Insurance claims / The test square
Circle the hits.
This is one 10 × 10 ft test square of laminated shingles. Tap every mark you think hail made. An adjuster counts bruises and breaks in the shingle, not blisters, scuffs or old wear.
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Thirteen marks on this square. Nine are hail.
Marks are drawn larger than life so you can tap them; real hits from 1–2 in. hail are about the size of a coin. Illustrative square, not a photo of a real roof.
What an adjuster would count here: 9 hits.
- Hail hitA round bruise: granules knocked loose, dark asphalt showing, a few granules left in it. Pressed with a thumb, it feels soft. Counted.
- BlisteringA cluster of small pits with sharp, raised rims where trapped gas or heat popped the asphalt. A product or ventilation issue. Not counted as hail.
- ScuffGranules rubbed flat by a boot or a ladder foot. It drags in one direction; hail lands round. Not counted.
- Granule-loss streakA long run of thin spots that follows the water path down the roof. Age and runoff, not impact. Not counted.
At 8 hits per square, an often-quoted guideline, this slope would qualify. Your insurer’s number may differ.
Six steps, in order.
The storm passes
Before anyone climbs, look from the ground and take pictures: dented gutters and downspouts, nicked AC fins, torn window screens, dings on a mailbox or a car. Write down the date. These are clues to the size of the hail, and the adjuster will look at them too.
The Texas Department of Insurance says to file as soon as you can after hail or wind damage, and to take photos and video first.
Somebody counts
A roofer (free, from us) or the adjuster chalks a 10 × 10 ft square, 100 sq ft, on each slope, in a spot that took the storm and isn’t sheltered by a tree. Every hit inside gets a chalk circle, a number and a photo. A low count is useful too: it can save you a claim you don’t need.
You file
You call your insurer or file online and get a claim number. Ask your agent whether your wind and hail deductible is different from your other deductible. If it is, a storm claim can cost you more out of pocket.
TDI: ask your agent if the deductible for wind and hail is different; if it is, you might pay more out of pocket.
The adjuster’s visit
The adjuster chalks their own squares, checks the soft metals and photographs everything. Be there if you can. We can be on the roof with them to point at every circle we found. We show evidence; we don’t argue your claim.
Texas Insurance Code §4102.163 bars a contractor from acting as a public adjuster on a property where it does or may do the work.
Your policy decides
The insurer compares the count with its own guideline. Eight hits per square is often quoted; some carriers use fewer, some more, and none of it is printed in your policy. If a slope qualifies, the policy decides whether that’s one slope or the whole roof.
Two checks, one deductible
With replacement-cost coverage, the first check is a partial payment and the rest comes after repairs start. Actual-cash-value coverage, which some insurers switch older roofs to at renewal, takes depreciation off. Either way, the deductible is yours to pay.
Waiving a homeowner’s deductible is illegal in Texas, and your insurer may ask for proof you paid it (TDI).
Check our work.
- Texas Department of Insurance: After hail or windstormsFile as soon as you can; photos first; waiving a deductible is illegal; avoid paying in full up front.
- TDI: Replacing your roofReplacement cost vs actual cash value; two checks; separate wind and hail deductibles.
- TDI: Roofing discountsImpact-rated roofing, Class 1 to 4; each insurer sets its own credit.
- Texas Insurance Code §4102.163Contractors may not act as public adjusters on properties they may work on.
- TDI Bulletin B-0030-98: cosmetic hail endorsementOptional endorsement HO-145 can exclude cosmetic hail damage on roofs that get a UL 2218 credit.
- InterNACHI: Hail damage, test squares10 × 10 ft squares on each slope; eight hits is a common number; insurers differ.
- GAF: Class 4 shingles (UL 2218)A 2 in. steel ball dropped 20 ft, twice on the same spot; no crack on the back.
General information for Texas homeowners, not legal or insurance advice. Read your own policy, and ask your agent.
Want a real count?
Free, about an hour on your roof, photos either way. Mon–Fri 7 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sat 8 a.m.–noon.