Process
How to file a roof claim, in order
A roof claim follows the same stages almost every time. Knowing the order is most of the battle, because the mistakes that cost people money are nearly all mistakes of sequence.
Reporting deadlines: the shape of the rule
Property policies require you to give prompt notice of a loss, and they set time limits on the steps that follow — appraisal, suit, and in some cases the completion of repairs. Those limits are written into your own policy and they differ between carriers and between forms, so the useful instruction is to read yours rather than to trust a number you found online. What is universally true is that waiting hurts you twice: it risks the notice requirement, and it lets the damage age into something that reads as deterioration.
Two Texas deadlines are published rather than policy-specific, and both belong to the state windstorm insurer. TWIA states that you have one year from the storm to file a claim, and that once TWIA has accepted a claim you have 60 days to dispute the amount and demand appraisal. If your wind and hail cover is a TWIA policy, those are the two dates to diary.
Texas law also puts deadlines on the carrier — for acknowledging a claim, for requesting the information it needs, for accepting or rejecting, and for paying once it has accepted. If your claim has gone quiet, that is a specific thing to ask about in writing, and it is one of the things the Texas Department of Insurance takes complaints about. Verified as of September 24, 2026. We re-check these pages quarterly.
The sequence
Work out which policy it is
Roof damage from wind or hail goes to your homeowners policy, or to a separate windstorm policy if your address is on designated coastal territory. Water that rose off the ground goes to a flood policy or nowhere. Getting this wrong wastes the first week of a claim. See windstorm cover and TWIA.
Establish the date of loss
Not the day you noticed the stain. The day the storm happened. Storm Check lists what NOAA recorded near your ZIP code, and recorded storm dates lists the significant days for the whole service area. That turns "sometime last spring" into a specific date you can give your carrier.
Get the roof documented before you report it
An inspection with photographs tells you whether there is a loss worth reporting at all. If the damage is plainly below your deductible — and with a percentage wind and hail deductible that happens more often than people expect — you now know that, and you have not put a claim on your record to find out.
Report the loss yourself
You are the policyholder. Give the date of loss, the peril and what has been found. Write down the claim number, the adjuster’s name and the date. If the carrier asks whether you have had it inspected, say so plainly — there is nothing to hide in having looked.
Meet the adjuster on the roof
The adjuster inspects and writes a scope. Being there with your documentation is useful. Arguing with them is not. After a landfalling storm the adjuster may be an independent contractor carrying a very heavy caseload, which makes preparation matter more. See meeting the adjuster.
Read the scope against the roof
The estimate is a line-item document. Compare it to what is actually up there: the squares, the pitch, the layers, the flashings, the ventilation, the edge metal, and on the coast the windstorm inspection the work will need. Missing line items are the normal reason for a supplement, and supplements are an ordinary part of the process rather than a fight.
Do the work, pay your deductible, release the depreciation
On a replacement-cost policy the first payment is the actual cash value, with recoverable depreciation held back. That balance is paid once the work is completed and invoiced. In Texas an insurer with replacement cost cover may refuse to release that holdback until it has reasonable proof you paid your deductible — a canceled check, a money order receipt, a card statement, or an executed payment plan. Keep that proof. On an actual-cash-value policy there is no second payment at all, which is why knowing which one you have matters before any of this starts.
Where Texas claims go wrong
| Mistake | What happens | Instead |
|---|---|---|
| Reporting a loss you have not looked at | The claim is opened, inspected, and closed below the deductible. The claim is still on your record. | Get it inspected first, then decide. |
| Assuming the deductible is a flat amount | The percentage on the dwelling limit turns out to be several times larger, and the claim was never worth filing. | Work out the real number from your declarations page — see percentage deductibles. |
| Filing the roof and the flooding as one claim | Time lost, and a flood loss reported to a carrier that never covered it. | Separate the perils first. Wind and hail, windstorm, flood. |
| Guessing at the date of loss | The date does not correspond to a recorded event, which makes the cause harder to establish. | Use the recorded storm dates for your ZIP code. |
| Signing a contract at the door before the claim is scoped | You are committed to a contractor before anybody knows what the work is, sometimes through a document described to you as an inspection authorization. | Get the inspection and the scope first. A reputable contractor will not need a signature on the doorstep. |
| Letting the deductible be "handled" | You have misrepresented the loss, you signed it, and it is a criminal offense in Texas for the contractor. | Pay your deductible and keep the proof. |
| Starting a coastal reroof without settling the windstorm inspection | The work is finished and the certificate of compliance was never obtained, which affects the wind cover on the new roof. | Settle it before the tear-off — see windstorm cover and TWIA. |
| Waiting | The notice requirement is at risk and the damage begins to read as gradual deterioration. | Document it now even if you decide not to file. |
The single most useful thing you can do is make the claim easy to verify. A specific date, specific slopes, specific photographs. Nobody has to take anybody’s word for anything.
Need the roof documented before you report a loss?
Request a free inspectionShould I get an estimate before I call the insurer?
Getting the roof inspected and documented first is sensible; it tells you whether there is a claim worth making. A full estimate is often more useful after the adjuster has written a scope, because then the two documents can be compared line for line.
What if I think I have missed the deadline?
Report it anyway and let the carrier decide. Policy wording varies, so does how a late report is handled, and the facts of when you could reasonably have discovered the damage can matter. Do not assume it is hopeless, and do not assume it will be accepted.
Can I choose my own contractor?
Yes. A carrier may have a preferred-vendor program and may recommend it, but the choice of who works on your house is yours. TDI’s own advice after a storm is to use local companies with a verifiable local address, and to get more than one written bid.
What is a supplement?
A request to the carrier for additional payment when the work reveals something the original scope did not include — decking that turns out to be soft, or a flashing detail nobody could see until the old roof came off. It is a normal part of the process.
Do I have to use the money on the roof?
Under replacement cost cover the withheld depreciation is only paid once the work is done and documented, so in practice the second payment depends on the repair actually happening. If there is a mortgage on the house the lender frequently has an interest in the claim proceeds as well, and may be named on the check.
All work is performed by insured local roofing professionals. Texas does not license roofing contractors at state level, so insurance, references and a written scope are what there is to check.