What to do in the first 24 hours after hail

Hail came through last night. The yard is white with ice marbles, your car hood has dimples in it, and you are standing on the porch wondering what to do next. We get this call a lot, especially in the spring across Vance, Granville, Warren, and Franklin counties. Here is exactly what to do — and what not to do — in the first 24 hours.

Take a breath first. The roof is still doing its job. You are not in emergency mode. You are in evidence-collection mode.

The first 6 hours: stay off the roof

We mean it. Every spring, we hear about somebody who fell off a wet roof the day after a storm trying to "check for damage." A hail-pelted roof is covered in loose granules — picture marbles on a tile floor. Even seasoned crews wait until the surface dries.

What you can do safely from the ground in the first six hours:

• Walk the perimeter of the house. Hail damages soft metal first — look at gutters, downspouts, AC condenser fins, mailboxes, vents, and any exposed flashing.
• Check cars in the driveway. If there are dents on a steel hood, the stones were hard enough to bruise asphalt shingles too.
• Look at window screens. Holes or "push-throughs" are a strong indicator that hail hit the building envelope at speed.
• Pick up a few of the largest hailstones from the lawn and put them in the freezer. Sounds odd. Adjusters appreciate seeing actual stone size when they show up three days later.

Document everything with your phone

Modern phones stamp every photo with a timestamp and GPS coordinates. That metadata is gold during a claim. Open the camera and walk the lot.

What to photograph, in this order:

1. A wide shot of your house from the street, with weather still visible (clouds, wet ground, hail on the lawn).
2. The largest hailstone next to a coin or ruler. Coin works fine — a quarter is just under one inch, which is the threshold most carriers care about.
3. Every dented soft-metal surface: AC fins, gutters, gutter aprons, downspouts, vents, flashing, garage door panels, mailbox, grill lid.
4. Any car panels that took dings. If your car got dented, the roof almost certainly did too.
5. Inside the house: water spots on ceilings, drywall stains around skylights or chimney flashings, attic decking if you have safe access.

Take more than you think you need. We have never opened a claim file and said "too many photos." We have absolutely opened files and said "we needed one more shot of the AC."

Call us first, then your insurance

This is where homeowners get burned. The first phone call after a storm often determines how the whole claim goes. If you call your carrier cold, you have just opened a claim with no evidence on your side. The adjuster will show up alone, climb your roof for fifteen minutes, and decide what gets paid.

Our recommendation, and we know it sounds self-serving: get a free roof inspection from a local roofer before you call insurance. There are two reasons.

First, if there is no real damage — and sometimes there is not — you avoid putting a claim on your record that goes nowhere. Carriers count every claim, even denied ones, and use them to set future premiums.

Second, if there is damage, we can document it the right way before the adjuster gets there. We will measure the roof, mark hail strikes per slope, photograph collateral damage, and pull weather reports for your zip code on the date of loss. When the adjuster shows up, we walk it with them. That changes the conversation.

Why timing matters more than people realize

North Carolina policies generally give a one-year window from the date of loss to file a hail claim, but waiting works against you in three specific ways.

The first rain after a hail event washes loose granules out of the damage spots. After two or three rains, what was an obvious crater on a shingle starts to look like normal age wear. Adjusters know this and will often classify older hail damage as "wear and tear," which is excluded from coverage.

Second, carriers track the "date of loss" field carefully. If you file three months later for a March 12 storm, expect questions about why you waited. "I was hoping it would be fine" is a common and honest answer, and a frequent reason for partial denial.

Third, NC adjusters have a soft window — usually about 60 to 90 days from the date of loss — when they consider the storm "fresh". Inside that window, claims move fast. Outside it, carriers send engineers, ask for old roof reports, and slow-walk the file.

What not to do

Two things will hurt your claim, and both happen in the first 48 hours.

Do not let a stranger on your roof who knocked on your door today. Storm-chasing crews follow weather radar from out of state. They want to climb up, find "damage," and walk you into a same-day signed contract before you have time to think. Read our piece on spotting storm-chaser red flags in NC for what to watch for.

Do not put on a tarp before photographing the damage unless water is actively coming in. Once a tarp is up, you have hidden the evidence the adjuster needs to see. If you must cover an active leak, photograph the area first, then tarp it.

What we do when you call

Our process is straightforward. We are usually on a roof within 48 hours of a storm. The inspection itself takes about an hour. We walk the slopes, count hail strikes per square (a "square" is a roofing term for a 10-by-10 area), check the soft metals, document the attic, and pull the public weather report for your address.

If the damage is real, we sit at your kitchen table and walk through what we found. If you decide to file the claim, we help with the documentation packet and meet the adjuster on site. If the damage is not real, we tell you that too. Free inspection means free either way.

For the bigger picture on how insurance claims work — what the declarations page tells you, and what to expect from your first check — read how to read your insurance declarations page.

The short list, taped to the fridge

• Stay off the roof. Photograph from the ground.
• Photograph cars, AC, gutters, screens, and ceilings.
• Save the largest hailstone in the freezer.
• Call a local roofer for a free inspection before you call insurance.
• Do not sign with anyone who knocked on your door this week.
• Do not tarp over visible damage unless water is coming in.
• File within 30 days when you can.

That is the playbook. The first 24 hours determine whether your claim goes smooth or whether you spend the next eight months on the phone with an adjuster. If the storm hit your block, give us a call. We can be on your roof tomorrow. Schedule a free inspection.