On September 24, 2024, a hailstorm moved through Edmond and the surrounding area. For most homeowners, that date is a distant memory by now. Some had obvious damage that got handled right away. Others saw nothing at the time and moved on with life.

Under Oklahoma law, that date still matters, right up until it does not.

The two-year window most homeowners do not know about

Oklahoma law gives homeowners up to 24 months from the date of a storm to file a claim for hail or wind damage that was not obvious at the time. This applies to the kind of damage a homeowner has no real way to spot from the ground: granule loss, cracked seals, or compromised flashing that can take time to become an active leak.

The law exists because insurers and roofers both know this: not all storm damage announces itself right away. Some of it takes years to show up as a problem you can actually see. That two-year window for the September 2024 storm closes on September 24, 2026.

What this deadline does and does not mean

This deadline does not mean every home that went through that storm has damage; most probably do not have anything significant. What it means is that homeowners lose the option to find out for certain once the window closes. A roof that has a small amount of storm damage but no active leak today can develop one later, and if that happens after September 24, the claim window for that storm is gone, regardless of when the leak shows up.

The homeowners this catches most often are the ones who assumed no visible problem meant no damage. That assumption is reasonable. It is also exactly the gap this law was written to address, because hail and wind damage frequently does not look like anything until it does.

What to do before the deadline passes

If your roof went through the September 2024 storm and has not had a professional inspection since then, this is a reasonable time to get one. Not because something is definitely wrong, but because after the 24th, checking is no longer something you can choose to do if a problem turns up later.

If you are not sure whether your roof was affected by that storm, reach out, and we can help you find out before the window closes.