Hail hits somewhere in NWA most summers. Here’s the order of operations that protects you.
Hour 1: Safety first. Stay off the roof. Check from the ground with binoculars, dented vents, gutters, and flashing; lifted or bruised shingles.
Day 1: Document everything. Phone photos of hail on the ground (with something for scale), every dent, every window screen. Date-stamped photos are your leverage.
Day 1-2: Call YOUR insurance company before any contractor "handles the claim for you." You choose the contractor, not the other way around.
Day 2 and beyond: Get two or three bids from contractors you can verify. Local address, local references, current license, the free lookups are at labor.arkansas.gov and healthy.arkansas.gov.
Red flags, all of them: pressure to sign "to hold your spot," offers to "eat your deductible" (that's insurance fraud), no license number, out-of-state plates right after a storm.
The bottom line: real damage doesn't expire in a weekend. Anyone rushing you is selling something.
The Trade Guide Team