The process is far more predictable than it feels from the inside. There are eight stages, two payments, and about four places where money quietly goes missing. Here is the whole sequence and where it usually goes wrong.
The short version
| Stage | Who acts | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Report the loss | You | A claim number |
| 2. Adjuster assigned | Carrier | An inspection appointment |
| 3. Inspection | Adjuster | A decision per slope |
| 4. Scope of loss | Carrier | An itemized estimate |
| 5. First payment | Carrier | Actual cash value, minus deductible |
| 6. The work | Your contractor | A finished roof |
| 7. Supplements | Contractor | Additional approved items |
| 8. Second payment | Carrier | The withheld depreciation |
The single biggest mistake homeowners make is stopping at stage 5, treating the first check as the whole payout, and never collecting stage 8.
1. You report the loss
You call your insurer or file online. You give them the date of loss and a description of the damage, and you get a claim number.
Nothing about this commits you to anything — you can withdraw a claim before it is paid. If you are still deciding whether to file at all, work through the seven questions first, because a claim you withdraw still appears in your claims history.
What to have ready when you call:
- The date of loss, stated confidently
- A short factual description — hail, and what you found
- Your photos, already taken
- Whether the home is habitable and whether anything needs emergency repair
If something is actively leaking, ask about emergency mitigation. Most policies cover reasonable temporary repairs, such as a tarp, and require you to prevent further damage. Keep those receipts — they are reimbursable, and they are separate from the roof scope.
2. An adjuster is assigned
Sometimes a staff adjuster who works for the insurer, sometimes an independent adjuster contracted for the surge. After a large regional storm, carriers bring in adjusters from all over the country, and they can be extremely busy.
A delay here is normal and usually is not a signal about your claim. What is worth doing is confirming the appointment, in writing, and asking whether you should have your contractor present.
3. The inspection
The adjuster gets on your roof. They will typically mark out a 10 by 10 foot test square on each slope and count the impacts inside it, because carriers use a threshold of hits per square to decide whether a slope is damaged enough to replace.
Be there if you can. You are allowed to. You can point out what you found, and you can take your own photos of what they mark.
Two things worth knowing before the day:
- The adjuster assesses each slope separately. It is very common for one or two slopes to qualify and the others not to, because hail arrives at an angle.
- They will also look at soft metal, screens and the AC unit — the same evidence you looked at from the ground — plus siding, fencing and outbuildings if you point them out.
For the full walkthrough of what they are counting and how to prepare, see what an insurance adjuster looks for on your roof.
4. The scope of loss arrives
This is the itemized document listing every line item the carrier will pay for, with quantities and prices. It is usually produced in the estimating software the whole industry uses, so it will look standardized and slightly impenetrable.
Read it anyway. Three numbers matter most, and they are usually near the end: the replacement cost value, the depreciation withheld, and the net actual cash value after your deductible.
Common omissions worth questioning:
- Underlayment, drip edge, starter strip and ridge cap — the accessories that add up
- Steep-slope or two-story labor charges when your roof warrants them
- Code-required upgrades your city mandates on a re-roof, such as ice and water shield or additional ventilation
- Detach and reset for solar panels, satellite dishes, gutters or lightning protection
- Decking replacement, which cannot be fully known until the old roof is off
- Damaged gutters, screens, siding, garage doors and AC fins — hail does not only hit roofs
Our line-by-line walkthrough is in how to read a scope of loss.
5. The first check
If your policy is Replacement Cost Value, this first payment is the Actual Cash Value — the replacement cost minus depreciation, minus your deductible. It will look far smaller than you expected.
That is normal, and it is not the end of the payment. Here is the structure on a simplified $20,000 roof with a $2,000 deductible and $5,000 of depreciation:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Replacement cost value | $20,000 |
| Less depreciation | −$5,000 |
| Less deductible | −$2,000 |
| First check (net ACV) | $13,000 |
| Second check, after work is complete | $5,000 |
| Total the carrier pays | $18,000 |
You pay the $2,000 deductible. Nobody else may pay it for you — an offer from a contractor to cover, waive or absorb it is insurance fraud in most states.
If your policy settles the roof at Actual Cash Value instead, there is no second check. The depreciation is simply not recoverable. Check which one you have on your declarations page; our explainer on ACV vs RCV covers the difference.
The mortgage endorsement
If your mortgage is escrowed, the check may be made out to you and your lender, because the roof is their collateral. You endorse it and send it to the lender, who releases funds in stages against progress inspections.
This is very often the slowest single step in the whole process, and it is the one most homeowners do not see coming. Start it the day the check arrives, not the day the crew is scheduled. Ask your lender's loss draft department for their exact requirements up front — most have a specific packet, and most will not tell you about a missing form until weeks in.
6. The work
You choose the contractor, not your insurer. A "preferred" or "program" list is a recommendation, not a requirement. What the carrier controls is the amount they will pay, not who does the work.
Before you sign anything, verify licensing where your state requires it, general liability and workers' compensation insurance, and a real local address. How to choose a roofer after a hailstorm has the full checklist and the specific red flags worth ending a conversation over.
Two practical notes:
- Scheduling takes longer after a big storm. Every crew in the region is booked and material can be back-ordered. This is a real constraint, not a stalling tactic.
- Do not pay in full up front. A deposit is normal. Most of the money before any material arrives is not.
7. Supplements
If the contractor believes the scope missed something — or the old roof comes off and the decking underneath is rotten — they submit a supplement: a request for additional payment, documented with photographs tied to specific line items.
This is a normal, routine part of insurance restoration work, not a fight. It is also where a lot of the real money is: code upgrades, decking, and accessories left out of a first estimate written from the ground or from aerial imagery.
What you should expect from a good contractor is that they handle this and keep you copied, rather than either ignoring it or handing you the paperwork.
8. The second check, which many homeowners never claim
Once the work is complete and invoiced, you submit the final invoice and a certificate of completion, and the carrier releases the recoverable depreciation — the difference between what they already paid and the full replacement cost.
This is real money, frequently thousands of dollars, and it is only paid if someone asks.
If your contractor does not handle it, do it yourself. Email your claim adjuster with:
- The contractor's final invoice, itemized
- A certificate of completion or signed statement that the work is finished
- Photos of the completed roof
- A single sentence: "The work is complete. Please release the recoverable depreciation on claim number ____."
Then follow up in a week. Our full guide is recoverable depreciation: how to collect the second check.
There is a deadline. Many policies set a window — commonly one or two years from the date of loss — after which unclaimed depreciation is simply gone. It arrives long after everyone has stopped paying attention, which is exactly why it goes uncollected.
If you disagree at any stage
You have options, in increasing order of formality:
- Ask for a reinspection, with your contractor present
- Supply more evidence — storm-day photos, the radar record, a documented contractor estimate
- Ask for a different adjuster
- Invoke your policy's appraisal clause — each side hires an appraiser, an umpire decides. Binding on amount, not on coverage.
- Hire a licensed public adjuster, who works for you for a percentage
- File a complaint with your state's department of insurance, which is free
Denial is not automatically final, and partial approval is the outcome most often successfully revisited.
How long the whole thing takes
Weeks to months, and it depends mostly on how busy the carrier is, whether your lender is involved, and how quickly you supply documents. A large regional storm slows everything down for everybody. The stage-by-stage breakdown is in how long a hail roof claim takes.
The four places money goes missing
- The deductible is misunderstood — a percentage wind and hail deductible is much larger than the flat one people remember.
- The scope is accepted as final when accessories and code items were left out.
- The mortgage endorsement stalls and the job with it.
- The recoverable depreciation is never claimed. This is the big one.
Check your own address first
Before you call anyone, find out whether hail actually reached your area and how big it was. Our free hail tracker reads the same NOAA radar record the industry uses, and it takes one address and about ten seconds.
If the radar shows a real storm over your house, you can ask us to pass your details to one vetted local roofer for a free inspection. That is your choice and a separate box — we do not share your name, address or phone with anyone unless you tick it.