What to Do in the First 48 Hours After Hail Damage

After a big storm rolls through DFW, your phone won't stop ringing. The neighbors are texting. There's a contractor in your driveway. Everyone has an opinion about what you should do next.

Most of that advice is wrong, or at best too early.

Here's what actually matters in the first 48 hours.

1. Document everything before you touch anything

Walk your property. Roof, gutters, fence, AC unit, windows, siding. Photograph every piece of damage you can see. Close-ups and wide shots both. Don't edit the photos in a way that strips metadata — the timestamp matters.

If you can safely look at the roof, look at the roof. If not, stay on the ground and let a contractor go up first.

This is your baseline record. Adjusters work fast and they miss things. Your photos capture the scene before anybody walks on it or touches it.

2. Don't file yet

This sounds wrong. It's not.

Before you file, you need to know the full scope of what was damaged. File a claim that closes at $4,000 when the real number was $22,000, and reopening it is an uphill fight. Sometimes impossible.

Get an independent inspection first, from a contractor you trust. Not the guy who knocked on your door twenty minutes after the storm. Somebody local who'll put their assessment in writing and stand next to you at the adjuster meeting.

Once you know what's actually damaged, then you file.

3. Mitigate, and keep every receipt

Your policy requires you to prevent further damage. If there's a hole in the roof, tarping isn't optional. It's your obligation, and blowing it off can give the carrier a reason to deny the interior damage that follows.

Keep receipts for anything you spend on emergency mitigation. That's almost always reimbursable.

4. Watch out for the chasers

After every big storm, out-of-state crews flood DFW. They're not local, they aren't operating as a Texas business with local insurance, and they'll be gone before any warranty issue ever comes up.

Ask for proof of insurance — liability and workers' comp. Ask for a physical address — not a PO box, not a hotel. A legitimate local contractor will have both.

5. Pick your contractor before your adjuster appointment

This is the single biggest decision you'll make.

Your insurance adjuster works for the insurance company. Most adjusters are reasonable people doing a hard job, but their incentives don't perfectly line up with yours. A contractor in the meeting can spot damage the adjuster misses, push back on short line items in real time, and make sure the scope matches the actual damage.

Once you've signed a contingency, your contractor gets to work documenting damage and preparing to attend the adjuster meeting. No money out of your pocket until the claim is approved.

What a contingency actually is

A contingency agreement isn't giving up your rights. It's an agreement that if the contractor gets your claim approved, they do the work. You pay your deductible. That's it.

It protects you because a contractor on contingency is motivated to get the full scope approved, not close the claim fast.

It protects the contractor because they're putting real hours into meetings and supplements. Without it, a homeowner could use all that work to build a claim and then sign with the cheapest bid on the street.

Sign it before the adjuster meeting. Not after.

The timeline that works

• Day 1. Document everything. Call a trusted local contractor
• Day 2. Get an independent inspection. Review the full scope
• Day 3. Sign a contingency. Start the claim process yourself
• Week 2. Adjuster meeting with your contractor on site
• Weeks 3–4. Supplement review, approval, schedule the work

Follow that and you maximize coverage and minimize surprises.