Florida is known for its destructive storms and hurricanes, however recently there have been an increasing amount of hail storms in areas like Hallandale beach in South Florida and Lake Mary near Orlando. Hail typically forms near the middle of the country and not near the shore which is why its so rare to find it here in sunny Florida. The bigger the hailstones are the faster they fall, which typically means the damage they cause is more severe. Hail can range in size from less than a inch and get as big as 6 inches. To put that in perspective that’s almost as large as a baseball.
The only predictable thing about hail is its unpredictability. While hailstorms are quite rare in Florida, they can be incredibly devastating to your home, property, and cars. A severe hailstorm can shatter your windows, damage the roof of your home, and wreak havoc on your vehicle if it is unprotected. In 2019 alone, there were over 5000 hailstorms in the US causing over a billion dollars in property damages.
Despite this, hail damage claims are notoriously challenging to document and substantiate without the right approach and expertise. This is where a public adjuster can help with your hail damage insurance claim in Florida.
How to Check for Hail Damage
- Shattered Roof Tiles – Hailstone falling at terminal velocity can shatter roof tiles
- Impact Marks – Hailstones often leave impact marks on the siding of a home, business or automobiles.
- Chips – Hailstones can cause paint, stucco and other coating to chip off. Investigate the area surrounding your property for evidence of chipped coating after a hailstorm.
- Broken Glass – Hail and excessive winds can cause glass on windows, cars and patios to crack or shatter.
- Dents – Hail can cause aluminum siding, metal roofing to dent.
If a hailstorm is severe enough, visible damages should be obvious and undisputed by the field adjuster when inspecting the damages and thus coverage of the loss should be confirmed early on in the process with the claim being settled in a timely manner.
Unfortunately, we get calls from policyholders who are offered partial repairs of roof and siding rather than proper replacement to bring them back to pre loss condition.
What To Do After A Hail Storm
Some homeowners mistakenly think that their roof is fine after a hail storm because they don’t have any roof leaks. That’s not true: you can still file an insurance claim on a damaged roof without a leak. Don’t wait for a leak to appear before you file an insurance claim. Most roof hail damage insurance claims do not involve leaking roofs.
If you do have a roof leak, do what you can to mitigate the loss. Place a tarp over the leaking area to prevent further water damage for example.
We’ve seen too many homeowners make the same mistake: a hailstorm rolls through the area. The homeowner takes a quick glance at the roof and siding, then determines there’s no damage. The homeowner never contacts a public adjuster or gets up on the roof to inspect the damage. Then, a few months later, the homeowner notices a leak. Delaying a potential insurance claim only makes it harder to settle and gives the insurance carrier a excuse to deny it based on late reporting.
If you discover roof damage from hail, then you may want to start by contacting a qualified roofing company or a public adjuster for help with an inspection. One thing to keep in mind is that in most states they require public insurance adjusters to be licensed, it is illegal for a roofing company or contractor to actually negotiate insurance policy related issues.
If you are currently dealing with a claim for hail damage roof repairs, a licensed and professional public insurance adjuster can provide great insight about your claim and provide expert assistance for the entire insurance claim and repair process.
F.A.Q
Q. Am i covered for hail damage under my homeowners insurance policy?
A. In most cases yes you will be covered for hail damage in Florida. There are some policy’s that will exclude hail damage coverage so it important to look over your policy or have a insurance professional go over it so you can be prepared and wont be caught off guard if and when you need it.