# Hail Damage Roof: What to Do in the First 48 Hours

URL: https://roofwiseusa.com/roof-replacement/hail-damage-roof
Updated: 2026-09-17
Review: Reviewed by RoofWise USA Editorial Team, editorial review: primary sources checked and independently fact-checked

What to do in the first 48 hours after hail hits your roof: document it from the ground, find your deductible, call your insurer, sign nothing yet.

Work in this order after a hailstorm: make sure the property is safe, document what you can see from the ground, find your deductible, call your insurer, and talk to roofers after that. A hail damage roof is hard to read from the ground and unsafe to walk on, so your job in the first 48 hours is recording what happened and when, not diagnosing it. Every step below is free, and none of them requires you to sign anything.

- Document before you call anyone. The NAIC's post-disaster guidance is to "take photos or videos of the damaged areas and personal property" and jot down notes on significant damage, and to tell your insurer when you call that you have them.
- Photograph the hailstones while they are still on the ground, next to something of known size. They melt, and the storm date is what ties your roof to the weather record.
- Find your deductible before you report anything. The NAIC says to do this first, and to ask whether a separate deductible applies to hail or wind.
- Emergency repairs to stop water are expected — keep every receipt. Permanent repairs before you have spoken to your insurer are not: your company "may not pay for repairs it didn't authorize."
- Nobody who arrives at your door needs an answer today. The FTC's storm guidance is blunt: never sign an insurance check over to a contractor, and if they want cash up front, walk away.

## The first 48 hours, in order

The order below is ours, not a regulator's: the NAIC's claims guide puts no clock on any of these steps. The quoted instructions are the guide's; the sequence and the timing are our own reading of what matters first.

**Safety first, then a walk around the outside.** The NAIC's [post-disaster claims guide](https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/publication-post-disaster-claims-guide.pdf) starts with hazards: "make sure there are no safety issues like downed electrical lines or broken gas lines," and if there are, leave and wait for local authorities. Inside, it says to avoid or clear broken glass and anything that could trip you.

**Photograph everything, including the hail.** Same guide: "take photos or videos of the damaged areas and personal property. You also can jot down notes about any significant damage you see." Hailstones are the piece people miss, because they are gone by the afternoon.

<Figure slug="fig-hail-in-gutter" caption="This is the photograph that stops existing by mid-afternoon, so take it first and put a coin or a ruler in the frame for scale. Write down the date and rough time with it, because that is what ties anything you record later to a particular storm." />

**Stop water getting in, and keep the receipts.** The NAIC's instruction is to "try to prevent further damage by making essential repairs, like covering roofs, or windows with plywood, tarp, canvas, or other waterproof materials," and, in capitals, to keep all receipts for emergency repairs to give to your insurance company. The sentence straight after that one matters just as much on a roof you should not be climbing: "Because you have to prevent more damage, you may want to hire a contractor to make any emergency repairs." Getting a tarp up is work to hire out, not a reason to go up a ladder yourself. It then draws a line most people do not know is there: "Don't make permanent repairs before talking with your insurance agent or insurance company. Your company may not pay for repairs it didn't authorize." A roofer offering to start tearing off shingles tomorrow morning is offering to erase your evidence and possibly your reimbursement.

**Find your deductible, then call.** The NAIC is direct about the sequence: "before reporting the property damage to your home, find out what your deductible is." If only a few shingles were damaged, it notes, you might be better off paying out of pocket than opening a claim — while also warning that "you might not be able to see all the damage."

**When you call, say you have documentation.** The guide's wording: "let your insurance company and agent know when you call if you've taken photos and videos of the damage and have cost estimates."

## What hail actually does to a shingle

The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, which fires laboratory hailstones at shingles for a living, describes the mechanism as hailstones that ["fracture, dent, and tear shingles"](https://ibhs.org/hail/relative-impact-resistance-of-asphalt-shingles/). Its Hail Impact Test Protocol uses "1.5- and 2.0-inch diameter laboratory manufactured hailstones," which its research relates to typical natural hailstones in non-wind-driven conditions.

The distinction that matters to you is dent versus tear. In IBHS's [water leakage testing](https://ibhs.org/hail/water-leakage-vulnerabilities-for-shingles-with-hail-damage/), "small dents resulted in negligible water leakage," while "a tear severity approaching 1 (on a 0–3 scale) allowed large amounts of water leakage." A roof can be struck, show almost nothing from the ground, and still have shingles that will let water through. It can also be struck, look ugly, and not leak.

<Figure slug="fig-torn-shingle-tab" caption="A tear is the case IBHS measured as passing large amounts of water, where small dents passed almost none. If you can see one from the ground, it is worth a photograph and a date; what it means for the roof is for a licensed inspector to say." />

That is why the honest thing to do in the first 48 hours is record, not grade. You will find plenty of pages that print a chart mapping hailstone diameter straight onto roof damage. IBHS's own testing pages do not support that kind of one-to-one reading: the impact-resistance page notes its tests "do not exactly replicate natural hailstone impacts" and exist "to compare relative product performance in controlled, repeatable laboratory tests." Whether a particular roof is damaged is a question for someone standing on it with a license, not a chart.

## How to document hail damage from the ground

Stay on the ground and use the zoom on your phone. The NAIC asks for "photos or videos of the damaged areas" and notes on any significant damage; the checklist below is our own, written to make those photos easier to date and tie to the storm. Work through it while the storm is still fresh:

- The hailstones themselves, on a hard surface, next to a ruler or a coin for scale.
- A wide shot of each side of the house, then zoomed shots of each roof slope.
- Gutters and the base of downspouts, where loose granules collect.
- Soft metal on the property: gutter aprons, vent caps, the fins on the air-conditioning unit, the mailbox, a metal shed. Dents there are the same storm, at ground level, where you can actually see them.
- Window screens, sills, siding, deck boards, fence tops.
- Inside: ceiling and wall stains, damp in the attic, anything that was not there last week.
- A written note of the date and rough time the storm passed, and how long the hail fell.

**Stay off the roof**
This is our own rule rather than one we are quoting from an insurance or government source. Do not climb up to look, and do not let anyone talk you onto a ladder for a closer photo. A hail-struck roof can be slick and weakened, and walking across bruised shingles can create damage that was not there. Anything that needs a closer look is what a licensed inspection is for.

The storm date is the hinge your whole record hangs on, and it is worth checking against the public weather record for your area rather than memory.

Tool: [Storm history by ZIP](https://roofwiseusa.com/roof-replacement/tools/storm-history-by-zip). Hail and damaging-wind reports near your ZIP code over the last 10 years, from NOAA.

## Your first two options, in order

These are the two free steps, and they belong in this order. Everything paid comes after them.

**Check and document it yourself.** Good when: A storm just passed or you found a leak, and nothing has been repaired yet. Watch out: Look from the ground or a window. Never climb onto a wet or damaged roof.

The limit of doing it yourself is real: from the ground you can establish that a storm hit, when, and what it did to things at eye level. You cannot establish the condition of the shingles, and you should not try.

**Call your insurer and file the claim yourself.** Good when: You have homeowners insurance and hail or wind likely caused the damage. Watch out: Your policy sets the reporting deadline and the deductible. Nobody else can file for you without your say.

Calling has its own trade-off. Opening a claim is a record, and if the damage turns out to cost less than your deductible, you have opened one for nothing — which is exactly why the NAIC puts finding your deductible before the phone call. When you do call, its guide lists what to ask: your claim number, "how long you have to file a claim," what your policy generally covers, when an adjuster will call, and "are there separate deductibles for hail, hurricane, or wind damage?"

That last question is the one that changes the arithmetic. The NAIC also explains that [how much a settlement pays](https://content.naic.org/article/rebuilding-after-storm-know-difference-between-replacement-cost-and-actual-cash-value-when-it-comes) turns on whether your roof is covered at replacement cost, which pays "the cost to repair or replace your damaged property without deducting for depreciation," or at actual cash value, which pays "the depreciated cost." Its worked example gives two families with $15,000 of roof damage and a $1,000 deductible: the replacement-cost family received $14,000, the actual-cash-value family $4,000 after $10,000 of depreciation. Which one you have was settled long before the storm, and the NAIC's claims guide says where to look: "Check the declarations page of your homeowners policy to see whether the policy provides replacement cost coverage." If it does not specify replacement cost, the guide adds, the policy likely only covers actual cash value.

**This page cannot tell you how your claim will go**
Whether damage is covered, and what any settlement comes to, is decided by your insurer under your specific policy, by an adjuster who inspects your roof. No website, and no roofer standing in your driveway, can know that in advance. Anyone who tells you the outcome before an adjuster has looked is describing something they have no way of knowing.

## Who shows up in your driveway after a hailstorm

After a damaging hailstorm, crews canvass the affected streets. Some are local roofers. Some traveled in behind the weather: the FTC warns that "unlicensed contractors and scammers often appear in recovery zones," and the NAIC's claims guide says that after storms and other disasters "fraudsters and scam artists often arrive quickly."

The FTC's guidance on [scams after weather emergencies](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-avoid-scams-after-weather-emergencies-and-natural-disasters) says to "never sign your insurance check over to a contractor," that "if they want cash up front, walk away," and that "if they won't give you copies of their license, insurance, or a contract in writing, that's a red flag." On money it is specific: "pay by credit card or check, never by wire transfer, gift card, payment app, cryptocurrency or in cash." Suspected scams go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

FEMA's [post-disaster contractor fraud](https://www.fema.gov/fact-sheet/beware-post-disaster-contractor-fraud) fact sheet was published for one disaster — the Central Texas storms and flooding of July 2–18, 2025 (DR-4879), issued that September, with Texas licensing contacts — so read its state-specific references as Texas's rather than yours. The contractor advice itself travels: it recommends "using a local contractor, someone who is known in the community," says to "only work with contractors who are licensed, registered and have insurance," to get "two or three written estimates," and not to make "a down payment or a final payment until the job is complete."

The NAIC's claims guide adds the storm-chasing pattern directly: "if you're working with contractors you don't know, find out where they're from. Many fraudsters will travel from state to state." It also says to watch for contractors who offer repairs with upgraded or free building materials, to ask for references before signing or paying anything, never to pay in full before the work is complete, and to report suspected fraud to your state's department of insurance.

None of that requires you to be rude. It requires you to be slow. A roofer who is still interested next week is the one worth talking to, and the one who needs your signature on the tailgate today has told you what you needed to know.

## Where this sits in the bigger decision

Documenting a hailstorm is the start of a longer question: whether the roof needs a repair, a replacement, or nothing at all this year. That depends on the roof's age and how widespread the damage turns out to be, not on the storm alone. Our [roof replacement guide](https://roofwiseusa.com/roof-replacement/roof-replacement) walks through how that decision is usually made, what the work involves, and how to compare quotes on the same scope once you are ready for them.

## Bottom line

Document first, from the ground, with dates. Find your deductible, including any separate hail or wind deductible, before you report anything. Then report it to your insurer yourself, and let the adjuster decide what the roof actually needs. You can pay for help if you want it — the NAIC describes a public adjuster as "a professional you can hire to handle your insurance claim" and to "negotiate a settlement of the insurance claim for you" — but be careful about handing your claim to a contractor: the NAIC says to "be cautious if you're asked to sign an AOB," an assignment of benefits, because you "may be giving up some, most, or even all of your rights." Sign nothing in the first 48 hours, and take the week that anyone reputable will give you.

For the identification itself, including the look-alikes that get mistaken for hail, read [what hail damage actually looks like](https://roofwiseusa.com/roof-replacement/what-does-hail-damage-look-like-on-a-roof). When you are ready to contact your insurer, [the order to file in](https://roofwiseusa.com/roof-replacement/how-to-file-a-roof-insurance-claim) sets out the steps.

Start the Roof Check: https://roofwiseusa.com/check

## Common questions

### What should I do first after a hailstorm hits my roof?

Check for safety hazards, then photograph and date what you can see from the ground, including the hailstones themselves before they melt. The NAIC's post-disaster guidance is to take photos or videos of the damaged areas and to note any significant damage you see.

### How long do I have to report hail damage to my insurer?

There is no single national deadline, and the answer can turn on your policy and on your state's law. The NAIC's post-disaster claims guide lists "how long you have to file a claim" as one of the questions to ask when you first call, so ask it on that call and report the damage as soon as you can.

### Is there a separate deductible for hail damage?

Some policies apply a separate deductible to wind or hail, and the NAIC advises asking your insurer directly whether one applies to you. Find that number before you report the damage, because it decides whether a claim is worth opening at all.

### Should I let a roofer who knocks on my door after the storm inspect my roof?

That is your call, but the FTC's guidance is to walk away from anyone who wants cash up front and to treat refusal to hand over a copy of a license, insurance and a written contract as a red flag. You never have to decide at the door.

### Can I climb up and check the roof for hail damage myself?

Our advice is not to. Look from the ground, a window or an upper floor and zoom in with a phone camera instead. That is our own safety rule rather than a regulator's: a hail-struck roof can be slick and weakened, and walking on bruised shingles risks causing the damage you are trying to record.

### Does hail damage always leak right away?

Not necessarily. IBHS testing found "small dents resulted in negligible water leakage," while "a tear severity approaching 1 (on a 0–3 scale) allowed large amounts of water leakage," so a roof can look intact and still have taken damage worth recording.

## Sources

- [NAIC: Post-Disaster Claims Guide](https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/publication-post-disaster-claims-guide.pdf)
- [NAIC: Rebuilding After a Storm — Replacement Cost vs. Actual Cash Value](https://content.naic.org/article/rebuilding-after-storm-know-difference-between-replacement-cost-and-actual-cash-value-when-it-comes)
- [IBHS: Relative Hail Impact Resistance of Asphalt Shingles](https://ibhs.org/hail/relative-impact-resistance-of-asphalt-shingles/)
- [IBHS: Water Leakage Vulnerabilities for Shingles with Hail Damage](https://ibhs.org/hail/water-leakage-vulnerabilities-for-shingles-with-hail-damage/)
- [FTC Consumer Advice: How To Avoid Scams After Weather Emergencies and Natural Disasters](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-avoid-scams-after-weather-emergencies-and-natural-disasters)
- [FEMA: Beware of Post-Disaster Contractor Fraud](https://www.fema.gov/fact-sheet/beware-post-disaster-contractor-fraud)