When a storm crops up, you may take the necessary measures to ensure that you and your property remain as protected as possible. Of course, you likely rely on your house to protect you from the majority of weather-related threats, and you use homeowners insurance to protect your home in the event that it suffers damage due to the results of a storm.
Because you live in Oklahoma, you may consider tornado damage more of threat than issues with hail. However, you may want to understand that hail can also cause a considerable amount of harm to your home, and you may need to file an insurance claim in hopes of covering the costs of necessary repairs.
Is hail a real threat?
When you think of hail, you may think of pea-sized or smaller pieces of ice falling from the sky. While these ice chunks can come down in relatively small sizes, it may interest you to know that the largest recorded piece of hail reached eight inches in diameter. Now, imagine the damage a solid block of ice that size could do to your home, not to mention your other property.
What areas are most affected?
When most people think of their homes, they think about having a roof over their heads. This notion tends to signify safety and protection. True, your roof tends to act as the first line of defense against the elements. When it comes to hail, it is also the area of the home most likely to suffer considerable damage. When you have a damaged roof, you could experience leaks, and water damage to other areas of the home may follow.
Other areas of the home that could sustain damage include:
- Siding on the home
- Gutters
- Windows
Because so many areas of the home can face negative effects from a hail storm, you may need to carefully inspect your property to determine where damage has occurred.
What if your insurance denies your claim?
One of your first steps after experiencing a damaging hail storm was likely to contact your homeowners insurance agency. You believe that your policy covers such damage, but after filing your claim, you received a denial. First, you may start to panic wondering how you will pay for the damages yourself, but before you start paying out of pocket, you may want to review your denied claim more closely. In some cases, insurance companies may wrongfully deny a claim, and you could have legal options for pursuing the rightful outcome.