Hail is the most misunderstood kind of roof damage, because it frequently does not leak. A hailstone bruises the mat beneath the granules; the roof looks intact, keeps water out for another season or two, and quietly loses years of service life. By the time it does leak, the storm is old news and harder to attribute.
So the goal in the first week is not repair. It is documentation.
Step 1 — Deal with anything urgent first
If water is actively coming in, containment beats everything else on this list. Tarping stops the damage spreading into insulation, drywall, and framing, and it does not prejudice anything that follows. Move what you can out of the way, put down containers, and get someone out to cover the opening.
Step 2 — Write down the date
Sounds trivial; it is not. Claims are assessed against specific weather events, and "sometime in the spring" is much weaker than a date that matches a recorded hailstorm in Hamilton County. Note the date and roughly the time.
Step 3 — Photograph the things that are easy to photograph
From the ground and from inside, safely — do not climb up. What is useful:
- Hailstones themselves, next to a coin or a ruler for scale, if any are still around
- Dents on soft metal — gutters, downspouts, vents, flashing, the mailbox, air conditioner fins. Soft metal takes a clear impression and it is often the best evidence available at ground level.
- Granules collected at downspout outlets and along the drip line
- Damaged siding, window screens, and outdoor furniture, which help establish the storm hit this property
- Any interior staining, with the date
Step 4 — Get an inspection before you call the carrier
This order matters. An inspection tells you whether there is real damage worth claiming. Filing a claim that turns out to be nothing still puts a claim on your record; knowing what is actually up there first means you are making an informed decision rather than a hopeful one.
A proper inspection means someone on the roof, photographing bruising on the shingles themselves, checking the soft metal, and looking at all slopes — hail is directional and one elevation often takes far more than the others.
Step 5 — Then call your carrier
With a date, photographs, and a contractor's documentation in hand, the conversation with the adjuster is about evidence rather than impressions. We will meet the adjuster at the property when it helps. What we will not do is tell you what your policy covers — that is genuinely the adjuster's call, and any roofer who promises a claim outcome is telling you something they cannot know.
The part where people get hurt: storm chasers
Within days of a significant hail event, crews arrive from out of state, knock doors, and offer to handle everything. Some are fine. Many are not, and the pattern is consistent: pressure to sign immediately, a deposit up front, work done fast by subcontractors, and no company left in the area when a problem shows up two winters later.
If anyone offers to "cover your deductible" or "make the deductible disappear", stop there. In Tennessee that is insurance fraud, the claim is in your name, and a contractor willing to commit it on day one is telling you exactly how the rest of the job will go.
Five questions that sort it out quickly
- Where is your office, and how long have you been at that address?
- Who performs the warranty callback in three years, and are they employees or subcontractors?
- Will you pull the permit in your name?
- Can I see the certificate of insurance directly from your carrier?
- Will you put the full scope in writing before I sign anything?
A local company can answer all five in a sentence each. That is the entire test.
