Hail damage to shingles, or ordinary wear?

The adjuster who inspects your roof is hired and paid by the insurance company.

They stand in the driveway, look up at the slope, and ask a question you have no reason to know the answer to: this looks like wear and tear to me — which of these marks is hail?

That question is the whole claim. Knowing which mark is hail, documenting it, and defending it when the answer is challenged is what a licensed public adjuster does.

Two things worth knowing before you call. Your deductible is yours to pay on any claim, whether or not you have help with it. And the fee for that help is set in writing before any work begins.

This is the most common reason a hail claim on an older roof gets closed short. Age is not a coverage exclusion, and a twenty-year-old roof is as coverable as a five-year-old one. The question is only whether what is on the roof is storm impact or deterioration — and those look different once somebody documents them properly.

Impact is directional. Wear is not.

Hail arrives on a bearing, usually driven by wind, so damage concentrates on the elevations that faced the storm and thins out on the ones that did not. Deterioration behaves the opposite way: it appears evenly across every slope regardless of which direction it faces, and it gets gradually worse everywhere at once.

An inspection report that does not record which elevations are affected has not actually addressed the question, whatever conclusion it reaches.

Metal cannot weather into a dent

Soft metals are the most useful evidence available because they cannot age into the shape hail makes. Gutters, downspouts, vents, flashing, window wraps and condenser fins register strikes that deterioration does not produce.

That is why a competent inspection starts at ground level and works up, and why photographs of dented metal alongside a dated storm report are worth more than an argument about the roof's age.

The age band that draws the argument

Roofs in their late teens and early twenties attract the wear position most often — old enough to show ordinary ageing an adjuster can point at, not old enough to be obviously finished. Whole subdivisions built in one decade hit that band together, which is why the argument arrives street by street rather than house by house.

Age does affect depreciation and how much of the payment is recoverable, which is a separate matter from coverage. Check whether your policy pays replacement cost or actual cash value, because that single term decides how much arrives up front and how much only after the work is done.

Your claim clock

Illinois sets no statutory deadline for filing. The limit is your policy's suit limitation clause, commonly about one year from the date of loss, and your policy's terms control. Under 215 ILCS 5/143.1 that period is suspended between your proof of loss and a formal denial.

Common questions

My roof is twenty years old. Is it too old to claim?

No. Age affects how the argument runs and how depreciation is calculated, not whether you are covered. What matters more is whether your policy pays replacement cost or actual cash value — check your declarations page.

What is the difference between replacement cost and actual cash value?

Actual cash value pays the depreciated value of the roof up front. Replacement cost pays that too, then releases the withheld depreciation once the work is completed and documented. Same claim, very different cash flow, and it is decided by one term on your declarations page.

The adjuster said the granule loss is just age. Is that right?

It might be, and it might not. Granule loss from ageing is diffuse and even; hail knocks granules off in discrete impact points and often fractures the mat underneath. The distinction is visible up close and is not settled from a driveway.

How long do I have to challenge the finding?

Your policy's suit limitation clause governs, typically about a year from the date of loss. If you filed a proof of loss and are awaiting a decision, 215 ILCS 5/143.1 generally suspends the clock during that wait.

Prefer not to call? Text 847-208-8380 or email tom.jtpa@gmail.com

Hail claim help by county: Cook County · DuPage County · Kane County · Lake County · McHenry County · Will County

Start here: Hail damage: start here

Sources: Where these statements come from