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Date-of-loss disputes when multiple storms hit the same address

In hail country, the question is rarely "did it hail?" but "which hail event is this claim's?" The stakes are concrete: policy periods, deductible changes, prior-claim offsets, and late-notice defenses all turn on which date is chosen. The official record converts the argument from assertion to comparison: list every recorded ≥1-inch event near the address across the candidate window, with sizes, distances and narratives, and reason from the table.

Useful discriminators, in rough order: recorded size near the address; distance and bearing of the closest reports; the narrative's described footprint; corroborating neighborhood claims per date; and inspection indicators of damage age. A report that presents all candidate events — including the ones unhelpful to its buyer — is the one that survives the carrier's own weather pull.

The carrier picked an earlier storm to apply an older policy. What checks that?

The comparison table. If the earlier date shows 1-inch hail eight miles away and the later date shows 2-inch hail at one mile, the record favors the later attribution, and the file should say so with citations. If the record genuinely supports the earlier date, better to know before appraisal.

Can two storms share responsibility?

Physically yes — successive storms compound damage. Policy treatment of progressive or repeated damage is a coverage question beyond the record; what the record contributes is the dated sequence of documented impacts, which is the factual spine any such argument needs.

How wide a window should the candidate list cover?

At minimum the current and prior policy period; commonly the full ownership period for discovery-of-damage situations. Our standard reports run 10–15 years precisely so the window argument is settled by inclusion.

Sources and standing caveat

Official records referenced throughout: NCEI Storm Events Database (the official NWS storm record, 1950–present) and SPC daily storm reports (preliminary, same-day). NWS records are point and path observations. The absence of a nearby report does NOT prove that no hail fell at this address — it means no observation was logged nearby. A report of nearby hail documents the event; it does not by itself prove damage to a specific structure. Nothing on this page is legal, insurance, or public-adjusting advice — deadlines, coverage and remedies are policy- and state-specific.

Put the record in the file

A per-address verification report compiles every NWS-recorded hail and wind event within 1, 3 and 10 miles of any US address — distances, official narratives, citations, provenance labels — formatted as an insurance-appeal attachment, hosted on HailEvidence (the neutral evidence surface).

Unlimited reports — Pro $99/mo Single report $29