What to Do After a Storm: Roof Damage Inspection and Insurance Claims
A bad storm rolls through, the wind dies down, and now you are standing in your yard looking up at your roof wondering what you are actually looking at. Is that missing shingle a problem, or is it cosmetic? Do you call your insurance company first, or a roofer first? Homeowners across Northwest Indiana, Southwest Michigan, and Michiana ask us these questions every storm season, so here is a straightforward walkthrough of what to do.
Start With a Safe, Ground-Level Look
Do not get on the roof after a storm. Wet or damaged decking is not stable, and hidden damage is not always visible from directly above it anyway. Walk the perimeter of your house instead and look for these signs from the ground:
- Shingles in the yard or gutters, especially granules collecting near downspouts
- Dented gutters, vents, or flashing, which usually means hail was involved
- Visible gaps, curling, or missing sections on the roofline
- Water stains on ceilings or ridge lines inside the attic
If you see any of these, it is worth having a professional take a closer look before the next round of weather.
Document Everything Before You Call Anyone
Insurance adjusters work from evidence. Photograph the roof from the ground at multiple angles, get close-up shots of any debris in the yard or gutters, and note the date and approximate time of the storm. If a neighbor's roof was also damaged or if local news covered the storm, that record helps establish the event happened and helps your claim move faster.
When to Call a Roofer vs. When to Wait
Not every storm requires an emergency inspection. Minor wind can loosen a shingle without compromising the roof underneath. Hail, however, is different. Hail bruises shingles in ways that are not always visible right away but that shorten the roof's lifespan and can lead to leaks months later. If your area had hail, or if you noticed any of the warning signs above, schedule an inspection within a few days rather than waiting for a leak to show up.
What a Fair Inspection Looks Like
A thorough roof inspection after storm damage should cover the whole system, not just the shingles. That means checking flashing around chimneys and vents, inspecting the gutters, and looking at soffit and fascia for wind damage. We have been assessing storm damage for homeowners in La Porte County, Porter County, and Berrien County since 1985, and the roofs we see hold up best when repairs address the full picture instead of patching the most obvious spot.
Working With Your Insurance Company
Once you have an inspection report, you can file your claim with photos and documentation in hand. An adjuster will typically schedule their own visit to confirm the damage. It helps to have your roofer's assessment available during that visit, since a second set of eyes on the same roof, working from the same documentation, tends to keep the process moving instead of getting stuck in back-and-forth.
Keep in mind that every insurance policy is different, and coverage for wind or hail damage depends on the specifics of your policy. We are roofers, not insurance agents, so we cannot make promises about what your policy covers or what your claim outcome will be. What we can do is give you an honest, detailed inspection report that gives you the information you need for that conversation.
Be Careful Who You Hire After a Storm
Storm damage attracts a specific kind of contractor. After a significant hailstorm, it is common to see unfamiliar trucks going door to door, offering free inspections and pushing homeowners to sign contracts on the spot. These companies often follow storms from region to region, sometimes called storm chasers, and they are not always around by the time a warranty issue comes up a few years later.
A few things worth watching for: a contractor who showed up uninvited within days of a storm, pressure to sign an agreement before you have gotten a second opinion, a company with no local address or a business history that only goes back a few months, and promises that sound more like a sales pitch than an inspection. None of these automatically mean a company is dishonest, but they are worth pausing on before you commit.
We have been assessing and repairing storm damage for homeowners in this region since 1985, and we are well versed in what insurance companies expect to see in a claim. That said, we are not storm chasers. We are not going to show up in a truck from out of state the week after a hailstorm and disappear once the check clears. We live here, our team is local, and if you need us for a warranty question five years from now, we will still be here to answer it.
Protecting Your Home Before the Next Storm
Storm damage is more manageable when it is caught early. If your roof has not been inspected in a while, or if the materials have been through more than one storm season, a proactive inspection can catch small issues before they become claim-worthy ones. This is especially true for homes near Lake Michigan, where wind off the lake adds stress that inland homes do not deal with as often.
If you noticed roof damage after a recent storm, or if it has simply been a while since your last inspection, reach out to schedule one. We serve homeowners throughout Michigan City, La Porte, and the surrounding communities, and we are happy to walk you through what we find.
