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After a serious hailstorm rolls through the Valley, the doorbell starts ringing within 24 hours. Most of those knocks are from out-of-state crews who chase weather radar across the country and disappear the moment the work is done — or the moment something goes wrong. Slow down. You have time to handle this correctly, and rushing is exactly what they're counting on.
Hour one: stay off the roof
Hail damage looks different from the ground than it does up close, and walking a freshly hailed roof in soft-soled shoes can crush bruised shingles that would otherwise have survived. Resist the urge to climb up with your phone. Anything you need to document is visible from the ground or from a second-story window.
Hours one through six: document everything
Walk the perimeter of the house with a camera and take dated photos of every elevation. Focus on the obvious telltales: dented gutters and downspouts, dings on metal flashings and vent caps, splatter marks on horizontal painted surfaces (deck railings, AC condenser tops, garbage can lids), shingle granules washed into downspout outlets and concrete pads, and any leaves or branches knocked down. Open the mailbox and the lid of the gas meter — both make excellent hail-strength gauges.
Photograph the cars in the driveway too. Auto hail damage corroborates the roof claim and helps establish the storm's severity for the adjuster.
Hours six through twenty-four: call your insurance carrier
Open a claim directly with your insurance company, not through a contractor. You want the claim in your name, on your timeline, with your documentation. The carrier will assign an adjuster and give you a claim number — write it down.
Do not, under any circumstances, sign anything a contractor puts in front of you before the adjuster has been out. Specifically, watch for any document labeled 'assignment of benefits' or 'AOB.' That single signature transfers your right to negotiate the claim to the contractor, and homeowners across the country have lost tens of thousands of dollars to AOB schemes after big storm events.
When you bring in a local roofer
A real hail inspection takes about an hour. The roofer should be on every slope, photographing test squares (typically a 10x10 area marked with chalk), counting impacts per square, checking flashings, soft metals, the ventilation, and the condition of the underlayment at any lifted areas. You should receive a written report with the photos — not a verbal 'yep, it's totaled.'
If someone tells you the roof is totaled from the driveway, that's a sales pitch, not an inspection. The same goes for anyone who offers to 'waive your deductible,' 'eat the deductible,' or otherwise make the deductible disappear. That's insurance fraud in Montana, and it puts your claim at risk.
When the adjuster shows up
Have your roofer there at the same time if you can. The two of them will walk the roof together, compare findings, and the adjuster will issue a scope of work and a payment schedule. If the scope is missing items the roofer documented, you have the right to request a supplement — that's normal and not adversarial.
The longer game
Hail claims in Montana have a statute of limitations (currently one year from the date of loss for most policies — check yours). Don't feel rushed into a same-week decision, but don't sit on the documentation for a year either. A reputable local roofer will walk you through the process at your pace, with no pressure to sign before the claim is settled.