If hail just hit your roof, take photos today, call your insurance company within 24 hours, and do not sign anything with a contractor until you know what your claim looks like. You have one year to file in Texas, but waiting past 30 days makes causation harder to prove.
At a glance
- Document all damage with timestamped photos within 24 hours. Ground-level first.
- Call insurance to report the incident and get a claim number. Ask about your wind/hail deductible (often 1-2% of dwelling value, so $2,500-$5,000 on a $250,000 home).
- Do not let anyone on your roof before you call insurance. No exceptions unless you have active water intrusion.
- Expect 45-75 days from storm to finished roof. 90-120 days with complications.
- Composition shingles in Liberty and Chambers Counties run $350-$450 per square installed. Most homes are 18-35 squares.
- If someone offers to waive your deductible, that is insurance fraud in Texas. Walk away.
First 24 hours
Walk the property within two hours if possible. Photograph everything from the ground: gutters, AC condenser, fence tops, mailbox, vehicles, siding, outdoor furniture. Your phone embeds timestamps in the metadata automatically.
Check your attic with a flashlight. Look for new light coming through, wet stains, or displaced insulation.
Call insurance to report potential damage. You are not filing a claim yet. You are reporting an incident and getting a claim number. Ask what your wind/hail deductible is. It is often different from your regular deductible.
Do not let door-knockers on your roof. You have not talked to insurance yet, you do not know your coverage, and you do not need someone creating damage or taking photos they will use to pressure you into signing. The only exception: active water intrusion that needs emergency tarping. Even then, photograph everything before and after the tarp goes on.
What to photograph
| Area | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Gutters | Dents from hail impact. Strongest evidence that shingles also took hits. |
| AC condenser | Dented fins on top of the unit. |
| Roof (from ladder or hired handyman) | Missing granules, bruising (dark compression spots), cracks, ridge cap damage. |
| Vehicles | Dents, cracked windshields. |
| Fence, mailbox, siding | Any impact marks that establish a property-wide pattern. |
| Attic interior | New light penetration, wet stains, displaced insulation. |
Take wide shots showing full roof planes and close-ups of specific damage. One damaged shingle photo means nothing if the adjuster cannot tell whether that is the only spot or representative of the whole roof. Context matters.
Save weather radar screenshots and search "NWS hail report [your county] [date]" for official storm reports. Create a chronological file on your phone labeled with the storm date. Drop all photos there. Write down hail size (pea, quarter, golf ball, baseball), how long the storm lasted, and any neighbors who can confirm timing. This documentation protects you when timelines get fuzzy months later.
Filing timeline
| Deadline | What it means |
|---|---|
| 24 hours | Report the incident. Get a claim number. |
| 30 days | Practical filing window. After this, causation gets harder to prove. |
| 1 year | Texas requires insurers to accept claim notices for at least one year after a loss. |
| 4 years | Statute of limitations for breach-of-contract lawsuits. Different clock than filing. |
Reporting an incident does not commit you to collecting money. You can get the adjuster out, see the estimate, and decide whether the payout justifies the deductible and potential rate increase.
What happens when the adjuster comes
The adjuster spends 45 minutes to two hours on your property, mostly on the roof. They work for your insurance company, not for you. They are measuring extent, not denying reality. But they follow company guidelines about functional damage versus wear and tear.
Be present. Walk them around the damage you documented. Then let them work.
Questions to ask during the inspection:
- What is the difference between cosmetic and functional damage in my policy?
- Are you seeing impact damage or granule loss from age?
- How many impacts per square are you counting?
Request a copy of their report within 48 hours. You are entitled to see what they found, how many squares of damage they measured, and what they are approving. A square equals 100 square feet of roofing. Compare their measured scope to your contractor estimates.
If the adjuster denies or only approves partial replacement, ask specifically why. "Not enough impact damage per section" is different from "damage consistent with age and wear." The first might be challengeable with additional documentation. The second is harder to overturn.
Roof replacement cost breakdown
| Item | Range |
|---|---|
| Composition shingles (installed) | $350-$450 per square |
| Mid-tier architectural shingles (materials only) | $95-$125 per square |
| Synthetic underlayment upgrade | $15-$25 per square |
| Typical home | 18-35 squares |
| 25-square replacement estimate | $8,750-$11,250 before deductible |
| Permit (Liberty, Baytown area) | $75-$150 |
Standard mid-tier shingle options: Owens Corning Duration, GAF Timberline HDZ, CertainTeed Landmark. In East Texas humidity, you want at least a 30-year architectural shingle with algae-resistant granules.
Should you hire a public adjuster?
Public adjusters charge 10-15% of your settlement and work for you, not the insurance company. They re-inspect, re-document, and negotiate.
| Situation | Better move |
|---|---|
| Straightforward claim, reasonable payout | Handle it yourself |
| Claim denied when damage clearly exists | Hire a public adjuster |
| Payout seems low vs. contractor estimates | Hire a public adjuster |
| Process dragging past 60 days | Hire a public adjuster |
| Claim over $30,000 with structural damage | Consider an insurance attorney |
The math: If insurance offers $6,000 and a public adjuster gets you $15,000, they take $2,250 (at 15%). You net $12,750. Up $6,750. If insurance offers $10,000 and the adjuster gets $11,500, they take $1,725. You net $9,775. Down $225. The value depends on how badly the initial estimate missed.
Another option: hire a licensed contractor to be present during the insurance inspection. Some local roofers in Baytown and Mont Belvieu offer this for free, betting you will hire them if the claim gets approved. Others charge $200-$400 regardless. Worth it if you have never filed a roof claim and want someone who speaks the technical language.
Reputable public adjusters have offices in Beaumont, Houston, or The Woodlands and have been operating for years. Check their TDI license number. Ask for references from claims settled in the last 12 months. If they pressure you to sign the day they knock, walk away.
Red flags: storm chaser contractors
Storm chasers follow hail. They show up within 48 hours, knock every door, push for signed contracts before you have talked to insurance. Not always scammers, but almost never who you want doing your roof.
How to spot them:
- Out-of-state plates (Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana)
- PO box address, no local office
- Google listing created in the last month
- Offers to waive your deductible (insurance fraud in Texas)
- Pushes for assignment of benefits so they file the claim for you
- "I was just working on your neighbor's roof" (check later; they were not)
- Promises to start next week but will disappear after first payment
What a local contractor sounds like: "I have been roofing in Chambers County since 2008. Here is my office in Anahuac. Here are six houses within three miles where I replaced roofs in the last two years. I charge $385 per square for composition, $425 for architectural. I will come back when the adjuster comes. If your claim gets approved, we will schedule. If it does not, you owe me nothing for the inspection."
One of these people will answer their phone in six months if you have a leak.
Contract checklist
Every roofing contract should specify:
- Total square footage and cost per square (not just a lump sum)
- Shingle brand and model
- Underlayment type (synthetic preferred for East Texas climate)
- Ventilation plan
- Start and completion dates
- Payment schedule: never 100% upfront. Standard is 1/3 deposit, 1/3 at materials delivery, 1/3 at completion.
- Manufacturer warranty terms (25-50 years, prorated)
- Workmanship warranty (1-10 years)
- Who pulls permits and who pays
- Cleanup: magnetic sweeps (at least twice), debris haul-away, landscaping protection
If the contract just says "roof replacement - $12,000" with no per-square breakdown, you have no way to verify whether the price makes sense or whether they measured correctly. Get the line items.
Timeline: storm to finished roof
| Phase | Timeframe | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Days 1-7 | Document, report, get claim number. Adjuster scheduling may back up after major storms. |
| Weeks 2-3 | Days 8-21 | Adjuster inspects, writes report, insurance approves or denies. Initial payment issued (actual cash value minus deductible). |
| Weeks 3-4 | Days 15-28 | Get contractor bids, compare proposals, check references, sign contract. |
| Weeks 4-6 | Days 28-42 | Materials ordered and delivered. Larger contractors get faster manufacturer delivery. |
| Weeks 6-8 | Days 42-56 | Installation. Typical 25-square roof: 2-3 days with a four-person crew. |
| Weeks 8-10 | Days 56-75 | Final inspection, final payment, lender fund release, recoverable depreciation from insurance. |
Common delays: Insurance disputes scope (add 3 weeks). Lender requires multiple inspections before releasing funds (add 2 weeks). Materials backordered (add 3 weeks). Weather (add 2 weeks). Contractor juggling too many jobs (add 3 weeks).
Mortgage company holdback. If you have a mortgage, the insurance check has both your name and the lender's name. You endorse it, send it to the lender, they deposit it in escrow, and release funds based on completion milestones. Some lenders require an inspection before releasing the final payment. This adds two to four weeks that nobody warns you about. Call your lender the same week you file the claim and ask about their specific process for insurance claim payments.
When to pay out of pocket
Skip the claim if approved payout minus deductible is under $3,000. A claim on your record can raise premiums 10-25% for three to five years. On a $2,400 annual premium, a 15% increase costs $360/year. Over three years, that is $1,080 in added premiums for a $2,500 net payout.
Also consider paying out of pocket if you are selling in the next 12-24 months. A recent claim on your CLUE report can raise questions for buyers and their insurers.
Do not skip the claim if damage is obvious and extensive. Softball hail, holes or severe bruising across 60% of the surface, $12,000-$15,000 estimates. You pay premiums for exactly this situation.
If your claim gets denied
Request the denial in writing with specific reasons. "Insufficient damage" is not specific enough. You need the actual impact counts and policy thresholds they used.
Get a second opinion from an independent inspector who is not bidding the work. Pay $300-$500 for an inspection report from a licensed home inspector or engineering firm. That report becomes your ammunition if you challenge the denial.
File a complaint with the Texas Department of Insurance. TDI does not overturn claim decisions, but they investigate whether the company followed proper procedures. Sometimes a pending complaint motivates a second look.
If you get a leak months later in the exact spot where damage was denied, photograph it, document it, and report it as a new claim. You have documentation that you reported storm damage, they denied it, and now there is water intrusion. That creates a liability question they cannot ignore.
Liberty and Chambers County notes
Liberty, Chambers, and Harris Counties sit in the crosshairs of hail alley. Severe convective storms hit every spring and fall, from Crosby to Anahuac.
Good local contractors in East Texas are busy May through October. After a major storm, expect four to six weeks before scheduling opens. Anyone who can start Monday is either desperate or overcommitted.
Older pier-and-beam homes common in the area need extra cleanup attention. Nails falling into the crawl space during tear-off are a problem. Make sure the contract covers it.