The first 48 hours
It is 9:30 pm, the storm has passed, and you are googling with a flashlight in your hand. Here is the whole night, in order. The short version: photograph, then protect, then report, then stop.
1. Make sure the house is safe to be in
Downed lines, gas smell, sagging ceilings, or standing water near outlets mean you leave and call the utility or 911. No claim step matters more than not getting hurt. If the house is safe, keep everyone away from rooms with ceiling bulges; hail-driven water pools above drywall.
2. Photograph everything before you touch anything
Wide shots of each side of the house, then closer shots of each damaged area, then close-ups. Roof from the ground or a window (do not climb tonight), siding dents, broken glass, fallen branches, hailstones next to a tape measure or a coin, interior water stains, and the vehicles. Phone timestamps and location data are your friends; do not delete the blurry ones. You cannot have too many.
3. Then, and only then, cover what is open
Your policy requires reasonable steps to prevent further damage: the duty to mitigate. Tarp roof openings if it is safe from a ladder, board or plastic broken windows, and move furniture and electronics away from active leaks. If a tree is on the roof or the pitch is steep, an emergency tarping service is a covered mitigation expense on most policies; get the receipt.
4. Save every receipt from tonight forward
Tarps, plywood, a generator run, a hotel if the house is not livable, meals if displacement is real. Reasonable emergency costs are typically reimbursable under the claim; unreceipted ones are not. One envelope or one photo album in your phone, labeled with the storm date.
5. Report the claim, briefly and factually
Call your insurer or use the app: date of storm, what was hit, whether the house is livable. Do not guess at causes, do not estimate dollar amounts, and do not speculate about pre-existing wear. Answer what is asked. You are starting a file, not giving a deposition.
6. Sign nothing tonight, and nothing this week
Anyone knocking within days of a hail event is selling something: often an assignment of benefits dressed up as a free inspection. You do not need a contractor to file a claim, and you lose nothing by waiting until the adjuster has been out. The one exception is a plain emergency-tarping invoice for work actually done tonight.
What sells out by morning
A hail swath empties every hardware store in it within a day or two, tarps and generators first. If a local store has stock tonight, go get it. If not, ordering tonight for next-day delivery beats the morning rush.
Heavy-duty tarp, oversize
Your policy requires reasonable steps to prevent further damage, and a tarp over a roof opening or broken window is the textbook example. Hardware stores in a hail-hit area often sell through tarps in a day.
Photograph the damage before anything is covered.
Furring strips and cap nails for the tarp
A tarp that blows off in the next front is a second claim. Wood strips nailed through the tarp edge hold in wind the way bricks and bungees do not.
Portable generator
If the storm took the power, the fridge, the sump pump, and phone charging all become problems inside a day. Generators are the first thing to sell out regionally.
Run it outdoors only, far from windows. Carbon monoxide kills more people after storms than the storms do.
Moisture meter
Water finds paths you cannot see. A $30 meter documents wet ceilings and walls with readings the adjuster cannot wave off, and tells you if drying is working.
Dehumidifier
Interior water damage grows mold in about 48 hours. Drying fast both protects your home and honors the mitigation duty your policy imposes.
Work gloves, contractor bags, headlamp
Glass, hail-shredded shingles, and downed branches, often cleaned up in the dark. The unglamorous kit nobody thinks to own until tonight.
Phone tripod with remote
Steady, timestamped, wide-then-close photo documentation is the spine of your claim file. A tripod makes the before-tarp photos systematic instead of frantic.
As an Amazon Associate, Hail Claim Playbook earns from qualifying purchases made through product links on this page. That does not change the price you pay. Buy locally if a store nearby has stock tonight; the links exist because supplies sell out fast in a hail-hit area.
Tomorrow, when the adrenaline is gone: how the claim actually works, and before anyone with a clipboard shows up, the contractor red flags. The print version of the whole process, with the letters and worksheets, is the Playbook.