Hail Storm Insurance Claims: Looking for Signs of Damages

Bruised or Cracked Roofing Material

To help maximize your hail storm insurance claims, it helps to know how it bruises or cracks your roofing material.

Hailstones travel at a velocity that is faster than raindrops because of its weight-adding size. An average hailstone has twice the size of a pea. On the other hand, large hailstones have the size of a palm or softball.

Therefore, upon impact on asphalt, architectural, or wood shingles, the small peas will create bruises and even holes similar to small arms gunfire. Contrarily, large hailstones will create huge bruises or cracks on your shingle roof. These are important to remember because they determine how much does insurance pay for hail damage.

Clay and slate tiles have better resistance against hailstones. However, they are still prone to bruising and cracking in the same way as roofing shingles with repeated hailstorms.

Dents and Scratches on Metal Roof

Metal is a strong and granule-free roofing material. Therefore, to maximize your hail stone insurance claims, it pays to know the type of damage metal roofs suffer during hailstorms.

Both galvanized and corrugated galvanized or standing seam metal roof will suffer minimal to no denting when it comes to single incident of hailstorm. However you could find some chipped protective paint upon inspection, a reputable roofing contractor can hammer out the dents and tighten the fasteners of the roofing material.

Aluminum is a lightweight roofing material. Because they have less density, they’re extremely susceptible to dents and scratches right after a single hailstorm incident.

Internal Ceiling Leakage

If you’re seeing yellowish stains on your internal roof right after the hailstorm, it is possible that hailstones have penetrated your internal roof. It is possible your policy covers this, and you can make hail storm insurance claims for internal roof repairs.

Yellowish stains on ceilings and cracked, peeling wall paint are signs of leaks hailstones possibly caused. During these situations, you can use pails and buckets to catch possible drips from ceiling to floor. However, if you are dealing with small hailstone melt, then you might only end up with yellow-stained ceilings.

Visible Attic Water

Your hailstorm insurance claim may not provide for attic water or interior damages. However, if you have visible attic water or sheetrock staining, the roof on top of the attic itself is possibly within the coverage of your insurance policy resulting in interior coverage.

Massive leaks a combination of hailstone impacts, and rainwater erosion will cause huge torrents of water to flow into your attic. In fact, homeowners are lucky to trap water inside their attics and prevent them from dripping into the lower floors.

If you have visible attic water, make sure to call a roofing contractor right away for quick reparations.

Minimal to Moderate Mold Growth

Mold growth happens mostly in the worst situations of hailstone damage. While your hail storm insurance claims might not cover mold extermination services, signs of mold growth that hailstones and rain erosion cause will need immediate contractor attention.

Remember, mold growth is dangerous to the health of the household. So, make sure to have them removed from your home quickly.

5 Ways to Maximize Your Kansas City Roof Insurance Claims

Call a Contractor for a Comprehensive Roof Inspection

To begin the hail storm insurance claims process, you’ll need to call your trusted local roofer first. In fact, the roofing contractor to call is one who is honest, has roof insurance claims experience, and delivers excellent work ethic and results.

Having these contractors inspect your roof comprehensively will reward you with opportunities to maximize your insurance policy benefits.

Make sure to call them as soon as possible to avoid going over the hail damage insurance claim time limit

Review your Insurance Terms and Conditions

Remember, you can only claim benefits you are due. If you want to know which benefits these are, you’ll need to review your policy terms and conditions.

Although rare If you have a roof-exclusive insurance policy, then it is possible you have a complete set of benefits for any roofing damages including coverage for roof and roof support structure (such as joists and underlayment) hailstorm damages.

On the other hand, a general property insurance policy can only provide general roof damage insurance. In some cases, your terms and conditions might indicate a fixed amount to support your roof repair or replacement needs after a hailstorm.

When is it Time to Schedule an Appointment?

Once you have the comprehensive roof inspection results and reviewed your insurance coverage limitations, it’s time to call your insurance adjuster. Regardless what you have heard do not fear dealing with the insurance adjuster on hail damage. Your adjuster might bring their trusted roofing contractor to perform inspections. Fortunately, you have another contractor to perform a comprehensive inspection giving both you and the adjuster a clear picture of the hailstorm damage.

In light of this, it prevents your adjuster from minimizing your insurance benefits with possible misreports from their respective contractor.

Finalizing the Roof Repair or Replacement Details

Your insurance adjuster will create a checklist of all damages within your insurance coverage limitations. Then, they will show this to you and give you a copy.

If your insurance policy allows you to use a third-party contractor, then you can use your respective contractor to perform repairs. However, some policies require the insurer-accredited contractor to perform the repairs.

You, the adjuster, and the roofing contractor will finalize the dates for the roof repair or replacement service.

Payment and Comprehensive Fixes

Most insurance providers will inform you through text, calls, or emails about the availability of your roof insurance check. In fact, they may choose to issue multiple checks. Often you will hear phases such as “ACV” Actual cash value, “RCV” Replacement cost value and Recoverable Depreciation, Non-Recoverable Depreciation and Supplemental items. Your adjuster and contractor need to make sure you have total understanding of what those mean.

After damages are found, you will need to receive and cash the check(s). Then, you can deposit the amount to your contractor’s escrow bank account or issue them a check from your own account. Because the contractor knows about the insurer’s installment payments, the work can begin at the dates you and the other parties have finalized.

In Closing

Maximizing your hailstorm insurance claims is not rocket science and easier than you think, It just takes an excellent attention to detail and diligence in going through the process. Maximizing your claim insures you will get the absolute best quality products

If you don’t have a trusted roofer to help you, you can work with Exterior Energy Consultants. With decades of experience fixing hail damage roofs and helping with insurance claims for decades, we are confident we can help you maximize your insurance claims for any sort of roofing, guttering, siding, windows and other types of storm damage.

Did you go through a hailstorm damage claim ? How did you go about it? Did you follow this process? Help someone out and share your experience with us below !