Baseball Sized Hail | Courtesy of KPRC-2
For the second time in one week, assessing weather-related property damage from the extreme weather that moved through Southeast Texas last night will keep insurance adjusters busy today as baseball and softball sized hail fell in parts of Houston and Hitchcock, Texas. Reports of hail sizes from golf ball to softball sized hail doing major damage in Hitchcock, Texas, just north of Galveston. One of the area’s Police Department’s building suffered many broken windows as this extreme storm blew through with winds in excess of 40mph.
Insurance companies and their insurance adjusters that “know the law” will be moving in to the area later today to look at property damage such as the truck damage, reported by Cat Brandon, in Hitchcock (Galveston County) via KPRC-Channel 2 News. Mr. Brandon reported “tennis ball sized” hail beating his truck for 15-20 minutes. The damage is extreme. With hail clearly destroying this truck, imagine the damage to area roofs, out-buildings, windows and other automobiles, it will be interesting to see how insurance companies handle this. Will they total the truck or will they only pay for “partial damage?”
Hailstorms can be incredible destructive to property but in the way that these storms are limited in where they actually falls, insurance companies can some times take a lot of time decided what the damage “actually came from” and the homeowner is left to PROVE that property damage suffered is actually from the hail that fell.
Roof damage and “roof-lift” reports are starting to roll in from all over the Southwest Houston area including Sugar Land & Rosenberg, Texas. Winds in excess of 45mph blew through the area in a storm that lasted approximately 45 minutes around 10:30pm, reports will dribble in all day today. With roofs not repaired in the area due to continued battles with insurance companies from Hurricane Ike, homeowners will
definitely be contacting their homeowners insurance companies this morning. With the skies still dark at 8:30am, full damage reports will more than likely not be fully reported until later on today as skies clear.
Broken windows on cars, damaged cars, window damage to residential and commercial buildings, and roof damage in this magnitude can bring struggles and fights with your homeowners insurance policy holders as some adjusters can be difficult. Tips in handling accurate reported of weather damage suffered are as followed:
- Take as many pictures (and more) as you feel are need to properly tell the story
- Gather weather reports offered by local news agencies
- Gather news reports of similar damage in the area, especially from neighbors
- Call your insurance company as soon as possible; get on their schedule
If your insurance company is not reporting damage as you see fit, consider calling our Houston, Galveston and Texas City attorneys at Burwell Nebout Trial Lawyers, experts in negotiating with insurance companies. Does a fight with an insurance company usually go to trial? No! Sometimes you just need someone fighting on your side that knows what to say, as well as what NOT to say when discussing matters with the powers to be. Give us a call today – neighborhood attorneys that want you to get the help you need when repairing weather related property damage!
