Hour 0 to 4: safety and water
Stay off the roof. A storm-damaged roof is a genuinely dangerous surface, and every year people are hurt getting on one to look. Everything you need to see initially can be seen from the ground.
Inside, deal with active water. Move furniture, put down containers, and if a ceiling is bulging with trapped water, a small relief hole in a bucket-catchable spot does less damage than the ceiling coming down as a sheet. Photograph before you move anything.
Hour 4 to 24: document like you will need to prove it
Because you will. Your phone stamps photos with a date and time, and that metadata is the difference between "storm damage" and "wear and tear" in an adjuster's file.
- Wide shots of every elevation of the house from the ground, so the whole roof is in frame
- Close shots using zoom of missing shingles, lifted courses, exposed decking
- Soft metal. Photograph gutters, downspouts, vent caps, garage door and the AC condenser fins. Dents on soft metal are how you corroborate hail size — adjusters look at this first.
- Anything on the ground — shingle pieces, granule wash at downspout outlets, branches, fence damage
- Every interior stain, with something for scale
- The storm itself. Screenshot the local weather report or hail map for that date. Note the date and rough time the storm hit.
Hour 24 to 72: inspection, then the claim
Get an independent roof inspection before you phone the insurance company. Two reasons.
First, you find out whether you have a claim worth making. If your deductible is $3,500 and the damage is $2,200 of repair, filing accomplishes nothing except putting a claim on your record.
Second, if you do have a claim, you enter the conversation with photographs and a written assessment instead of relying on whatever the adjuster notices in a twenty-minute visit. Adjusters are not adversaries, but they are working several dozen files after a regional hail event, and documentation gets attention that a phone description does not.
Our storm inspection is free, and the photo report is yours to file with regardless of who does the work.
The Texas rules that matter
The deadline
Your policy sets its own notice requirement — typically prompt notice after the loss. Separately, Texas Insurance Code chapter 542A generally provides a two-year window from the date of loss to bring suit on a claim. Do not treat two years as breathing room: the longer you wait, the easier it is for a carrier to argue that what you are showing them came from a later, uncovered event.
The deductible law
Since HB 2102 took effect in 2019, it is a misdemeanour in Texas for a contractor to pay, waive, rebate or absorb your insurance deductible — and illegal to advertise doing so. Your carrier may also require proof you actually paid it.
Treat "we'll cover your deductible" as the single clearest disqualifying signal a roofer can give you. It tells you what they think rules are for, before they ever touch your roof.
Licensing
Texas does not license roofing contractors at the state level. There is no state licence to check, which is precisely why out-of-state crews follow hailstorms into Montgomery and Harris County. What you can verify is a certificate of general liability insurance sent to you directly by their carrier, a real local address, and a workmanship warranty in writing from an entity that will still exist next spring.
How to spot a storm chaser
- Knocked on your door within days of the storm, unsolicited
- Out-of-county or out-of-state plates, and a phone number that is not local
- Wants a signature today, with urgency about "the adjuster schedule"
- Offers to handle your deductible
- Asks you to sign an "authorisation to inspect" that turns out to be a contract contingent on claim approval
- Cannot give you a physical address in Montgomery or Harris County
- Wants a large deposit before any material is delivered
Read anything before you sign it. An "inspection authorisation" that assigns your claim benefits to a contractor is a contract, whatever the header says.
What we do
Martha Cano owns Tex-Mex Roofing, has been in roofing more than 20 years, and inspects storm damage herself. You get dated photographs, a written assessment of what we found, and a straight answer about whether it is worth a claim. We support you through the process with your carrier, and we do not ask for a signature the day we meet you.
We are not going anywhere after the storm season, because The Woodlands and Cypress are where this family lives.
See our storm damage service, request a free inspection, or call (832) 708-4611.
This article explains general process and publicly available Texas statutes. It is not legal advice, and it is not a description of your specific policy — read your policy, and talk to your agent about your coverage.