Hail damage repair in Michigan: what it actually breaks, why the leak shows up later, and what the claim needs

Yes, more than once and in different parts of the state. On July 20, 2023, a supercell produced hail up to 2.75 inches, baseball size, in Davison, Michigan, with multiple independent reports that afternoon of hail between 1.75 and 2.75 inches. The National Weather Service Detroit/Pontiac office described widespread hail damage to vehicles, homes, and businesses from that storm, and noted it was the largest hail reported in its coverage area since a June 2021 supercell near Hudson.

On April 7, 2020, a severe weather outbreak across Lower Michigan produced 2-inch hail, hen-egg size, in Plainwell and the surrounding Allegan County area, with multiple reports of 1.75-inch hail nearby in Otsego and 3 West Otsego the same evening. The National Weather Service Grand Rapids office documented the event directly. Neither of these is a once-in-a-generation storm. They are two separate, independently verified Michigan events, five years and roughly 130 miles apart, both well above the one-inch severe threshold.

Because the shingle usually does not fail on impact. A hailstone bruises the asphalt mat and strips the protective granules covering it without punching all the way through, which means the storm itself rarely creates the finished opening a leak needs.

What it creates is a weak point with part of its UV shield gone. Sun exposure and Michigan's ordinary day-to-night temperature swing then work on that weak point, cycle after cycle, until a hairline crack finally works through the mat. The storm did the damage. An unrelated, ordinary rain weeks later is usually what actually gets inside, which is exactly why checking the roof the morning after a hailstorm and seeing no hole is not the same as being in the clear.

Once water does get past a hail-weakened shingle, what it does inside the attic, the ceiling, and the wall cavity is the same mechanism covered in full on our roof leak water damage page: insulation that mats down and loses R-value, drywall that sags at the seams, and a wall cavity that can hold water with nothing visible in the room until much later. This page does not repeat that breakdown.

A homeowners policy commonly covers sudden and accidental hail damage as a named peril, the same category as wind, including the roof covering, siding, gutters, screens, and water that gets in through an opening hail caused. The carrier decides, based on the facts of the loss and the specific language of the policy.

The deductible is the detail worth checking before a storm, not after one. Most Michigan homeowners policies apply the standard deductible to hail the same as any other covered loss, but some carriers write a separate wind/hail deductible instead, often a percentage of dwelling coverage rather than a flat dollar figure. A separate wind/hail deductible running 1 to 2 percent of dwelling coverage shows up on Michigan storm policies, higher than the standard all-other-perils deductible on the same policy. Check your own declarations page, or ask your agent which deductible structure your policy uses, so the number is known before a claim, not during one.

Prime documents the damage, the moisture readings, and every surface affected before anything is removed, because that record is what a carrier works from.