DENVER (KDVR) — A week of hailstorms brought a sobering reminder of what’s to come for severe weather season. The last storm on Thursday took its toll on homes and their siding, windows and roofs.
“We haven’t seen something like this in a number of years,” said Scott Nakayama with North West Roofing.
He and his team were out in Aurora assessing the damage in a neighborhood near Chambers Road.
“We have found extensive damage,” Nakayama said. “They’ve suffered some severe window damage, siding damage, stucco damage, fence damage.”
Just a few blocks away, Hoffman Weber Construction was inspecting the damage of a single-family home that had serious damage to an awning at the roof.
“Since it started hailing again, we’re doing inspections every day,” said Tim Swenson, with Hoffman Weber Construction.
How to reduce insurance claims from hail damage
Hailstorms are something Coloradans have gotten used to every year.
“Hail is our number one insured catastrophe in Colorado, another reminder of that last night, is you need to be doing everything you can to reduce being a risk,” said Carole Walker, executive director of Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association.
Walker said filing too much could lead to being considered a high risk for insurance companies.
“We know that filing a lot of claims over a short period of time can put you at risk for non-renewals,” Walker said.
This is why insurance and roofing companies are suggesting Coloradans look into reroofing with hail-resistant roofs.
“With hail-resistant roofing products, it can replace one entire roof cycle,” Walker said.
This means you may not have to replace your roof as often during hail season.
“The normal shingle might be able to get through two or three smaller hailstorms. That impact-resistant shingle is going to be much more likely to go the long haul and weather it out until you get some of these 2 and a half, 3, 4-inch hail storms,” Swenson said.
Some insurance companies even offer rebates if people invest in these impact-resistant roofs, which means more savings in the long run.
Hail damage? Get an assessment before filing a claim
Another thing to do to keep from over-filing insurance claims is to contact a roofing company to assess the damage.
“Have a reputable contractor go out and inspect your roof to show you and tell you if you’ve got that hail damage prior to filing a claim so you don’t have an unnecessary claim on your record there,” Swenson said.
Many contractors and roofers do this for free and recommend it, especially after a bad storm.
“When we get hail like this, where it’s actually leaving holes in the shingles, possibly the decking underneath, that could immediately result in leaks,” Nakayama said. “When you leave things like this untreated, you’re opening yourself up to a lot of possible further damage, interior repairs and things like that. And all that stuff gets messy. So again, regardless of the size of the hailstorm, big or small, if you got hail at your property, give somebody a call, have them come out, take a look.”
Rachel Saurer
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