During a hail storm, there is the potential for some of your biggest investments to be subject to damage. Generally speaking, hail storms start with little to no warning. This may leave you with varying degrees of damage, to property and vehicles. Hailstones can be small like peas or as large as softballs. The larger the hail the greater chance of a storm causing injury or serious damage.

An average hailstorm lasts five minutes. While the damage hailstorms cause will cost over 1 billion dollars throughout a city or province. Lasting damage to your property could warrant a claim, or does it?

Shingles will react when struck by hail, which doesn’t always mean damage. As an example, hail damage to asphalt and composition shingles will look different than hail damage to wood shingles. It is important to be sure of the different effects of the damage to identify whether you have roof damage from hail.

Asphalt and Composition Shingles | Hail Damage

• Random damage with no discernable pattern.
• Hail hits that are also black in color.
• Loss of granules, which may expose the roof felt.
• Asphalt and/or mat that appears shiny.
• Hail hits that are soft to the touch, like the bruise on an apple.

Wood Shingles | Hail Damage

• Random damage with no discernable pattern.
• A fault in the shingle that is brown/orange in color.
• A split in the shingle that has sharp corners and edges.
• A split in the shingle that has little to no deterioration at the edges.
• Impact marks or dents along the splits.

There are many other types of damage to shingles that can be mistaken for hail damage. For example, exposure to weather and sunlight makes shingles brittle and gives them an aged appearance. This type of damage is normal on shingles. Other types of normal wear and tear may include blistering, cracking, granule loss, flaking, and algae. Manufacturing defects and mechanical imperfections in shingles could also be mistaken for hail damage.

If your home has sustained damage from hail, contact your broker, or insurance company by using our Claims Page. We will help walk you through the next steps and let you know what your policy covers in the event of a claim.

Source: Identifying Hail Damage To Your Roof – Travelers Insurance