The first week after hail — the insurance playbook nobody hands you
After a hailstorm rolls through central Oklahoma, two things start happening at once. Your neighbors get knocks on the door from strangers in pickup trucks. And your insurance company quietly starts a clock that you don't see and they don't tell you about.
Most homeowners aren't briefed on this, so here is the order of operations we walk customers through the week after a storm.
Day 1-2: Document before you do anything else
Walk the perimeter of the house and take photos. Not just the roof — siding, window screens, the AC condenser fins on the side of the house, the trampoline, the car if it was in the driveway. Hail damage to "soft" targets (screens, fins, gutters with dent pockmarks) is the corroborating evidence an adjuster uses to confirm that the storm was severe enough to damage shingles.
Photograph the date on your phone's weather app or a local news report showing the storm date and your zip code. Save it. You will be asked for it.
Do not climb the roof yourself. Wet hail-bruised shingles release granules in sheets, and your weight on a damaged slope can turn a $14,000 claim into a $22,000 claim plus an ER visit.
Day 2-4: Call us (or another local roofer) before you call insurance
This is the part homeowners get backwards. If you call insurance first, they send an adjuster who is paid to find a way to deny or minimize the claim. The adjuster goes up alone, takes their own photos, and writes a number. That number anchors the entire conversation from then on.
If you call a local roofer first, we do an independent inspection, document what we find, and either tell you "your roof is fine, don't file" or "yes, file, and here's what's damaged with photos." When the insurance adjuster shows up, we meet them on the roof. Adjusters call out different damage in the presence of a roofer than they do alone.
We do this whether you end up hiring us or not. It is not a contingency. We will not ask you to sign anything before insurance has approved a claim. Anyone who does is the storm chaser from the spring chaser post.
Day 5-7: File the claim, calmly
Once you've got documentation and an independent inspection, file the claim. Be factual: date of storm, what was damaged, you'd like to schedule an adjuster visit. Don't editorialize. Don't tell them what you think the roof is worth. Don't tell them another roofer said it's totaled. Let the adjuster come out and see what's there.
Ask three things on the phone:
- What's my deductible on this claim? Wind/hail deductibles in Oklahoma are often percentage-based (1-2% of dwelling coverage), not flat. You may be on the hook for $4,000 before insurance pays anything.
- Is this a full ACV or RCV policy, and what does the recoverable depreciation look like? RCV (replacement cost value) policies pay you the depreciated amount up front and the remaining "recoverable depreciation" once work is completed. This affects how a roofer structures the contract.
- What's the claim filing window in my policy? Most policies require filing within 12 months of the date of loss. Some have shortened that to 6 months. Read the actual language.
What you should not do
- Sign a contingency contract. A reputable contractor doesn't need one. The contract is for after the claim is approved.
- Accept the adjuster's first number as final. Adjusters miss things. Supplements (additional items submitted by your roofer after they get on the roof for the tear-off) are routine and legitimate.
- Pay anything up front beyond a reasonable material deposit (usually 10-30% at material delivery, not at contract signing).
- Take cash from anyone who suggests "I can save you the deductible." Eating the deductible is insurance fraud in Oklahoma. It will void the claim and can void your policy.
What we'll do if you call us first
Free roof inspection. Documented photos. We'll tell you honestly whether it's worth filing. If it is, we'll meet your adjuster on the roof. If it isn't, we'll tell you that too and you'll have a baseline for next time.