Hail Season is on, what Coloradans ought to know about insurance claims from an adjuster

Monday's hailstorms served, for some, as an opening to a season of hail threats in Colorado, where insurance rates are largely driven up by hail claims and have created storm clouds of reaction.

"It lasted for a good 10, 15 minutes. Hail just coming down and hitting all the cars around here," said Ashlynn Jones, who was out to look at her car after the storm.

A State Division of Insurance study found that hail damage accounts for a quarter to over a half of annual homeowners' insurance premiums. Those premiums on average doubled between 2020 and 2025.

"When they have those losses, it's going to get put back on the premiums, and that's just the way it is," explained public insurance adjuster Michael Stoycheff.

Stoycheff is a member of the board of directors of the Rocky Mountain Association of Public Insurance Adjusters.

Adjusters are hired by claimants who want representation while dealing with insurance companies. Stoycheff says they can't do anything about insurance rate increases.

"It's just the market that we live in now," said Stoycheff.

Stoycheff thinks preparation is the best way for people to protect themselves if they're faced with making a claim.

"A lot of times, people file a claim and don't realize that they have a cosmetic exclusion that doesn't cover their metal roof, or they have ACV (actual cash value) only policy that's only going to pay them maybe 50% of the replacement cost of their metal roof and they didn't know that. That may mean less money up front from the insurance company to replace a roof," Stoycheff explained.

He recommends checking in with an insurance agent to make sure policyholders understand their coverage. Then, get into the regular habit of taking pictures or videos of their home, property, and cars to have on hand if there's a loss. That's a good way to prove what they had before the loss.

If there's hail damage to a roof, prepare by asking the right people for an estimate.

"First thing I would do is contact a licensed roofing contractor, a general contractor who knows what they're looking at. You're going to want to have that person on your side when you make that phone call to the insurance company," said Stoycheff.

Stoycheff says people may want the contractors at their first meeting with an insurance claims adjuster.

"That way, a homeowner is not trying to navigate that process on their own," he explained.

Public adjusters for hire, like Stoycheff, can help, but he notes that someone filing a claim doesn't automatically need one.  

"Most of the time, we take phone calls just to let people know 'This is where you're at, this is what you can expect.' If you have a problem down the road, let us know. But having us get involved right off the bat isn't always the best idea," he noted.

But there are times when he says they can be helpful and worth the cost.

"Failure to communicate or delays in communication, delays in investigation on the claim are, would be the big red flags to me," Stoycheff gave as examples of when a public adjuster may be needed. "Not sharing expert reports, whether it's an engineer in a hail, like a case with a hail claim, or [an] industrial hygienist in a fire. Not showing them what they're using to determine what the value of your loss is is certainly a red flag."

Insurance company adjusters are often busy with many claims, he warned.

"I might have 40 or 50 claims that I'm handling at a time. That individual on the insurance company side might have 150," he said.

In that way, public adjusters might help lighten a load for an insurance company employee by clearing away some of the clutter in a claim with the client.

Stoycheff tries to make sure they are on the same page.

"Try to get buy-in from the insurance companies. Try to agree to the scope first, that's the biggest thing," he explained. "You can argue about money all day long, but if you're arguing apples and oranges, you're never going to get there."

Adjusters are limited in their compensation by law, in large events like the Marshall Fire, to 10%. Otherwise, compensation rates are agreed to between the client and the public adjuster.

Stoycheff suggests that people who need a public adjuster check the Rocky Mountain Association of Public Insurance Adjusters' website. The organization has standards and a code. He believes there are cases in which an adjuster can be useful, but notes they aren't getting money beyond what a policy pays.

He added, "We're not arguing for anything more than what's warranted and what could be paid out in that policy, but establishing that damage up front, coming to an agreement there is the key to having a claim."