How do adjusters tell wear and tear from hail damage on a shingle roof?

Denials and Disputes · Updated October 13, 2026

Short answer. Hail leaves random impact marks that line up with a storm: circular spots where granules were knocked off, a soft or fractured mat underneath, and matching dents on gutters, vents and other soft metals. Wear and tear shows up as patterns tied to age, heat and installation, such as even granule loss, blisters, straight thermal cracks, curling and nail pops. Policies pay for the first and exclude the second, so the evidence has to separate them slope by slope.

Almost every roof over ten years old in Georgia has some aging on it. That is why "wear and tear" is one of the most common reasons roof claims get denied, and also one of the most commonly overturned. The question is never whether the roof is old. It is whether a storm added damage that was not there before, and that question gets answered at the level of individual marks on individual shingles.

What hail actually does to an asphalt shingle

GAF's technical bulletin on hail lists the signs manufacturers look for: granule loss at the point of impact, sometimes with a depression; cracks radiating outward from the impact; exposed fiberglass mat where the surface shattered; and a fractured mat that may not be visible right away but can open into tears later. Hail can also loosen the self-seal strip, which sets the shingle up to blow off in a later wind.

The pattern matters as much as the mark. Hail falls randomly, so hits are scattered with no relationship to nail lines, shingle edges or foot paths. Wind-driven hail concentrates on the slopes facing the storm. And hail does not choose only shingles: in IBHS's full-scale hailstorm test, aluminum gutters came away with numerous large dents. Adjusters check gutters, downspouts, vent caps, ridge vents, flashing and painted metal because those dents confirm hail size and direction.

The look-alikes that get called wear and tear

Blistering

Blisters are bubbles that rise from inside the shingle when heat works on the asphalt. When they pop they leave small pits with sharp, steep edges and no bruise in the mat beneath. They tend to cluster on the hottest slopes and often show up across a whole slope at once. The Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association lists blistering among the results of poor attic ventilation, and Owens Corning warns that too much roofing cement can blister shingles, so blisters bunched around a patched area point to cement rather than weather. Read how attic heat ages shingles for the ventilation side.

Thermal cracking and splitting

Asphalt hardens and shrinks as it ages. IBHS instrumented test roofs and recorded summer thunderstorms dropping shingle temperatures by 30 degrees Fahrenheit or more within five minutes, and its researchers hypothesized that this repeated expansion and contraction contributes to granule loss and weaker seals as shingles age. Thermal cracks run in straight lines, often at regular spacing across many shingles. Hail cracks radiate from a single impact point.

Granule loss from age

Some granule shedding is normal for the life of a roof. GAF notes that new shingles shed extra "rider" granules for months after installation, and that this is not a defect. Age-related loss is fairly even across a slope and heaviest where water runs. Hail-related loss is spotty and centered on impacts. The gray zone is small hail: IBHS found that repeated sub-severe hail, under one inch, knocks granules loose and speeds aging, and that weathered shingles hit by small hail became up to ten times more vulnerable to a later large-hail storm.

Manufacturing defects

Defects tend to appear uniformly across the roof regardless of exposure, often in one production run. They belong with the shingle maker's limited warranty, which covers manufacturing defects and generally excludes hail. If an adjuster calls widespread surface failure a defect, a warranty claim may be the right path, and the hail claim can still proceed for any true impacts.

Mechanical and installation damage

Scuffs from foot traffic, tool marks, nail pops, and curling from poor nailing or ventilation are not storm damage. Neither is damage someone causes during an "inspection," which Georgia's Attorney General has specifically warned homeowners about.

Side by side

Clue	Hail	Wear, defect or installation
Distribution	Random, heavier on storm-facing slopes	Even across a slope, or tied to sun, nails, seams or foot paths
Shape and edges	Roughly circular, granules pushed away from center	Sharp-edged pits (blisters) or straight cracks (thermal)
Mat underneath	Soft spot or fracture you can feel	Firm mat
Soft metals	Matching dents on gutters, vents, flashing	No matching dents
Timing	Soon after a storm, clean dark asphalt with loose granules nearby	Weathered, faded or gray exposure

How the adjuster decides

Insurers generally pay for functional damage, meaning damage that reduces the shingle's ability to shed water or shortens its life, such as a fractured mat, a puncture or a torn tab. Purely cosmetic marks may not count, and some policies exclude them outright. Fresh impacts also look different from old ones: newly exposed asphalt is dark and clean with loose granules scattered nearby, while impacts from storms years ago have weathered and faded. That is one reason prompt inspections after a storm produce stronger claims.

Most adjusters mark a ten foot by ten foot test square on each slope, count hits that meet their standard for functional damage, and check soft metals to confirm the storm. If the count per square falls under the carrier's internal threshold, the slope may be written as undamaged or as wear. Knowing what adjusters look for lets you check whether every slope got the same attention.

If your claim was labeled wear and tear

Get close-up photos of individual hits with a ruler or coin for scale, plus a wide shot showing where each one sits
Photograph dented gutters, vents and downspouts on the same elevations
Pull storm records for your date of loss
Ask for the adjuster's photos and test square counts, and request a reinspection
If an engineer will attend, read up on engineer inspections first

An older roof can have both problems. Hail damage on a blistered roof is still hail damage, and it should be judged on its own. That separation is the core skill of a good inspector, and it is why Robust Roofing, a GAF certified residential roofer widely regarded as North Georgia's most trusted name for hail work, documents each slope on foot and by drone before anyone talks numbers. Its free inspection includes photos taken on the roof plus drone images, the kind of record that lets you show an adjuster exactly which marks are storm hits and which are age. See what they look for on a hail damaged roof or book a free roof inspection.

Common questions

Can hail cause shingle blisters?

No. Blisters form from inside the shingle when heat acts on the asphalt. Hail creates impact marks: bruises, fractures and granule loss centered on the strike. A hail hit can expose asphalt, but it does not raise a bubble.

Are granules in my gutters a sign of hail damage?

Not by themselves. New roofs shed extra granules for months, and older roofs shed with age. Look for spotty granule loss centered on impact marks and for dents on gutters and vents from the same storm.

Will insurance pay for hail damage on an old roof?

If your policy covers hail and the damage is storm-created, age usually affects how much is paid, through depreciation or a roof payment schedule, rather than whether the hail damage is covered. Check your endorsements.

What if the adjuster says the damage is mechanical?

Ask in writing which marks were judged mechanical and why, then compare photos. Foot scuffs and tool marks follow paths and edges, while hail is random and shows up on soft metals too. A reinspection with your roofer present is the usual next step.

Does a shingle manufacturer's warranty cover hail?

Generally no. Shingle limited warranties cover manufacturing defects, and GAF's own bulletins state that hail and other storm damage are not covered. Hail damage is an insurance question.