Two Storms, One Roof: What Your Insurer Will Ask

A roof that has been hit twice is a harder file than a roof hit once. The first storm may have left a claim that was paid, partly paid, or never filed. The second storm may have left new damage, old damage that was never repaired, or both on the same slope. Before anyone decides what the second claim should cover, the insurer has to sort the two events apart. That sorting is the insurer's job and your job, not the roofer's, and the way it goes depends on dates you can prove.

Why the insurer asks about the earlier damage

Your policy covers direct physical loss from a covered event during the policy period. If a hailstorm in one year dented the shingles and nobody repaired them, a second hailstorm two years later adds to the marks that were already there. An adjuster has to estimate what the second storm did and leave out what the first one did. Insurers call this prior damage, and they will ask about it even when you did not think the first storm mattered.

The question usually comes up in one of three ways. The adjuster may ask whether the roof has been claimed before. The proof of loss form may ask you to list prior losses. Or the adjuster may simply find old granule loss, a cracked tab from an earlier wind event, or a patch that does not match the rest of the roof, and want to know when it happened. Answer the question with dates you can document, and do not guess.

What the first repair left behind

A repair from the earlier storm is often the most useful evidence you have, and also the easiest to lose track of. A roofer who replaced a row of shingles at the eave, sealed a vent, or replaced a pipe boot leaves a record of the work: an invoice, a written scope, sometimes photographs. If that work was done after the first storm, it shows what was damaged then and what was fixed. If the work was never done, the unrepaired damage is still on the roof, and the insurer will want to separate it from the new marks.

Look for three things on the roof itself. First, shingles with a different color, texture or age from the rest of the slope usually mark a repair. Second, nail heads that sit at a different depth or pattern often mean someone has lifted and replaced shingles. Third, sealant around vents, flashing or the chimney base that looks newer than the roof often marks a fix to an earlier leak. None of these prove the date by themselves, but together they tell an adjuster where to look.

Dates and photos that separate the two

The strongest separation comes from a dated photo record taken close to each event. If you have photographs from the day after the first storm, they show the roof before the second storm had a chance to add damage. If you have none, the earliest record may be the first roofing invoice or a weather report for the date of each storm. Weather history for a St. Louis County address can be pulled from public storm reports, and hail size and wind speed are recorded by date and location. Those reports do not measure your roof, but they show whether each event was large enough to cause the kind of damage being claimed.

Freeze and thaw cycles add another layer. Winter in the St. Louis area brings repeated freezing and thawing, and that can open a crack in a shingle that was already weakened. A crack found in February does not automatically date to a hailstorm in August. The inspector has to decide whether the mark looks like fresh impact, like weathering, or like a crack that was there before. Keep your own photos of each season if you can, because they show how the roof looked as the seasons changed.

Ask for the prior claim file

If an earlier claim was filed on your roof, you have the right to ask the insurer what it paid and for which damage. Ask for the claim number, the date of loss, the scope of the earlier payment and the photographs from that file. Some insurers will send a copy on request, and some will only confirm the figures on the phone. Either way, write down the name of the person you spoke with, the date, and what they told you. That written trail matters if the two claims overlap later.

Do not assume the earlier payment was enough to fix the roof. A payment for a partial repair, or a payment that was made but never spent on the roof, is still a payment, and the insurer may treat the damage it covered as already addressed. If you think the earlier claim missed damage, that is a question for your insurer and, if needed, for the claim process your policy sets out. A roofing contractor cannot argue that point for you. Missouri law under RSMo 407.725 bars a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating a homeowner's insurance claim, and from saying anything about paying, waiving or covering a deductible, so the conversation with the insurer stays with you.

What a roofer can put in your hands

A roofing contractor can document what is on the roof now and separate the marks by age and type as far as the physical evidence allows. Keys Roofing documents damage, puts a written scope with photos and measurements in the homeowner's hands, and attends as the contractor while the homeowner deals with their own insurer. If a second storm has come in, that scope should say which marks look fresh, which look weathered, and which show a repair that was already made. It should also say where the scope is uncertain, because an honest scope admits the limits of what can be seen from the roof.

Ask for that written scope before you agree to any repair, and keep the photographs with their dates. If the roof has to be repaired before the claim is settled, photograph the damage before the repair and keep the removed shingles where you can, as long as they are safe to store. Those shingles are often the best evidence of what the storm did.

What to do this week

Collect every document you have from each storm: the claim number, the adjuster's report, any invoice, any written scope, and any photographs with dates. Put them in one folder in date order. Write a short list of the repairs made between the two events, with the month and the name of whoever did the work. Then call your insurer and ask the questions in this guide. If you need a roofer to inspect the roof and write down what is there now, call Keys Roofing at (314) 220-2333 and ask for the written scope with photos and measurements before any work begins.