A study by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety indicates that roof damage from smaller h
ailstones may be much more significant than previously believed. It’s a
finding that one plaintiffs’ lawyer already has cited as potential support for roof claims.
“This data challenges long-standing opinions by insurance company experts that have denied or minimized damag
e from small hail,” blogged attorney Chip Merlin, whose law firm has offi
ces in 10 states. “If the science says these storms age shingles y
ars ahead of schedule and set the stage for catastrophic failure in later storms, then dismissing that dama
ge at the claims desk is at odds with the evidence.”
An insurance defense lawyer said the study shows only that smaller hail can cause damage over time, much l
ike rain or sun, and long-term wear and tear is often excluded from homeowners’ policies.
“There must be a singular event that causes actual physical damage to the property,” said John Riord
n, a West Palm Beach attorney with the Kelley Kronenberg law firm. “Most policies have exclusionary language, s
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o those kinds of claims over months or years from multiple hailstorms would not be covered.”
Our findings show that asphalt shingles exposed to both natural w
eathering and sub-severe impacts were approximately ten time
s more susceptible to future damage from subsequent severe hail events.
The IBHS study, published last week in the peer-reviewed journal
Frontiers in Materials, found that concentrations of sub-severe hailston
es (less than an inch in diameter) can “significantly reduce the r
oof cover’s resistance to future large hail events, and exacerbate the natural aging of asphalt shingles.”
Riordan
The authors are Brenna Meisenzahl, Ian Giammanco and Faraz Hedayati, all of whom are researchers or m
anagers at IBHS, the property insurance industry’s vaunted research
center, with testing sites in South Carolina. Giammanco is managing director of atmospheric science for the Institute.
“This suggests that frequent sub-severe hailstorms may pose a greater threat to roof longevity than previously recognized and is a driving factor in t
he growing hail risk in the United States that is not accounted for in current durability standards or risk assessments,” the authors noted.
For years, smaller hail has been but a minor concern to proper
ty insurers and researchers. The National Weather Service classifies hail as “severe” only when stones exceed 25.4 millimeters (1 inch in size). Roof damage was larg
ely considered to be limited to storms the produce the larger-sized stones. Riordan noted that engineers have generally agreed that most shingle-damage events come from hailstones that are 1.5 inches or larger.
But some claims adjusters and claimants’ attorneys have long said that in certain cases, smaller hail leads to rapid deterioration of shingles and can lead to water intrusion.