Hail and severe convective storm is the peril nobody plans for and everybody eventually meets. It produces no evacuation orders and very little news coverage, and it has quietly become one of the largest sources of property loss in the country. Homeowners in Tennessee and the Ohio Valley often pay more than they expect for insurance and assume something has gone wrong. Nothing has. This is what convective storm risk costs.
The most common surprise on a hail claim is the deductible. Many policies in convective storm states carry a separate percentage-based wind/hail deductible — often 1% or 2% of Coverage A — that applies instead of the flat all-other-perils deductible.
On a $450,000 home, a flat $2,500 deductible and a 2% wind/hail deductible are $2,500 and $9,000 respectively. Both appear on the same declarations page. Which one applies depends entirely on what damaged the roof.
Carriers have moved steadily toward settling roof claims at actual cash value — replacement cost minus depreciation — rather than full replacement cost. A twelve-year-old asphalt roof with a twenty-year life may be depreciated forty to sixty percent. The claim check covers a fraction of the replacement, and the homeowner covers the rest on top of the deductible.
Replacement cost roof coverage still exists, and it is frequently available as an endorsement for a modest premium increase. It is one of the few places where a small annual cost maps directly onto a large potential recovery.
A cosmetic damage exclusion allows the carrier to decline a hail claim when the impact marks are judged not to affect function. Dented metal roofing, dented gutters, dented siding — visible, unattractive, and excluded. These endorsements lower premium and are often added without the homeowner registering what was traded away.
Hail damage is not always visible from the ground and frequently goes unnoticed until a leak appears years later. By then the claim may fall outside the policy's reporting window, or the carrier may attribute the damage to wear rather than a specific storm. After a significant hail event, a documented inspection is worth doing while the cause is still attributable.
Significant hail events reliably draw door-to-door roofing crews offering to handle the claim and waive the deductible. Waiving a deductible is illegal in many states and constitutes insurance fraud. A legitimate contractor will inspect, document and bid the work — and will still expect you to pay your deductible.
Most people find out at claim time. Send us your declarations page and we will tell you before then — what triggers your deductible, what it works out to in dollars, and what is missing.
Send your policyAlmost every expensive surprise on a property policy traces back to one of these. Each guide is written once and kept current, because the mechanics do not change by ZIP code even when the pricing does.
Most people find out at claim time. Send us your declarations page and we will tell you before then — what triggers your deductible, what it would cost, and what is missing.
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