Be On The Lookout: Roof Scammers After Hail Storm

(Tyler, Texas) Residents across Smith County were surprised by the sudden severe thunderstorm that rolled through the central and southern portions of the county, including the city of Tyler, Saturday morning. The storm dumped nearly an inch of rain along with copious amounts of marble-sized hail. Following a National Weather Service warning about the storm, streets and yards were littered with leaves and piles of small hailstones.

Severe Storm Sweeps Through Smith County

The storm continued marching east towards Lake Tyler, Chapel Hill, Arp, and Henderson. Once the hail stopped falling, parts of the area looked as if it had just snowed. There was so much intense hail falling at once that it terrified many residents.

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Hail and Power Outages Impact Residents

Thankfully, no major damage was reported, just a lot of power outages and some broken tree branches.

One Homeowner’s Experience After the Storm

My home was among those homes that were pounded by thousands of these marble-sized hailstones; my garage door, front door, windows, fence, roof, and my truck took a beating. Thankfully, there was no visible damage.

Roughly two hours after the storm, the first knock on my door came from a roofing company wanting to replace my shingles and get to work immediately. Needless to say, I declined his eagerness. Those knocks did not stop throughout Saturday afternoon, nor did they on Sunday. While doing yard work on Sunday, I had three more roofing companies stop by to let me know about the hailstorm and the damage it caused.

Yeah, I know there was a hail storm, I was home when it happened!  I do appreciate their eagerness and their response.  However, I will contact my insurance company first and then make the calls for bids.

Now, if you're among those individuals who were affected by the storm and didn't receive major damage, I'd say take your time with any repair work or shingle replacement job after contacting your insurance company.

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Beware of Storm-Related Scams

Unfortunately, this is the time when storm scammers appear.  They want to do the work, but instead, they take your money, maybe start the job, and sometimes never complete it.

Many out-of-town and even out-of-state roofing companies are descending upon the Tyler area and are willing to do the work quickly, but you must do your research on these companies.

Never pay for services in advance. Only pay the contractor once the job is done to your satisfaction.

How to Protect Yourself From Contractors

Here are a few more tips for you so that you don't become a storm scam victim. Storms like this can be expected; it is severe spring storm season, and storms like this can pop up in an instant and cause destruction.