Roof Repair in Calgary: Hail Damage, Insurance Claims and Avoiding Storm Chasers

What hail does to a Calgary roof

Hail bruises asphalt shingles by knocking granules loose and cracking the mat underneath, which shortens the roof’s life even when nothing leaks the next day. It dents metal flashing, vents, skylights and eavestroughs, which is often the easiest evidence to photograph from the ground. On older roofs it exposes brittle shingles that were already near the end of their life, which is where the argument between repair and replacement usually starts.

Hail season runs from roughly June to August, with the northeast and the communities along the Deerfoot corridor hit most often. After a storm, walk the property and photograph everything: dented downspouts, screens, siding, the car, the deck. Those photos establish the storm date and the hail size for the claim.

The order to do things in

First, stop active leaks with a tarp or temporary patch and keep the receipt; insurers normally cover emergency mitigation. Second, call your insurer and open a claim before agreeing to any permanent work, because most policies require the adjuster to assess the damage first. Third, get two or three written quotes from Calgary roofers with a permanent local address and a City of Calgary business licence. Fourth, compare the adjuster’s scope with the roofers’ scopes and question the differences in writing.

A roofer who says they will “handle the claim for you” and asks you to sign an assignment of benefits or a blank contract is asking for control of your insurance money. Keep the claim in your name and pay the roofer yourself on completion.

• Dated photos of all damage, ground level and close-up
• Claim number and adjuster contact
• Emergency repair receipts
• Two or three written quotes from licensed local companies
• A copy of the adjuster’s scope of work

Alberta rules that protect you

Alberta’s Consumer Protection Act requires any contractor who takes money before the work is done to hold a prepaid contracting business licence, and the province publishes a lookup. Door-to-door sales contracts carry a cooling-off period under the same act. The City of Calgary requires roofing contractors to hold a City business licence, which is another quick check. Ask for a certificate of liability insurance and a WCB Alberta clearance letter, because a fall on your roof without coverage becomes your liability.

Whether a re-roof needs a building permit in Calgary depends on what changes: like-for-like re-shingling is generally treated differently from structural or deck work. Ask the roofer what they are pulling and confirm with the City’s planning and development line before you sign.

Repair, replacement and impact-resistant shingles

Not every hail hit means a new roof. Isolated damage on a roof with years of life left can be repaired; scattered bruising across every slope on a fifteen-year-old roof usually cannot, and the adjuster and roofer will normally agree on that. Where they disagree, ask the roofer to mark and photograph the hits per square so the argument is about evidence rather than opinion.

If you are replacing, ask about Class 4 impact-resistant shingles. Many insurers active in Calgary offer premium discounts for them, and the price difference is small relative to the roof. Get the workmanship warranty and the manufacturer’s material warranty in writing, and hold back the final payment until the site is clean, the magnetic nail sweep is done and you have the warranty documents.