The hour after a hailstorm is when good claims are made and bad decisions get signed. Every June we tarp roofs for families who did the right things fast — and every June we untangle contracts for neighbors who signed something on their doorstep while the ice was still melting. Here's the four-step sequence that protects your roof and your claim.
Step 1: Document from the ground — stay off the roof
Walk the property and photograph everything you can see without a ladder: dented gutters and downspouts, hail splatter marks on fences and AC units, shredded window screens, pummeled plants, and hailstones themselves next to a coin or tape measure. Note the exact date and time — carriers match claims against weather-radar data. Do not climb on the roof: hail-loosened granules make shingle slopes genuinely dangerous, and everything up there will be documented properly at inspection.
Step 2: Stop any active damage
If water is coming in, your job is containment, not repair. Buckets under drips, furniture and valuables moved, and a small drainage hole poked in any bulging ceiling paint — a controlled pencil-hole leak beats a collapsed ceiling panel every time. Save receipts for anything you buy to protect the home; reasonable emergency mitigation costs are typically reimbursable under your policy.
Step 3: Get an inspection before you file
This ordering matters more than anything else on this list. A documented professional assessment before you file means you open the claim with evidence — measured test squares, bruise counts, photographed collateral damage — instead of a guess. It also protects you in the other direction: if the damage is genuinely minor, you'll know before you place a claim on your record for a repair that costs less than your deductible. Our storm assessments are free and you keep the report either way.
Step 4: Ignore the door-knockers
After every major cell, out-of-state crews sweep the affected zip codes. The red flags are consistent: pressure to sign 'today only,' requests to collect your deductible waiver (that's insurance fraud, and it's your signature on the claim), no verifiable local address or license, and contracts that assign your entire claim to them. A legitimate local roofer will still be here next week, next storm, and in year 12 of your warranty. Nothing about a hail claim rewards speed-signing at your front door.
