something for scale, and a written report. The test square is what an adjuster expects to see, and its absence is why some reports get nowhere.

Ask them not to lift or break anything to demonstrate damage. Damage created during an inspection is a real problem, and it is one of the ways bad actors operate in this trade.

Insurance, and the parts people get wrong

The deductible is often a percentage. In hail exposed states, wind and hail frequently carry a separate deductible expressed as a percentage of the dwelling limit. On a large claim that is fine. On a marginal one it can mean there is no claim worth making. How to work out what yours actually is.

Roof surfacing may be settled at actual cash value, meaning depreciated for age, even where the rest of the claim is replacement cost. A twenty year old roof can be covered and still pay a fraction of what a new one costs.

There is usually a time limit for reporting hail damage, and some policies have tightened it. Report promptly even if you are unsure.

Cosmetic damage may be excluded. Some policies now exclude damage that affects appearance but not function, which is aimed squarely at dented metal.

Ask your insurer for the wind and hail deductible, whether roof surfacing is actual cash value or replacement cost, and whether there is a cosmetic damage exclusion. Three questions, one call.

What not to do

• Do not sign anything on the doorstep. Hail brings crews from out of state within days. What to ask before signing anything after a storm.
• Do not let anyone offer to cover your deductible. In most states that is insurance fraud and you are a party to it.
• Do not replace anything before it is documented and inspected.
• Do not assume no visible damage means no claim. Nor the reverse: a dented gutter alone is not a roof claim.

If it is denied

A denial on a hail claim is common and is not the end of it. Options, in rough order of cost: ask for the adjuster’s report and photographs, get an independent inspection, request a re-inspection with both parties present, invoke the appraisal clause in your policy, or contact your state insurance department.

The reasons claims get denied, and which of them you control apply here too, and documentation is the one that matters most.

The short version

Check the soft metal from the ground, because it dents when a roof gets bruised. Photograph within days and keep a hailstone next to a coin. Get a proper inspection with a marked test square. Ask three questions: what is my wind and hail deductible, is roof surfacing settled at actual cash value, and is there a cosmetic exclusion.