Roof Claim Answers

How do you file a FEMA claim for storm damage?

Short answer. FEMA help is available only when the President declares a major disaster that includes individual assistance for your county. You apply at DisasterAssistance.gov, by phone at 1-800-621-3362 or in the FEMA app, after filing with your own insurer, and FEMA covers only needs insurance does not, aimed at making the home safe and livable rather than fully restored.

Check whether FEMA is even open

Most Georgia hail and wind storms never get a federal declaration. Look up your county on FEMA's declarations page or DisasterAssistance.gov. If individual assistance is not listed for your county, FEMA cannot take an application for that storm.

How an application works

  1. File with your insurer first. FEMA cannot pay for anything insurance covers, and it will ask for your settlement or denial letter.
  2. Register with FEMA before the deadline for that disaster, often 60 days from the declaration. Have your address, insurance information, bank details for direct deposit and a description of the damage ready.
  3. Inspection. FEMA may send an inspector or verify damage remotely.
  4. Decision letter. Read it closely. Many first letters say ineligible only because insurance information is missing.
  5. Appeal within 60 days of the decision if you disagree, with documents attached.

What FEMA pays and what it does not

FEMA home repair assistance is meant to make the home safe, sanitary and functional, such as making a damaged roof watertight. It is not designed to restore the home to its condition before the storm, and it has a capped maximum. Low interest SBA disaster loans, up to $500,000 for home repairs, are often the larger source of help for uninsured losses.

Keep the two claims straight

Report every insurance payment to FEMA. If insurance later pays for something FEMA already covered, you must repay FEMA. Keep the insurer's estimate, contractor estimates and receipts together. For the insurance side, start with how to file a roof insurance claim, and check the Georgia claim deadlines so the FEMA process does not distract you from your policy's clocks.

In depth

How do I choose the date of loss for a roof claim, and what if two storms hit close together?How to pick and verify the date of loss for a roof claim with weather records, what to do when two storms hit What counts as wind damage on a shingle roof, and how do I document it for a claim?How wind damages shingles: creases, broken seals, lifted and missing tabs, ridge caps, what wind speeds in repWhat size hail damages a roof?What penny, quarter, golf ball and larger hail usually do to shingles, metal roofs and gutters, and how radar

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