The roofing part of a storm claim is straightforward. The insurance part is where people get lost, and most of the confusion comes from a handful of terms nobody explains before you need them.
Here is the sequence as it actually runs in Benton and Washington County.
1. Get inspected before you file
This order matters. A claim goes on your record whether it is paid or denied, and filing on a roof that is worn out rather than storm-damaged does not help you.
A contractor's inspection should tell you three things: whether there is storm damage, whether there is enough of it to exceed your deductible, and whether the roof is old enough that the carrier will argue about causation. If the honest answer is "your roof is twenty-two years old and tired, and there is not much of a storm argument here", you want to hear that before you file rather than after.
2. File with your carrier
You file the claim, not the contractor. Be ready with the date of the storm — policies have deadlines measured from the date of loss, and "sometime this spring" is a problem twelve months later.
3. The adjuster inspection
The carrier sends an adjuster to inspect. Your contractor should be there, on the roof, at the same time.
This is not about pressure. It is because two people looking at the same slope should be looking at the same evidence, and because a contractor who has not seen what the adjuster measured cannot sensibly discuss the scope afterwards. The adjuster is measuring the roof, counting hits per test square, and photographing what they find.
This is also where the soft metals earn their keep. Dents in gutters, downspouts, vents and window wraps establish that hail of a damaging size hit the property — which is a much harder fact to argue with than bruising on an old shingle.
4. The scope and the two numbers
You receive a scope of loss: an itemised estimate of what the carrier believes the repair costs. It will contain two figures that confuse almost everyone.
RCV — replacement cost value. What it costs to replace what was damaged, today, with materials of like kind and quality.
ACV — actual cash value. RCV minus depreciation for the age and condition of the roof, and minus your deductible. This is the first cheque.
Recoverable depreciation. On a replacement cost policy, the depreciation withheld from the first payment is released after the work is completed and invoiced. So you receive money in two instalments, and the second only arrives once the job is done.
On an actual cash value policy — often the case for older roofs, sometimes without the homeowner realising the policy was changed at renewal — there is no second payment. The depreciation is not recoverable and it is yours to cover. Worth checking which one you have before you plan the budget.
5. Supplements
Once tear-off begins, things become visible that nobody could see from on top of the shingles: rotted decking, damaged flashing, a second layer that was not in the original scope, code requirements the original estimate missed.
A supplement is a request to the carrier to add those items. It is a normal part of the process, not a dispute. What makes supplements go smoothly is documentation — photographs of the condition, taken at the time, with the item priced against the same schedule the adjuster used. Photographs after the fact are worth much less.
6. The deductible, and the Arkansas rule
Your deductible is yours to pay. It comes out of the first cheque, and no part of the work happens without it being covered.
Arkansas does not permit a contractor to waive, absorb, discount or otherwise "take care of" your deductible. It is treated as an unfair and deceptive practice, and it exposes both the contractor and the homeowner. If a company offers it — and after a significant hail event, some will — that offer is the single most useful thing you will learn about them.
Two more variations worth knowing about. Many Arkansas policies now carry a separate wind and hail deductible, often expressed as a percentage of the dwelling coverage rather than a flat dollar amount. On a $400,000 home a 2% wind/hail deductible is $8,000, which is a very different number from the $1,000 most people have in mind. And some carriers now write roof surfaces payment schedules, which depreciate a roof on a fixed table regardless of its condition. Both are found in the declarations page, and both are much better discovered now than after a storm.
7. The work, and the second payment
The work is done, you are invoiced for the completed scope, and the invoice goes to the carrier. On a replacement cost policy the recoverable depreciation is released against it.
If your mortgage company is named on the cheque — usual on larger claims — it will need endorsing and often released in stages as the work progresses. It adds a week or two, and it surprises people who were not expecting a third party in the middle of the transaction.
What to keep hold of
Photographs from before any work starts. The date of the storm. Your policy declarations page. The adjuster's scope of loss. Every estimate, invoice and supplement. Correspondence in writing rather than by phone where it matters.
A claim is a paperwork exercise as much as a roofing one, and the homeowners who come out of it best are simply the ones who kept the paperwork.
NWA Roofing Siding and Gutters documents storm damage, meets adjusters on the roof and builds scopes to match, across Benton and Washington County. Free inspections — call (479) 799-2022. This is general information about how claims run, not insurance advice; your policy governs.