Roof storm damage repair in Michigan: claim steps and deadlines

What a roofing company does after hail or wind

After a storm, a roofing company checks for lifted or missing shingles, bent flashing, dented vents and water marks on the ceilings below. Ask for a written description, dated photographs and a repair or replacement estimate; the photographs belong in your claim file.

Leave the climbing to them: OSHA's tarping fact sheet says not to work on a damaged roof until its structural integrity has been determined, and never to tarp while it is windy or raining. You can document a lot from the ground and the attic.

What storm damage work costs in Michigan: estimates, not quotes

Storm repairs run from a tarp to a full replacement, so one figure would mean little. For a repair where water has got into the house, our estimate is $915 to $7,400 per repair with water damage. A tarp is priced on the emergency roof repair page and a whole new roof on the roof replacement page. It is a model, not a quote: one published national range adjusted for what Michigan roofers are paid. No Michigan roofing company we looked at published a price we could count, so none is shown.

The rows below the estimate are wages, which are pay and not price, and permit fees from published city schedules.

How we estimate costs: the Estimated range row is a model, not a quote. It takes one published national range for this job (a cost guide from a third-party site that we have not verified and do not cite) and multiplies it by Michigan's roofer median wage ratio to the US (1.07, BLS May 2025 data read through O*NET OnLine). The wage and permit rows in the table are what roofing workers are paid and what a city's own schedule charges, and neither is a price. We have not collected quotes, and we found no Michigan roofing company that publishes a price we could count. Full method. Prices as of Oct 19, 2026.

Repair the damaged part or replace the roof after a storm

The insurer's scope and the roofer's photographs both count, and the repair or replace tool walks through it. Michigan's 2015 residential code, which LARA still lists as of Oct 19, 2026 (this may change; check LARA), bars a new covering over a roof that already has two or more applications.

The Michigan claim steps, in the order DIFS gives them

DIFS, the Department of Insurance and Financial Services, says most homeowners policies cover many types of wind and hail damage, but your own policy decides.

1. Notify your insurer or agent as soon as possible, and note every call: date, representative, claim number, summary.
2. Before any cleanup, photograph and video all damage, list damaged items with dates and values, and keep everything until the insurer says otherwise.
3. Make only temporary repairs, such as a tarp put up by a roofing company, and save the receipts. DIFS says these expenses may be reimbursable.
4. Hold permanent repairs until the insurer has inspected or tells you to proceed.
5. Expect a written list of the proof of loss within 30 days of your claim and payment within 60 days after satisfactory proof.
6. If the claim stalls, file a DIFS complaint online or call 877-999-6442, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The clocks that run on a Michigan storm claim

Those 30 and 60 days come from MCL 500.2006, which also adds 12 percent simple interest on a late payment unless the claim is reasonably in dispute. DIFS adds that the investigation itself has no time limit.

The suit deadline falls on you. MCL 500.2833(1)(q) says an action must begin within 1 year after the loss or within the time the policy specifies, whichever is longer, tolled from the day you notify the insurer until it formally denies liability. The provision is written for fire policies. Homeowners policies generally include fire coverage, but whether it governs a wind or hail claim is a legal question, so treat this as our interpretation and ask DIFS or an attorney.

What DIFS says about paying for only part of a roof

DIFS's severe-storm page says that if hail and high winds lift shingles off your roof, the policy covers only the damaged portion and the insurer need not replace the entire roof.

Roofing sites in other states promise that a matching law forces insurers to replace undamaged shingles; we found no Michigan statute or DIFS rule that says so. Your policy wording and the adjuster's findings decide the scope, so a full replacement is still possible: ask your insurer in writing how it reached its figure. See the hail and wind claim guide.

Public adjusters, contractor choice and who holds the check

You do not have to hire an adjuster. A public adjuster must be licensed by DIFS and may not charge more than 10 percent of the settlement (MCL 500.1226).

DIFS's warning signs include full payment demanded upfront, unsolicited door-to-door offers and requests to sign insurance checks over to a contractor, so keep the check. DIFS also lists a repairman covering your deductible by raising the estimate or bill as insurance fraud, a felony under MCL 500.4511.

Your insurer may recommend contractors, but you may choose your own. Roofing work of $600 or more needs the residential maintenance and alteration license, so ask for the number and check it with LARA. An unlicensed contractor cannot sue for payment or place a lien.

Door-to-door roofing offers and the three-day rule

Michigan's Home Solicitation Sales Act lets you cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing, for a sale over $25 that the seller solicited at your home and you agreed to there (MCL 445.112). The contract must carry a notice of that right.

Not every sale qualifies: a roofing company you phoned yourself after a general ad may fall outside the rule, and an emergency waiver needs your separate handwritten, signed statement. If you finance the work, the Attorney General says you get one business day instead. See the storm chasers and assignment of benefits guide.

What NOAA recorded in 20 Michigan counties, July 2024 to June 2026

NOAA's Storm Events Database lists reports by county, one row per county, so a storm that crosses several counties counts more than once. The latest months are preliminary, July to October 2026 is not yet published, and a low count does not mean low risk. Severe wind means 50 knots or more.

When storm damage to a roof is an emergency

What to do from the ground and from inside after a storm

1. Photograph each slope and any shingle pieces from the ground, and keep the pieces.
2. Check top-floor ceilings and, through the attic hatch, the underside of the roof boards for damp.
3. Note when the storm hit, call your insurer and record the claim number.
4. Ask any roofing company for its license number.

Permits and licensing for storm repair in Michigan

Roofing and roof repair are not on the building-permit exemption list in Michigan's R105.2, and enforcement is local. Grand Rapids requires a residential permit to re-roof, while Portage requires none for shingle-only replacement; ask your building department. See the permit guide.

Before any work starts, ask for the license number and check it with your state's licensing board.

A tool for this job

Questions people ask

Keep reading

Guides

• After a hailstorm or windstorm: how a Michigan roof insurance claim works
• Door-to-door roofers after a storm, and what Michigan says about signing papers
• Is a leaking roof covered by your Michigan homeowners policy
• How to check a Michigan roofer's license on LARA, and what to do if the work goes wrong

Storm damage by city

• Grand Rapids
• Detroit
• Ann Arbor
• Jackson
• Saginaw
• Muskegon
• Flint
• Holland
• Livonia
• Kalamazoo
• Dearborn
• Lansing
• Allen Park
• Madison Heights
• Bay City

Related services

• Emergency roof repair
• Roof inspection
• Roof repair
• Roof replacement

Michigan licensing, code and permit facts · How to check a roofer's license · Report a wrong rule or number