Adjusters, Deductibles & Roofers: Help I Have Hail Damage!

I never imagined how much I would learn when I went to see The Super Mario Bros. Movie a couple of weeks ago. Not from the movie — that was the day a hail storm hit parts of Collin County, specifically my part, and I began a journey of navigating insurance policies and contractors. It turns out there’s a lot I didn’t know about what to do when you have hail damage.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area can see as many as 35 hailstorms per year, and it seems like we’re trying to squeeze most of them in this week. Even as I write this, there’s big thunder happening outside. If you’re new to the area, or are considering moving here, don’t panic. This does not mean it’s going to hail on you up to 35 times per year (probably). North Texas is huge. But the sad reality is, hail damage to your home from storms is all too common in our area.

Allen Hail Storm

The May 19 storm hit us pretty hard, first at the movie theater, where our car was badly dented and the windshield cracked. And before the steam from the melting hail had cleared, the streets were crawling with roofers and contractors going door to door hoping to book appointments. At home, we found that our other cars had been damaged as well. They were parked in the driveway because (controversially) garages are for storage! On the roof, several shingles were lifted or missing, and we could see the hail strikes in some places from the ground. So we knew we’d be looking at major roof repair, if not replacement. No windows were broken, but our patio lights were shattered, and there were hits to the window casings.

I realized that while I knew in theory what to do, I was also sort of overwhelmed. Do I talk to the roofer who just showed up at my door? Do I call my insurance first? My neighbor, the general contractor, came by to say he’d be happy to handle it for us because the whole thing is such a pain, and these guys will screw you, but he can get the best people and the best deals. Wait, do I need a general contractor?

Get A Referral

Luckily, I come from a family of home inspectors, so I’m not without resources. Here’s my first tip: when you need help finding someone to work on your home, insure your house, or any of that type of stuff, ask a home inspector or a Realtor. They work with these people all the time, and they will have someone they know and trust to recommend. Don’t just take a card off the street, and don’t jump to a decision at the first person who arrives at your door.

Can The Roofer Pay My Deductible?

NO. If you are still under the misapprehension that when the storm hits and you have hail damage to your roof, it’s fine because now you get a free roof, you are mistaken. Here’s the thing: in September 2019, the Texas legislature passed House Bills 2102 and 2103 to close the loopholes that were allowing roofing companies to discount roofs to help cover your deductible. Pre-2019, if you had hail damage, it used to be this accidentally unregulated situation where roofers could absorb the deductible. But when they do that, they are operating on a slim profit margin, which they will find a way to make up for, which means the customer is either receiving an inferior product or poor installation. The new law prohibits this, making it illegal for the contractor and the homeowner to avoid paying the deductible. Both can be punished with a $2,000 fine, 180 days in jail, and a class A misdemeanor. 

The biggest mistake homeowners make after a storm is to choose a roofer based on price. It puts you in a bad position with the insurance carrier, and you’re not doing yourself any favors. There’s actually very little regulation in the roofing industry in Texas, like there is with other industries. There are no license requirements or insurance requirements. Make sure your hire a roofer who is certified, otherwise your warranty won’t be worth anything.

Jesse Helms, Authority Roofing

The first roofer who came to give us a quote, walked the roof, and the rest of our property, and listed off several things that he could include in his list of damages to give to the insurance adjuster, despite my telling him they were not caused by the hail. (Including a tear in our Big Green Egg cover! Really?) He said the more we add to the claim, the more he can charge and then rebate us to help cover the deductible. Dude. I mean, my deductible is $5,000, so this hail storm is our summer vacation and then some this year. I’m all for saving money, but I’m not going to jail over it. And if your roofer is willing to lie to the insurance company, they’re probably willing to lie to you. I talked to another company who told me they offer discounts to Veterans, which would help us cover our deductible. He saw the 82nd Airborne license plate on our Jeep.

What To Do First After A Hail Storm

After that, we followed our own advice and called our Realtor, Joanne Bryan with Coldwell Banker. Without hesitation, she told us to call Jesse Helm with Authority Roofing. She said she’d been using him herself for years, and recommended him to all her clients. She lives up the street from us near Twin Creeks Country Club, so unfortunately she’ll be getting her own new roof this summer.

Next, we called our home insurance, which is USAA, and when our insurance adjuster said she wasn’t allowed to be quoted for my article, I called Zack Wiggins with Goosehead Insurance to answer all my questions, because I’m told by people who know that he’s one of the best in the biz. Here are the rest of my North Texas hail damage hot takes:

Tips For Navigating the Process of Hail Damage To Your Home

• Have your roofer come at the same time as your insurance adjuster. This way they can both examine the damage at the same time, you avoid all the back and forth, and it expedites the process. You also have the benefit of two sets of eyes to make sure they catch all the details, and nothing gets missed.

• My USAA adjuster confirmed that Texas insurance companies are serious about those laws I mentioned. Don’t let a roofer talk you into “covering your deductible.”

• You have 12 months to schedule your roof repair/replacement once the adjuster submits the claim. If you schedule it in the middle of hail season, you run the risk of having another storm right away. And guess what? Home insurance deductibles aren’t the same as health insurance deductibles. You have to pay it again. And if you have more than one claim in a year, your rates will go up. So talk to your roofer about the best time to schedule the job in their experience. In the meantime, your roofer can put patches on any places where more damage might occur to your home before the work is completed.

• Home insurance is also different from car insurance, in that when the adjuster determines the pay out and gives you the money to fix your roof, if you don’t use it to fix your roof, it’s fraud and you can be prosecuted. With your car, you can decide whether you want to fix the car or just keep the money.

• Many roofing companies also do other types of home repair work, and that’s the best company to choose, so you can one-stop-shop if you have damage to multiple areas like we do. We have damage to our door trim, window beading, fascia, the AC compressor covers, and even our decorative outdoor lighting — and Authority Roofing is taking care of all of it.

• Make sure your roofer is using certified products. Because Texas does not require roofers to be insured, your product warranty is dependent upon the product they are using holding a warranty. For example, Authority is a GAF Factory Certified Master Elite Contractor. I checked quite a few roofers’ websites, and most of them showed their certified brands, but some did not.

• What if I don’t fix the roof after hail damage? Depending how bad it is, it will leak, or could collapse eventually. Lots of bad things. Some people will opt to DIY, rather than paying a roofer, and put a new layer of shingles over the top of what’s there. We’ve covered this in Upon Closer Inspection, and it’s just a bad idea. My USAA agent said you run the risk of your insurance not covering it if something happens as a result, like a fire, a leak, or a collapse. Jesse from Authority said that more than two layers is against the law in Texas because it’s flat out dangerous, but even two layers is foolish.

• Another way home insurance is different from other types of insurance is that you can’t shop for your plan based on the deductible. For example, I was saying to my husband after this experience, “We should see about getting a better deductible on our home insurance.” Thinking we had like a high-deductible plan. I asked Zack Wiggins from Goosehead Insurance about that, and he disabused me of that notion. Your home insurance deductible is based on a percentage of the value of replacing your home. It’s usually 1-2 percent. He said, “Yours must be 1 percent, so that’s actually pretty good.” So, “low deductible” home insurance plans aren’t a thing. (Maybe y’all paid more attention than I did when you were signing the dotted line, and already knew this).

• Home insurance brokers are your friend. A lot of people get hung up with, “I’ve been with All County Lizards for 25 years and I’m sticking with ’em,” but as the years go by you may notice your rates do nothing but go up. When you sign on with a broker, every year when your plan comes up for renewal, they shop around to find you the best rates and best coverage. If they find you a better plan, they will let you know.

The biggest thing is not being underinsured when you need it. I really try to educate people when they’re choosing a plan or renewing. It’s a balance of saving money versus having adequate coverage. You don’t want the worst case to happen and you’re not covered. I advise people the same way I get coverage for my own family.

Zack Wiggins, Goosehead Insurance

---

I hope you never need to know any of this, but if you do, may your damage be minimal and your coverage be plentiful. And may all of our experiences with North Texas hail be just the fun part, like my kid after the hail a couple weeks ago: