Find a roofer
After hail, the roofer you pick matters as much as the claim you file. The inspection is how damage gets documented, the written estimate is what the adjuster negotiates against, and the contract is where homeowners get hurt. Here is how to get all three right, starting with a free inspection.
Get the roof inspected, free
Radar cannot confirm what hit your shingles; an inspection can, and it costs you nothing. Angi matches you with licensed local roofers who inspect for free and bid the work. Know how it works going in: the roofers pay Angi for the introduction, you pay nothing, and more than one company may call. That is the useful part: multiple written estimates are exactly what you want in hand before an adjuster visit or a contract.
Find licensed roofers near you on AngiReferral disclosure: this site may earn a fee if you request quotes through this link. That does not change what you pay, and no contractor pays to be described a certain way here.
Before you sign anything, read the contractor red flags: assignment-of-benefits traps, deductible games, and storm-chaser tells.
In Minnesota
Minnesota homeowners have a second option through our sister site, which works differently from a matching service: one request goes to one licensed contractor, not a call list.
Get the roof inspected, free
Radar cannot confirm what hit your shingles; an inspection can, and it costs you nothing. For Minnesota properties, our sister site MN Hail Buddy passes your request to exactly one licensed Minnesota contractor: one company, never a blast list, and your information is not sold to anyone else.
Request a free Minnesota inspectionMN Hail Buddy is part of the same network as this site. The contractor pays for the introduction; you pay nothing.
Before you sign anything, read the contractor red flags: assignment-of-benefits traps, deductible games, and storm-chaser tells.
Why the inspection is free
Roofers inspect for free because inspections are how they win jobs, the same way a plumber quotes for free. That is not a scam; it is the business model, and it works in your favor if you use it correctly: get two or three inspections, not one, and you leave with independent documentation of the damage and competing written estimates before anyone asks you to sign anything.
What a real estimate contains
- Line items with quantities: squares of shingles, linear feet of drip edge, vents, flashing, underlayment. A one-line "roof replacement" number is not an estimate.
- The manufacturer and product being installed, not just "architectural shingles."
- Whether it includes code-required items your policy may owe for, like ice and water barrier or decking replacement.
- The contractor's license number where your state requires one, and a certificate of liability and workers' compensation insurance on request. A roofer without workers' comp coverage is your liability the moment someone falls off your roof.
What not to sign
Nothing, the day of the knock. Not an "inspection authorization" with contract language buried in it, not an assignment of benefits, and never an offer to "cover your deductible," which is insurance fraud with your name on the claim. The full list, with the exact wording these documents use, is in the contractor red flags guide.
Order of operations with the insurance claim
- Confirm hail actually hit your address with the free radar lookup.
- Get inspections and written estimates before or alongside the adjuster visit, so the adjuster's scope has something to be measured against.
- Report the claim and walk the adjuster meeting with your documentation in hand; the claim guide covers what happens at each step.
- Sign a contract only after the scope and price are settled, and read it against the red flags first.