The storm came through overnight, the yard is littered with ice, and the question on your mind is a simple one: what do I actually do now? A roof insurance claim in Texas follows a predictable sequence, and most of the frustration Sherman homeowners run into comes from doing the steps out of order, waiting too long on one of them, or letting someone else steer a process that belongs to the policyholder. Here is that sequence in the order it happens.
In Grayson County, spring hail is part of owning a house. On May 9, 2024, storm reports logged golf-ball-size hail inside Sherman and stones up to two and a half inches at Luella, a few miles southeast. One afternoon like that can push hundreds of roofs between US 75 and US 82 into the claims system at once.
Key Takeaways
- File a hail or wind claim promptly; delay makes it harder to tie damage to a specific storm.
- Photograph damage before cleanup and keep every receipt for temporary repairs.
- A Texas homeowners insurer generally has 15 days after notice to acknowledge the claim and start investigating.
- Texas law makes it illegal for a contractor to offer to waive your deductible.
- Replacement cost and actual cash value policies pay very different amounts on an older roof.
- A roofer can document damage and attend the adjuster visit, but cannot adjust your claim.
Step 1: Make the House Safe and Stop Further Damage
Before any paperwork, keep a small problem from becoming a larger one. Put buckets under drips, move furniture and electronics, and get broken windows or open roof sections covered. The Texas Department of Insurance storm guidance tells homeowners to remove standing water, cover broken windows and holes, and save all receipts, because the policy may pay for those temporary repairs.
Stay off the roof yourself. Hail-struck shingles shed granules that make the surface slick, and a wet pitched roof is a fall hazard no claim is worth. A tarp installed by someone with proper fall protection is a reasonable temporary repair.
Step 2: Document Everything Before Anything Gets Cleaned Up
Documentation is the backbone of a hail claim, and the best day to create it is storm day. Photograph what you can see from the ground: dented gutters and downspouts, bent vent caps, cracked siding, shredded screens, and the car if it was outside. Photograph a few hailstones next to a coin or tape measure while they are still on the ground, and note the date and time the storm hit. The National Weather Service office in Fort Worth, which covers Grayson County, logs spotter hail reports by date and place, which helps if the storm date is ever questioned.
Inside, check upper-room ceilings and the attic for fresh stains or damp insulation. TDI also advises keeping damaged items until your insurer says you can throw them away, and keeping a list of everyone you speak to at the insurance company. That log earns its keep when someone later asks who told you what.
Step 3: Read Your Policy Before You Call
Your declarations page predicts how the claim will go better than anything else. Look for the wind and hail deductible, whether the roof is covered at replacement cost or actual cash value, and any roof-specific endorsement. A wind and hail deductible can differ from your other deductible, and when it is a percentage of dwelling coverage, 2 percent on a $200,000 home means $4,000 comes out of your pocket first.
Replacement cost coverage pays current prices regardless of the roof's age, while actual cash value subtracts depreciation. The TDI comparison of replacement cost and actual cash value shows the gap: on a $10,000 roof with a $4,000 deductible, replacement cost pays $6,000, while actual cash value pays $4,500 for a 5-year-old roof, $3,000 for a 10-year-old roof and nothing for a 20-year-old one. Better to know that before the adjuster arrives.
Step 4: Get an Independent Look at the Roof
Before or alongside filing, have someone who works on roofs every day inspect yours. From the ground you can see dented metal, but not the bruised shingle mats, broken seal strips or cracked ridge caps hail and wind leave on asphalt. A slope-by-slope inspection, each finding photographed against a scale reference, gives you a record of your own to compare with the adjuster's.
Roofing Sherman Pros offers free roof inspections and a storm and hail damage assessment built around that kind of record: dated photographs and a line-item estimate in the detail an insurer works from.
Know where a roofer's role ends. Texas Insurance Code section 4102.163 says a contractor may not act as a public adjuster or advertise to adjust claims on a property it works on. A legitimate roofer documents, estimates and can attend the adjuster's inspection; a company offering to handle your insurance is describing something the law does not allow.
Watch for storm chasers too. The Texas Attorney General has warned homeowners to be wary of contractors from out of the area after hailstorms and not to rush into signing a contract. Ask for local references and an address you can drive past.
Step 5: File the Claim and Know the Clock
TDI's advice is to file as soon as you can. Most insurers take claims by phone, online, by app or through your agent. Write down when you reported the loss and the claim number you are given.
Texas law then puts the insurer on a schedule. According to the Office of Public Insurance Counsel, a homeowners insurer must acknowledge the claim, begin investigating and request information within 15 days. It then has 15 business days after receiving everything it asked for to accept or reject the claim, in writing with reasons if rejected, and can take up to 45 more days if it explains why. Approved claims must be paid within 5 business days, and when TDI designates a weather-related catastrophe, each deadline stretches by another 15 days.
Step 6: Be There for the Adjuster's Inspection
The adjuster's visit is the most important appointment in the claim. Be home, with your photos, storm-day notes and inspection findings ready. If your roofer attends, the two can walk the same slopes and compare test squares and soft-metal dents, which settles disagreements on the spot instead of weeks later by email.
Ask whether the estimate will cover full slopes or individual shingles, and how gutters and vents are treated. Get a copy of the insurer's estimate and read it line by line; drip edge, starter course and ridge cap are easy to miss, and a written request with photographs is how a missing line gets reconsidered.
Step 7: Understand the Payment and Pay Your Deductible
On a replacement cost claim, TDI explains that the first check is a partial payment and the insurer sends the rest after repairs begin. If your lender is named on the check, call the servicer early so endorsement does not stall the job.
Texas law leaves no room on the deductible. Under a Texas law that took effect in 2019, it is illegal for a contractor or roofer to offer to waive a deductible or promise a rebate covering it, with penalties of up to a $2,000 fine and six months in jail. Contracts of $1,000 or more paid from claim proceeds must also carry a printed deductible notice, and your insurer may ask for proof you paid.
Step 8: Hire the Work and Close Out the Claim
Get more than one written bid, as TDI recommends, and compare line items rather than totals. Do not pay in full up front, never sign a contract with blanks, and hold the final payment until the work is done. Keep the final invoice in case the insurer wants proof of the work.
If you disagree with the decision, ask for a reinspection with your documentation in hand and check for an appraisal clause. TDI's help line at 800-252-3439 answers claims questions, and the Attorney General's hotline at 800-621-0508 takes reports about contractors who cross the line.
Texas Roof Insurance Claim Questions From Sherman Homeowners
How long do I have to file a roof claim in Texas?
Your policy sets the reporting conditions, so check that section of your own contract. TDI's guidance is to file as soon as you can, and prompt filing makes it far easier to connect the damage to a specific storm. Waiting until a leak shows up months later invites a dispute over when the damage happened.
What if the adjuster calls the damage cosmetic?
Ask the insurer to show you the policy wording it is relying on, because cosmetic damage exclusions vary and not every policy has one. The real question is whether the damage is only cosmetic or functional, such as fractured shingle mats or broken seal strips. Close-up photographs and test-square counts are the evidence that answers it, and you can request a reinspection or use appraisal if your policy allows it.
Is a small hailstorm worth an inspection?
Not every storm damages a roof, and small hail often does not. A quick check of soft metals such as gutters, downspouts and vent caps is a sensible first filter: fresh dents there mean the shingles took the same hits and deserve a closer look. Clean metal after a pea-size storm makes functional roof damage less likely, although an older roof can be hurt by smaller stones.