What to do first after a hail storm

Before anyone knocks on your door

The trucks in your neighborhood the morning after a storm are not a sign of how bad the damage is. They are a sign of where the weather map said to go. Some of those crews do good work. You still do not have to sign anything today, and you do not have to let anyone on your roof to "check for free" before you have had a chance to think.

Photograph what you can see from the ground

Walk the property. Photograph dented gutters, downspouts, window screens, siding, air conditioner fins, and anything soft like a grill cover or a deck box. Hail that dents metal on the ground almost always marks a roof. Photograph the date on your phone too, or take a picture of a weather screenshot. This is your timestamp.

Get one honest look before you decide

Get one inspection first, from a licensed local contractor who will tell you plainly if there is no storm damage. Then decide, with your agent, whether to file. Whether a claim makes sense for you depends on your own policy, and that is a question for your agent or your insurer, not for a contractor. The Insurance Claim Survival Guide walks the whole timeline from here.

Two words to ask your agent about

Deductible, and whether your roof is insured at replacement cost (RCV) or actual cash value (ACV). We explain what those words mean. What your own policy says is a question for your agent or your insurer, and one call gets you the answer without opening a claim.

Then use the scorecard

Once you know you have damage, you will be hiring a contractor. Score every one of them the same way, including the one who was nicest. The free Contractor Comparison Scorecard is built for exactly this week, and the After a storm page lays out the whole first week in order.

We teach how a claim moves. We do not interpret your policy or adjust your claim.