Hail rarely looks
like damage.
Storm and hail work across Pulaski County — documented properly, and we are on the roof with your adjuster so the write-up matches what is actually there.
- Job
- Storm, wind and hail damage — residential
- Hail season
- March–April, secondary June–July
- Wind season
- May–July, separately from hail
- Reporting window
- 365 days typical · 24 months absolute
Pulaski County records from the NOAA Storm Events Database, 2015–2024. The EF3 that struck Little Rock and North Little Rock on 31 March 2023 was surveyed by the National Weather Service at winds up to 165 mph.
Hail and wind leave different signatures.
| Hail | Wind | |
|---|---|---|
| Season here | March–April, again June–July | May–July |
| Pattern | Scattered across all slopes, random | Directional — one or two slopes, along edges |
| On the shingle | Bruised mat, granules knocked loose | Lifted, creased or missing shingles |
| First tell | Dimpled gutter aprons, vent caps, downspouts | Debris in the yard, a lifted run along a rake |
| Visible from the ground | Usually not, for months | Usually yes |
| Urgency | Document before the reporting window closes | Cover it now, then document |
What Arkansas actually allows — and what it does not.
The rules changed recently and most homeowners have not been told. None of this is advice about your policy; it is what the state has published.
Your roof’s age can change the payout
Bulletin 17-2023 permits insurers to apply a mandatory roof schedule endorsement once a roof reaches seven years old, settling wind and hail claims at actual cash value — the depreciated figure — rather than replacement cost. It also permits a separate mandatory wind and hail deductible, distinct from your all-perils one. Both must be disclosed to you. Your declarations page is where to check.
Nobody may negotiate your claim
Arkansas does not license public adjusters, which means no roofing contractor in this state may negotiate or settle a claim for you. A contractor may inspect, form and state an opinion that damage is storm-related, give you an estimate, and attend the adjuster’s inspection. Anything beyond that is not on offer here, from us or anyone else — regardless of what a door-knocker tells you.
We do not absorb, discount or rebate deductibles. Absorbing one means inflating the invoice sent to your carrier, which is fraud and voids your policy — you would be the one carrying that, not the contractor who offered it.
Storm damage questions we get asked.
The Arkansas Insurance Department takes the position that a 365-day reporting requirement is reasonable, but that insurers must recognise a good-cause exception where a homeowner could not reasonably have spotted the damage in time. It also considers a claim reported more than 24 months after the loss to be reasonably denied. That is Bulletin 19A-2020. In short: a year is the working window, there is room to argue past it with a reason, and two years is the wall.
Arkansas law says a policy cannot be cancelled, nor the premium raised, solely because of claims that resulted in no loss to the insurer. That is Ark. Code Ann. § 23-63-110. It does not mean claims are free of consequence, and it does not stop market-wide increases — Arkansas insurers have been running heavy losses on wind and hail and rates have moved accordingly. It does mean an inspection that finds nothing is not a claim.
No, and neither can anyone else in this state. Arkansas does not license public adjusters at all, so no contractor here may negotiate or settle a claim on your behalf. What we can do is inspect, document the damage properly, give you a written estimate you submit, and be on the roof with your adjuster so what gets written up matches what is up there. Anyone promising to handle your claim is describing something Arkansas does not permit.
Not on the spot. The Arkansas Attorney General's post-storm guidance is to get more than one estimate, never sign a contract with blanks to be filled in later, and never let a contractor discourage you from contacting your own insurer. There is also a specific Arkansas protection worth knowing: under Ark. Code Ann. § 4-88-904 a contractor may not start work until your three-business-day cancellation right has expired after your insurer notifies you in writing that part of the claim is not covered.
Arkansas Insurance Department Rule 43 requires an insurer to complete a claim investigation within 45 calendar days, or write to you with the specific reason it cannot. Bulletin 20-2024 explicitly says "still investigating" is not a good enough reason and counts as failing to send the letter at all. Once you submit properly executed proof of loss, the insurer has 15 working days to accept or deny.
That is normal, and it is the reason hail claims get missed. A hail strike bruises the shingle mat under the granules without breaking the surface — the granules wash off over the seasons that follow and the roof ages years early. Check soft metal first: dimpled gutter aprons, vent caps and downspouts mean the shingles took the same strikes.
Get the storm damage documented.
A description is enough to start. If it is a leak, say roughly where it shows up inside — that narrows it down faster than a photo does.