After You Have Protected Your Property Following a Hail Storm, What Is Next?

If you find out that your property has any hail storm caused damage, or if you think that there is a good possibility of such hail damage, you should call your insurer as soon as possible. Most homeowner’s insurance policies cover hail damage.

If your insurer or their agent requests or requires an in writing explanation of what occurred, do this as quickly as possible.

To maximize your recovery, and get back your out of pocket costs, save any and all receipts you get for things purchased (plywood, tarps, etc.) to protect your property and prevent further damage. Make sure to get these to your insurer to get reimbursed for them.

Sadly, finding a reliable and reputable contractor to fix and repair your property’s damages can be as difficult as the original storm that caused the damage. We at Carabin Shaw have a few tips:

Make sure to select a reliable and reputable roofing repair company to do its best for your damages. It is generally a very good idea to select a long established company with good local references. Using word of mouth can often be the best guide.

Be very wary of newly arrived out-of-town roofing companies. Many of these companies newly move into a hard hit area and start operations after a storm. Some of these firms can reputable. However, some of them take money from innocent homeowners and then move to the next storm. Unfortunately, some of these companies leave town without paying their suppliers and/or they leave repairs unfinished. If this happens you could get left stuck with those added costs and no one to sue.

Make sure the contractor you select has liability and workers compensation insurance. If they don’t, you could be one the hook if someone gets injured, including the contractors workers. You could also be liable the “fly by night” contractor, or their workers, cause damage to your neighbor’s property. Always ask your contractor to give you a copy of their certificate proving that they have liability insurance. Reliable, reputable contractors never hesitate when you make this request.

Don’t give anyone a “final” or “full” payment until your property, roof or other damaged stuff has been checked out and inspected. Always make sure that you are ok that all of the repairs are done properly.

In a perfect world, your house will never have any damage from a storm. Hopefully, if there ever is damage from a storm, your insurance company will fulfill its obligations and make you whole for any and all damage you suffered. Hopefully, the contractor you select will fulfill their obligations and make all repairs to your property professionally and promptly.

Call us at Carabin Shaw, we will fight to get you the compensation you deserve. Call 210.300.3000.