Hail Damage and Roof Insurance Claims in Tennessee

Middle Tennessee is hail country

The county pages on this site count what the National Weather Service has logged since 2016. Williamson County alone has 99 hail reports in that span, 17 of them two inches or larger; Davidson has 69; Rutherford, Sumner and Wilson each dozens. Reports cluster in March through June. A roof in this corridor will meet quarter-sized hail in its lifetime, and quarter-sized hail is where asphalt shingles begin losing granules.

The order the regulator recommends

1. File promptly. Call your insurer or agent with the policy number as soon as you know there is damage. Policies set notification windows.
2. Stop further damage, temporarily. Tarp a leak, cover a broken window, keep the receipts. Do not have permanent repairs made until the insurer has inspected and you have agreed the cost.
3. Document. Photographs of the roof, the gutters, the soft metals (vents, flashing, the AC fins) before anyone climbs up. Hail leaves spatter marks on metal and dents in soft metal that adjusters use to date the event.
4. Let the adjuster inspect. Tennessee requires carriers to acknowledge a claim within ten days and to handle it in good faith. You are entitled to be present and to have your own roofer present.
5. Only then hire. A licensed roofer, with a written contract naming the shingle brand and grade, the underlayment, the scope, the timeline and the payment schedule. Verify the licence and the insurance certificate.

What a roofer may and may not do with your claim

A roofer may inspect, photograph, write an estimate and meet the adjuster. A roofer may not negotiate the claim on your behalf for a fee; that is public adjusting, a separately licensed occupation. Under the Residential Roofing Services law a roofer must give you a written cancellation-rights statement before you sign, and may not take payment on an insurance-funded job before the insurer confirms coverage or the three-day cancellation window closes.

Deductibles

Your deductible is your share of the loss. A roofer offering to "waive" or "eat" it is offering to inflate the invoice to the insurer by that amount, which is insurance fraud with your name on the claim. Walk away.

Actual cash value versus replacement cost

Older policies, and newer ones on older roofs, pay actual cash value: replacement cost less depreciation for the roof's age. A fifteen-year-old roof on a twenty-year shingle can be worth a fraction of its replacement cost to the carrier. Read the roof endorsement on your declarations page before the storm, not after; some Tennessee carriers have moved to roof-age schedules in the last few years, and the difference on a $20,000 roof can be most of it.

If the claim is denied or short

Ask for the denial in writing; the date on it starts your cancellation window under 62-6-602. You can request a re-inspection, hire a licensed public adjuster, or file a complaint with the Department of Commerce and Insurance's Consumer Insurance Services division, which mediates disputes with carriers at no charge.