A Tarrant County widow was about 80 years old when a storm came through in the summer of 2019 and water began running out of her living-room ceiling. She had lived there more than 40 years. In July she filed a claim, hired a contractor, and had him tarp the leaking section of the roof.
The contractor went over the roof in chalk, circling the spots he believed hail had struck, and marked the garage door, windows and gutters too. He told her the whole roof had to be replaced. Her insurer, State Farm Lloyds, sent an adjuster out a few days later.
The adjuster reported no wind or hail damage to any chalk-marked shingle. He priced the loss at $3,234.09, took off $457.83 for depreciation, and landed under her $2,797 deductible. Within hours he issued a letter denying the claim above that deductible. He admitted at trial that he had never looked under the tarp…