· by Michael Blair, Nashville's Roofers
After a hailstorm comes through Middle Tennessee, the knocks on the door tend to follow, and the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance’s disaster recovery brochure warns homeowners to be wary of contractors selling repairs door-to-door, especially those who want payment upfront or offer deep discounts. Before anyone climbs your roof, check who they are, which our post on licensed and insured roofers in Tennessee walks through. Then know what an adjuster is actually looking for, because that is what separates a claim that holds up from one that does not.
What does hail actually leave on a shingle?
A hail bruise on an asphalt shingle is a soft spot you can feel when you press on it, and IBHS’s guide to identifying hail damage names that bruising, along with a random pattern of impact marks, as the signs to look for. Press one and it gives, a little like a bruise on fruit. IBHS’s work on the impact resistance of asphalt shingles began with field observation of hailstones fracturing, denting and tearing shingles, and its guide singles out ridge caps as especially vulnerable, so we always check the ridge.
The pattern is random. IBHS puts uniform wear or discoloration, and marks left by installation or tools, on the not-hail side of its list, so damage laid out in neat rows or repeated evenly across the whole roof points somewhere else. Wind changes where the hits land: NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory notes that strong surface winds can drive hail in at an angle or nearly sideways, so we never judge a roof from one slope.
What gets mistaken for hail damage?
Plenty of granule loss has nothing to do with a storm. IBHS says loose granules on their own do not mean hail damage, and it lists granules knocked off by heavy rain and manufacturer defects among the non-hail causes. Blisters, small raised bubbles that pop and leave a bare spot, get mistaken for hail too, and we sort them out on the roof before anyone calls an insurer.
Ordinary aging is the bigger look-alike. The IBHS guide counts granule loss along the shingle edges as normal natural weathering, not storm damage. Foot traffic and dropped tools leave scrapes, where a hailstone leaves a dent you can press.
- Hail: random impact marks, soft bruises you can feel, dents or spatter on soft metal nearby
- Heavy rain: loose granules in the gutter with no impact marks on the shingles
- Blisters: raised bubbles that pop, not impacts
- Weathering: even wear or discoloration, granules gone along the edges
- Foot traffic and tools: scrapes and scuffs, no soft spot
Check the soft metal first
The quickest confirmation is not on the shingles. IBHS tells homeowners to look for spatter marks or impact dents on air conditioner units, gutters, metal flashing, downspouts and even patio furniture, because that collateral damage confirms a hail event occurred. We walk the gutters and flashing and the condenser before we ever set a ladder.
Dents or spatter on the condenser and the gutter faces, alongside soft spots on the shingles, make a strong case, and that pairing is the evidence our storm damage inspections document for the insurer. Shingle marks with untouched metal everywhere else make us look harder at age, blisters and foot traffic before we call it hail, though clean metal alone does not rule hail out.
How to handle the claim
Put a date on the storm. NOAA’s Storm Events Database lets you look up hail reported in your county by date, and the Storm Prediction Center’s report archive holds hail reports going back to 1955. Those are reports near you rather than proof that hail struck your roof, but a date of loss is what every claim is built around.
Then move quickly. The state’s brochure says to file as soon as possible after a disaster, to make the repairs needed to prevent further damage, and to leave the permanent fix alone until the company has looked at the damage and you both agree on a price. A claim that is paid, denied, or only opened as a file is reported to your CLUE record, which the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance’s CLUE page says generally holds up to seven years of claims, whereas a phone call that only asks what your policy covers, or what your deductible is, should not be. Get an honest look from a roofer within days of the storm, early enough that it does not hold up the filing. What happens when the adjuster comes out is in our post on meeting the adjuster on the roof, and once you have a storm date in hand, book a free estimate with us.
Sources
- IBHS, Is It Hail Damage? (2025) — Bruising as soft spots; random pattern of impact marks; ridge caps vulnerable; collateral spatter or dents on A/C units, gutters, flashing, downspouts; granule loss alone not hail; edge granule loss from weathering, heavy rain, manufacturer defects, uniform wear, installation and tool marks are not hail
- IBHS, Relative Impact Resistance of Asphalt Shingles — Field observation of hailstones fracturing, denting and tearing shingles
- NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory, Severe Weather 101: Hail Basics — Strong surface winds can drive hail at an angle or nearly sideways
- NOAA NCEI, Storm Events Database — County storm reports for dating a hail event
- NOAA Storm Prediction Center, Severe weather reports archive — Hail reports available since 1955
- Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance, Consumer Resources After a Disaster (2022) — Wary of door-to-door contractors; file as soon as possible; policy notice time frame; no permanent repairs before the insurer inspects; do not sign under pressure; more than one bid; verify license; no more than a third upfront
- Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance, C.L.U.E. (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) — Paid, opened and denied claims are reported; up to seven years; coverage questions not reported; claims history sets coverage and price; Tennessee bars premium increase or cancellation solely on inquiries
FAQ
Telling Hail Damage From Ordinary Roof Wear — questions
How long do I have to file a hail claim in Tennessee?
The deadline is in your own policy, so check its notice requirements first. The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance says a policy may require you to report within a certain time frame and advises filing as soon as possible after a disaster. In our experience the longer a roof weathers after a storm, the harder storm marks and age are to tell apart, so report within weeks, not seasons.
Should I let a door-knocking roofer inspect after a storm?
A second opinion is useful, but be careful what you sign. The state’s consumer guidance says not to let anyone pressure you into signing without time to review it, to get more than one bid, to verify the contractor’s license with the state, and generally not to pay more than a third of the cost upfront. Read anything presented as an authorization to inspect, and never sign a contingency agreement you have not read.
Does a hail claim raise my premium?
It can. The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance explains that insurers use your claims history, and the claims history of the property itself, to decide whether to offer coverage and how much to charge, and its explanation makes no exception for hail. Asking questions is treated differently: state law keeps a homeowner’s insurer from raising the premium or canceling the policy based solely on inquiries such as a coverage question. That is a reason to be sure the damage is real before filing, not a reason to sit on legitimate damage.
How can I find out when it hailed in my area?
Look it up in NOAA’s Storm Events Database, which lists hail reported by county and date, or in the Storm Prediction Center’s report archive, which goes back to 1955. The reports show hail near you, not proof it hit your roof, though every claim is built around a date of loss.