USAA denied my full roof replacement after the April hailstorm - here's the exact PA-led process that got us from $2,400 to $26,800

Writing this up because the comments on a lot of roof claim posts here helped me a ton when i was panicking in April, and i want to put the full timeline out there for the next person. Quick context. We are in North Texas, single story 2,650 sqft house, architectural shingles installed in 2017 (so 9 years old at time of loss), one previous owner. April 4th storm came through, ping pong ball to golf ball hail for about 12 minutes. The next morning my driveway was covered in shingle granules and my gutters had dents in them every six inches.

Filed the claim with USAA the day of the storm. The field adjuster came out 11 days later, spent 25 minutes on the roof, came down and told me "we found some isolated hits, were going to repair four shingles and replace a section of gutter, the estimate is going to be around $2,400 after deductible." I asked for the report. The report identified 6 hail hits on the entire roof, classified as "cosmetic," and said the roof had "no functional damage." Our deductible is 2% of dwelling so on a $480k policy we are talking about a $9,600 deductible. Their offer was effectively zero out of pocket coverage.

I called a public adjuster a neighbor had used in 2023. He came out on day 14, spent two hours on the roof and another two hours documenting the gutters, screens, fence boards, AC fins, paint pock marks on the south side, and the soft metal vents. He flagged 41 hits on the roof slopes, all functionally damaging (granule displacement exposing the asphalt mat), plus matching damage across every soft metal accessory on the property. He filed a notice of representation, requested a re-inspection, and submitted a 38 page report with photographs, slope diagrams, and a Xactimate estimate at $34,200 for full replacement.

USAA pushed back twice. First saying the granule loss was "weathering," second saying the gutters and fence could be repaired rather than replaced. The PA invoked the appraisal clause. Once that happened, USAA assigned a senior adjuster who came back out, agreed to full slope replacement, matched the gutters, painted the fence, replaced the screens. Final settlement was $26,800 after the deductible. The PA took his 10% out of the supplement only, so out of about $24,400 in additional recovery he was paid $2,440 and we netted $21,960 more than the first offer. Worth every cent. If you are sitting on a hail denial right now, get a PA on the property before you appeal anything yourself.