Storm Damage
Hail Damage and Insurance Claims
Hail damage is frequently an insurance claim rather than an out-of-pocket repair. What matters is documenting it properly before anything is touched.
Does insurance cover garage door hail damage?
Photograph the door in good light, straight on and at a low angle. Dents in sheet steel are hard to see in a photograph taken flat, and much clearer when raking light catches them. Take both.
Note the date of the storm. Do not have anything repaired before the adjuster has seen it, because once it is fixed the evidence is gone and the claim becomes far harder to support.
What adjusters look at
If your insurer and your adjuster disagree with each other, Texas has a regulator for exactly that: the Texas Department of Insurance handles complaints and publishes plain-language guides on how residential claims are supposed to work.
- Number and depth of impacts across each section, not just the worst one.
- Whether the damage is functional or cosmetic. A section that binds in the track is functional damage and a stronger claim.
- Whether the panel is still manufactured. If it is not, the argument moves toward replacing the whole door.
- Matching. A new section on a sun-faded Lubbock door will not match, which can support full replacement depending on your policy wording.
- Collateral damage to track, rollers and opener caused by the deformed section.
When a dent stops being cosmetic
A deformed section does not ride the track squarely. It binds, drags on the rollers, and makes the opener work against resistance every cycle. That progression from cosmetic to functional is worth documenting, because it strengthens the claim and it is also the reason not to leave it.
What we can do
We can put in writing what we find: which sections are affected, whether the panels are still available, whether the damage is affecting operation, and what the repair or replacement involves. Adjusters generally want that in a document rather than a conversation.
What we cannot do is tell you whether your policy will pay. That is between you and your insurer, and it depends on your deductible and your wording.
Questions we get asked
Should I file a claim for a few dents?
Weigh the repair cost against your deductible. If the repair is close to or below the deductible, a claim may not be worth it. We will give you a figure so you can decide.
How long do I have to file?
Policies vary and some have tight windows after a storm. Check your wording, and do not leave it months.
Will my premium go up?
That is a question for your insurer, not us. We will not pretend to know.
Can you deal with the adjuster directly?
We can provide documentation and talk them through what we found. The claim itself stays yours.
Get it fixed today
Took hail? Photograph it first, then call and we will document what we find.