Start with the soft metal, not the roof
Aluminium and thin steel dent at lower impact energy than asphalt shingles do, so they register a hailfall the roof may hide. This is also exactly what an adjuster checks first.
Go around the house and look at: gutter faces and the inside of the trough, downspouts, roof vents and their caps, valley and drip-edge metal, the fins on the outdoor air-conditioner unit, garage door panels, window screens and wraps, the mailbox, and any vehicle that was parked outside.
Dents on several of those, on the same sides of the house, is strong evidence of a hailfall with real energy in it, and it is evidence you can gather from the ground safely.
What hail damage on a shingle actually looks like
A bruise, not a hole. A roughly round area where the granules have been knocked off, leaving the dark asphalt mat exposed, and the spot feels soft when pressed — like a bruise on fruit. The mat underneath has been fractured even where the surface looks intact.
Random placement is the diagnostic. Hail falls where it falls. Marks in a line, in a row, along a path, or concentrated where somebody walked are mechanical damage, blistering or manufacturing defects — and an adjuster will correctly call them that.
Granules in quantity in the gutters and at the downspout discharge is corroborating, not conclusive: a roof at end of life sheds granules anyway. Combined with dented metal and random bruising, it counts.
Fresh hail damage looks fresh. Exposed mat is dark and clean; an old bruise weathers and oxidises. This is part of why prompt reporting matters — not only the policy window, but the evidence itself.
What it is not
Blistering. Small round pops in the surface from manufacturing or heat, often with granules intact around a raised centre. Common, and not a claim.
Foot traffic. Scuffed granules in a walking pattern, usually near a chimney, a vent or a satellite dish.
Normal ageing. Uniform granule loss across the whole roof, brittle shingles, curling at the edges. Real, and it is age rather than an event, which is the one thing no policy covers.
Algae streaking. Black vertical streaks are a cosmetic organism, not impact.
Why the driveway inspection misses it
A bruise has to be found by hand. From the ground, and often even standing on the roof without looking properly, a bruised shingle reads as a shingle. It is found by working the slopes, pressing suspect spots, and photographing them against a marked test square — which is how an adjuster assesses it and how a documented report has to be built.
Hail also falls in narrow corridors. One street can be hit hard and the next street missed entirely, so "the neighbours did not claim" is not information about your roof, and neither is "there was no hail warning" — the public storm record only contains what somebody reported.
What to do about it
Photograph the dented metal now, before anything is cleaned up or replaced. Note the storm date. Report promptly to your carrier even if you have not decided what to do — the policy window is shorter than people expect and the evidence degrades.
Then get the roof documented properly. Our inspection is free across Maryland and Northern Virginia, usually within twenty four hours, and the 20+ photo report is yours to keep whether you hire us, claim, or do nothing.
You file and own the claim and your carrier decides coverage. We are a licensed roofing contractor, not a public adjuster, and we do not negotiate your claim. On an approved claim your deductible is typically your out-of-pocket cost.
Get it looked at, free
We inspect across Maryland — Montgomery, Prince George's, Howard, Anne Arundel, Frederick, Carroll and Baltimore counties. Free inspection, photo report within 24 hours, and the report is yours to keep whether or not you hire us.