Reading an Indiana Hail Damage Insurance Estimate, Slope by Slope

A hail estimate on an Indiana roof is a series of decisions made one face at a time, and a face recorded as undamaged, or a dented gutter run left off the page, generally isn't in the check at all. The total on the last page is built from those decisions. Reading the estimate the way it was built, face by face and then around the house, shows which ones set your number.

If you're in Lafayette, Kokomo, or Muncie, or out in the counties around them, and your estimate replaces the west slope, repairs a few shingles on the north, and says nothing about the gutters, each of those lines is a judgment about one part of your house. The question is what each one rested on: which faces were tested, what was counted on them, and which pieces of metal anyone looked at.

This article walks through how a hail estimate is built from the roof diagram and the test squares, the metal it can leave out, where a cosmetic damage exclusion comes in, the questions owners commonly put to the adjuster, and how Indiana law treats a disputed count. Our Carmel office represents Indiana property owners, not insurers. Every policy is different, every claim turns on its own facts.

How a Hail Damage Insurance Claim Estimate Is Built, Slope by Slope

Find the roof diagram first: the estimate's own sketch, or an attached measurement report that labels each face with its area and pitch and lists the ridges, hips, valleys, and eaves. If none came with your estimate, ask for it in writing. Then mark each face one of three ways: replaced, repaired a few shingles at a time, or not on the estimate at all. Look at the third group first, because a face without a line is generally a face without a payment.

Many adjusters decide each face from a test square, a marked area 10 feet by 10 feet in which they count the hail hits; inspection guidance puts one on each slope, where damage is concentrated and away from overhanging branches. Roofing inspection guidance counts a fractured or punctured shingle as a hit and generally doesn't count granule loss alone. Where the adjuster used one, each face's line on your estimate, or the absence of one, generally rests on that count.

When wind drives the hail, the faces turned toward the storm take more of it, and a test square samples a face rather than measuring it. A face marked undamaged on the strength of one square is the kind of decision the photographs can test. Sorting the estimate face by face also sorts the gap between it and your roofer's bid: a face the bid replaces and the estimate repairs, or a gutter run the bid includes and the estimate omits, is usually a difference in scope before it is one of price, and that kind of gap generally turns on counts and photographs rather than a price list.

The Metals and Accessories a Hail Estimate Can Leave Out

Hail that leaves a shingle whole can still dent aluminum. Gutters and downspouts, roof vents and flashing, aluminum cladding on window and door trim, screens, dryer vents, garage door panels, and the fins on an air-conditioning condenser all take hail, and inspection guidance treats the walk around the house as its own part of the inspection. Each item is priced apart from the roof, so an estimate with a full roof section and nothing on the elevations is one to read beside your own photographs.

Your gutters are also evidence. A hail dent in an aluminum gutter is generally smaller than the stone that made it, and spatter marks can show which way the hail came. An adjuster who sets a dent aside as something other than hail may be reading marks like a dent pushed in from below or two scrapes where a ladder stood, so photograph each dent with a coin or a tape measure beside it, elevation by elevation, before the gutters are replaced or the condenser is serviced, and keep the dated files.

Cosmetic Damage Exclusions and Metal Roofs

A metal roof can carry dents across its panels and still shed water, which is the case a cosmetic damage exclusion is written for: it is written to take out coverage for wind or hail damage that changes how a surface looks while the surface still keeps out the weather. Versions differ in reach. Some name roof surfacing only, others extend to exterior walls, doors, and windows, and one sample homeowners version names exposed metal such as gutters, downspouts, and vents.

That gives your estimate two questions. The first is whether the endorsement is on your policy: it is generally listed among the forms on the declarations page, and if the form itself isn't in your policy packet, request it in writing, because the wording decides what it touches. The second is which lines the adjuster set aside as cosmetic, and whether the wording names each one. Damage that lets the weather in generally falls outside the exclusion by its own terms, so on a dented panel or a split gutter seam the question is whether that surface still keeps water out, which the photographs can help show.

Written Questions for the Adjuster

None of these argues with the estimate; each asks the carrier to show the record behind a line. Owners commonly send them together in one short letter or email, with the claim number on it.

1. Which faces were inspected on the roof, and which from the ground or from images? A decision made on the roof and one made from a photograph rest on different records.
2. Where was the test square on each face, and what was the count? The photographs show whether a face had a square at all, and whether it sat on open roof or in the shelter of a tree.
3. What count moved a face to replacement, and where does that number come from? Asking which guideline was applied, and whether the roof's age entered into it, puts the standard behind each face in writing.
4. Which marks were set aside as something other than hail, and why? Granule loss on its own is commonly set aside. A list of what was excluded on each face, with the reason, shows where the line was drawn.
5. Were the gutters and the rest of the metal around the house inspected? If they were and aren't on the estimate, a written reason for each item is worth having. If they weren't, your dated photographs go with the question.
6. What storm date does the estimate assume? Damage on opposite-facing slopes can point to more than one storm, so the date of loss on the estimate shapes which marks are counted as this storm's.

What Indiana Law Adds When the Count Is Disputed

Indiana law, so far as our research shows, doesn't set the count; what it reaches is how the claim is handled. Our Indiana recorded-statement guide covers the good-faith duty Indiana courts recognize. In an estimate dispute, courts have generally treated an honest disagreement over amount as a contract question rather than bad faith, while the conduct they have described as bad faith includes an unfounded refusal to pay and an unfounded delay in paying. On a disputed count, the correspondence is where that difference generally shows: what was asked, what was answered, and when.

Among the unfair claim settlement practices Indiana's insurance code names is failing to promptly explain the policy basis for denying a claim or for offering a compromise settlement. Whether an estimate that leaves a face or a gutter run off is that kind of offer is a question for counsel. A written question about each omitted item asks for the explanation either way, and the answer, or the lack of one, becomes part of your file.

At least one federal appeals decision applying Indiana law has treated how much hail damage a roof sustained as a question for an appraisal panel, with coverage questions left to the court. On a disputed count, the test-square and elevation photographs are the kind of record an appraisal panel would generally weigh.

How Property People Law Approaches Indiana Hail Estimates

We mark each face on the roof diagram as replaced, repaired, or left off, then match each decision to the test-square photographs behind it and to your roofer's measurements. We read the elevation lines the same way, setting the dented metal against your dated photographs. If the policy carries a cosmetic damage exclusion, we read its text against each line the adjuster set aside under it.

That shows which faces and items the estimate didn't reach, which it reached on a thin record, and which it left out for a reason the policy supports. Where the record supports more, we put the missing faces and items to the carrier in writing, each with its photographs, and if the revised estimate still leaves them out, we lay out with you what appraisal or a lawsuit would involve.

Our IN residential and commercial property work is generally on contingency — we only get paid from the recovery, not your pocket. Past results in other cases don't guarantee outcomes in any new matter, and every claim turns on its own facts.