Hail damage roof repair and insurance claims in Fort Collins

What hail does to a Fort Collins roof

Hail damage roof repair Fort Collins homeowners need after a storm sorts into a few kinds, and only some of them are a claim.

Bruises. A hailstone of an inch or more hits an asphalt shingle, knocks the granules loose in a circle, and fractures the fiberglass mat underneath. From the ground you see nothing. Up close there's a soft, dark spot that gives under your thumb. A bruised shingle will leak in two to four years as the exposed asphalt weathers. This is the damage that totals a roof, and an adjuster counts it in a 10-by-10 test square per slope — typically eight or more hits in a square is a replacement for that slope.

Cracked and split shingles. Larger hail, or smaller hail on an old brittle roof. Obvious, and urgent if the crack goes through.

Soft metals. Dented gutters, downspouts, roof vents, flashing and the fins on the AC condenser. These don't leak, but they are how an adjuster confirms hail fell on your house, and they're covered.

Granule loss without bruising. Small hail on an aging roof strips loose granules but doesn't break the mat. Insurers usually call this wear. If a roofer tells you it's a total loss, get a second opinion.

Wind damage in the same storm. The gust front ahead of a hail cell lifts and creases shingles on the windward slope. Storm damage roof repair Fort Collins claims often include both.

The first week after a storm

1. Stay off the roof. Bruises can't be seen from a ladder anyway, and wet shingles on a two-story are dangerous.
2. Photograph the ground-level evidence — dented gutters, hail on the lawn with a tape measure, screens and siding hits, damage to the car. Time-stamp them.
3. Call us for an inspection. We walk every slope, chalk a test square, photograph every hit, and tell you whether it's a claim. If it isn't, we say so.
4. Then call your insurer, with the photos and our report. Ask for the claim number and the adjuster's name.
5. Don't sign anything on your doorstep. More on that below.

Our storm damage checklist walks through the morning after in more detail.

How a Colorado hail claim works

Your policy pays to replace hail-damaged slopes at replacement cost minus your deductible, or — increasingly on roofs over 15 years — at actual cash value, which subtracts depreciation. Many Colorado policies now carry a separate wind-and-hail deductible of 1–2 percent of the dwelling coverage, so on a $500,000 house that's $5,000–$10,000. Read your declarations page before you assume a claim makes sense.

What we do: measure and photograph the damage from the roof, chalk the test squares so the adjuster sees what we saw, and write a line-item scope. We meet the adjuster on the roof if you want us there. If the adjuster's estimate misses a slope or leaves out the ice-and-water shield code requires, we document it and you request a re-inspection. That happens more than you'd think.

An insurance claim roof replacement Fort Collins homeowners get from us is the same roof we'd install for cash — same shingles, same underlayment, same permit and inspection. The claim doesn't change the workmanship.

Colorado's roofing law and your deductible

Colorado passed the Residential Roofing Bill of Rights in 2012 (Senate Bill 12-038, now C.R.S. 6-22-101 and following). It says a roofer:

• Cannot pay, waive, rebate or absorb your deductible, in any form — no "free roof," no discount that happens to equal the deductible, no fake upgrade invoice.
• Must give you a written contract with the scope, the price, the approximate start and completion dates, and the roofer's contact information, and must state in writing that they carry liability insurance.
• Must let you cancel within 72 hours of being told by your insurer that the claim is denied in whole or in part, and must refund any deposit within ten days.
• Cannot represent you to your insurer as a public adjuster would, unless separately licensed to do so.

A roofer offering to "take care of" your deductible is telling you they plan to inflate the invoice, and if your insurer finds out, the claim can be denied and you can be left holding the whole cost. We've seen it happen on Harmony Road. Walk away.

Storm chasers

Within 48 hours of any big hailstorm, out-of-state crews with fresh magnetic signs work the neighborhoods off Harmony, Horsetooth and Timberline door to door. Some are competent. Many aren't licensed by the city, will not be here when the roof leaks in 2029, and make their money on volume and deductible games. Red flags:

• A contingency agreement or assignment of benefits to sign before an inspection
• No City of Fort Collins contractor license number they can show you
• A PO box or a hotel as the business address
• Pressure to sign today because "the adjusters are booking up"
• An offer to handle the deductible

Before you sign, read our post on questions to ask a Fort Collins roofing contractor. Any company that has been through a few Larimer County hail seasons has a local address, a city license and a phone number that still works in the off-season.

After the claim

If the roof is 18 years old and the insurer pays for two slopes, we'll tell you honestly whether it makes sense to put the payout toward a full replacement with Class 4 shingles so the next storm is a non-event. Often it does.