Every spring, the hail belt that runs from the Texas Hill Country up through Oklahoma and the central plains pushes a wave of claims through homeowner insurance carriers. Most of those claims settle cleanly. A meaningful minority get stalled by adjuster errors, contractor over-reach, or homeowners signing the wrong piece of paper. The process is dull on purpose. Here it is.
After the storm: the 72-hour window
You probably don't know yet whether your roof was hit. Walk the yard, check the gutters for granules, look at the south- and west-facing sides of the roof first. Take dated photos of the roof, the yard, and any visible siding or window damage. Save the local storm reports — your insurer will want the date and the path.
Do this in the first 72 hours if you can. Insurers don't require it, but it makes everything downstream easier. If a contractor knocks on your door in those 72 hours, take their card and put it on the counter. You'll have time to vet them in the next week. You won't have time if you sign anything today.
Filing the claim and what your insurer actually does
You call your insurer, give them the date and time of the storm, and they open a claim. You'll get a claim number. They'll schedule an adjuster visit — typically within a week or two, longer in a major-event window. The adjuster's job is to assess damage and write a scope.
What the insurer pays out, in most policies, is actual cash value (ACV) up front — the cost of the work, minus depreciation. You'll get a second check (the recoverable depreciation) after the work is completed and the final invoice is submitted. Knowing this in advance prevents the panic when the first check looks small.
The adjuster visit — what a good roofer brings
The single highest-leverage moment in the whole process is the day the adjuster comes to write the scope. A good local roofer will meet the adjuster on the roof at no charge to you, walk the damage, and make sure the scope captures everything that actually needs to be replaced.
They aren't there to bully the adjuster. They're there because adjusters write hundreds of scopes a year and roofers walk hundreds of roofs a year — and four eyes on a roof beats two. Ridge cap, drip edge, flashing, ventilation, decking — all of it gets argued out at the scope, or not at all.
The supplement: getting the claim raised
Once the work starts, the roofer will sometimes find damage that wasn't visible from the ground or wasn't included in the original scope. They submit a supplement — a documented request to the insurer to raise the claim — backed by photos and a written justification. The insurer reviews it. Most are paid; some are negotiated. None of this is unusual.
Permits, work, and the depreciation check
Your roofer pulls the permit in their own name, not yours. Work takes 1–3 days for most residential re-roofs. Once the final inspection is signed off and the invoice is submitted to the insurer, the recoverable-depreciation check follows.
What your roofer cannot do
Absorb your deductible. Illegal in Texas under §707 and a hard disqualifier in our reporting. If they offer, end the call.
Sign your name to anything. The claim is yours. The contract is yours. The check is yours.
Pressure you to sign an AOB. A legitimate roofer will do the work and bill you. They don't need control of your claim.
Promise an outcome with the insurer. They can advocate for the supplement. They can't guarantee the insurer will pay it.
The questions to ask before you sign anything
- How long have you worked at this address, under this name?
- What warranty do you offer in writing — manufacturer-backed or in-house?
- Will you pull the permit in your own name?
- Will you meet my adjuster on the roof?
- Will you absorb my deductible? (Correct answer: no.)
- Send me a Certificate of Insurance with a callable agent.
That's the whole process. It's long, but it's not complicated. The hard part is finding a roofer worth giving the work to. We try to help with that.