Guides

Storm Damage Roofing Leads: Where to Find Them, Legally

Where storm damage roofing leads really come from, how to find where hail fell with free NOAA data, the permit, cancellation and texting rules for canvassing, and a script and follow-up plan.

Ijharul Islam October 21, 2026 9 min read

Storm damage roofing leads, in short, come from five places: your own past customers, inbound calls and searches after the storm, referrals, door knocking in neighborhoods where free NOAA storm reports show hail fell, and bought lead lists. Get a solicitor permit before you knock, leave the 3-day cancellation notice, and text only people who agreed to it.

More on this topic: Marketing, leads and reviews, every guide in one place.

After a big hail day, every roofer in the region and plenty from out of state chase the same streets. The local shops that do well aren't the ones who knock the most doors; they're the ones who answer every call, show up when they said, and don't hand a homeowner or an inspector a reason to doubt them. This guide covers lead sources, the free hail data, the rules on canvassing and texting we checked in October 2026, and a script. It's general information, not legal advice; city ordinances and state laws vary.

Key takeaways

Your best storm leads are people who already know you: past customers, neighbors of past jobs and referrals.
Free hail data: NOAA's Storm Prediction Center posts preliminary hail reports by day with location and size, back to 1999.
Get the permit first. Many cities require a solicitor permit and photo ID before anyone knocks.
The 3-day rule: sales of $25 or more made at the home usually carry the FTC's three-business-day right to cancel.
Texting needs consent. Marketing texts sent with automated tools need prior express written consent, and STOP must be honored.
Speed wins storm leads. Answer every call during the surge and call web leads back within minutes.

Where do storm damage roofing leads come from?

Storm leads come from five sources, and they differ a lot in cost, close rate and legal risk.

Source	Cost	What to watch
Past customers and their neighbors	Low	Text only customers who agreed to texts; mail or call the rest
Inbound calls, Google Business Profile and Local Services Ads	Ad spend or none	Call volume spikes for days; missed calls go to the next roofer
Referrals from customers, agents and insurance agents	Low	Don't pay referral fees where banned (Florida bans them on insurance-funded work)
Door knocking in the hail path	Labor and permits	Solicitor permits, the 3-day cancel notice, state claim rules
Bought lead lists and shared leads	Per lead	Shared leads, stale data, and whether the seller had texting consent

Inbound demand is the cheapest to win and the easiest to lose. Our guide to Google Local Services Ads covers being listed when homeowners search after a storm.

How do you find where hail hit?

Use NOAA's free storm reports. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) posts each day's preliminary tornado, hail and wind reports with time, county, state, coordinates and comments, as a table, a map, a CSV file and a KML file for Google Earth, with an archive back to June 1, 1999. Hail size is in hundredths of an inch, so 175 means 1.75 inches, and times are in UTC. SPC labels every report as preliminary.

For official, cleaned-up records, use NCEI's Storm Events Database, searchable by state, county and event type. It lags: the 2026 bulk file created on September 18, 2026 held events only through June. Use SPC for this week's storm and NCEI to show a homeowner the history of their area.

Plot the reports on a map and draw the path between them; hail falls in swaths, not points.
Start with the biggest stones and roofs old enough to have soft, brittle shingles.
Drive it before you knock: dented gutters, vents and soft metals confirm the path.
Don't promise damage. A report near a street is a reason to inspect, not proof of a claim.

What rules apply to door knocking after a storm?

Three layers apply: your city's solicitor ordinance, the FTC's Cooling-Off Rule and your state's roofing or insurance-claim laws. Check all three before the first knock.

Rule	What it requires	Source
City solicitor permit	Many cities require a permit before knocking. Parkville, Missouri, for example, requires a background check, ID and proof of a legitimate business, and issues a photo permit card; it issued 145 permits after a March 2026 hailstorm	Local ordinance
FTC Cooling-Off Rule	Consumer sales of $25 or more at the buyer's home: the buyer may cancel until midnight of the third business day; give two copies of the cancellation notice and refund within 10 business days of a valid cancellation	16 CFR 429
Texas	Contracts of $1,000 or more expected to be paid from a property claim need the deductible notice; waiving or rebating the deductible is a Class B misdemeanor	Bus. & Com. Code 27.02
Colorado	A signed written roofing contract before work, with 72-hour rescission and a deductible statement; no promising to pay or waive the deductible	C.R.S. 6-22-103, 6-22-105
Florida	Solicitations about roof-damage claims, in person included, must carry set disclosures; no gifts, cash or deductible waivers for an inspection or a claim; canvassers' acts count as yours; contracts signed in a declared emergency can be cancelled within 10 days; fines up to $10,000 per violation	Fla. Stat. 489.147
Minnesota	No promising to pay the deductible or offering anything for an inspection or a claim; give written notice of the statute with your first estimate	Minn. Stat. 325E.66

Our roofing contract template shows where the cancellation notice and the state wording go, and our guide to the roofing insurance claims process covers what you can and can't say about a homeowner's claim.

What should you say when you knock?

Lead with who you are and what you saw, ask for an inspection, and never mention the deductible except to say it's theirs.

“Hi, I'm Dana with Northside Roofing. We're based on Elm Street, and here's my city permit. Tuesday's storm dropped hail on this part of town, and we're looking at roofs for the neighbors who asked. I noticed dents on your gutter downspout from the street.
Would you like a free inspection? It takes about 30 minutes, I'll photograph every slope, and you'll get the photos whether or not there's damage. If there is, you decide whether to call your insurer.”
If they ask about the deductible: “That's always yours to pay. Any roofer who offers to cover it is breaking the rules, and it can cause problems with your claim.”
If they say no: “No problem. Here's my card with our license number. If you see a stain on a ceiling in the next few weeks, give us a call.”

Leave a printed card or door hanger with your business name, address, license number and phone. If you want to text the homeowner, ask first and write down their yes; see the next section.

Can you text storm leads?

Yes, if they agreed to it. Under the FCC's rules, marketing calls and texts sent to cell phones with an autodialer or prerecorded voice need prior express written consent: a signed agreement, electronic is fine, that names the number and says consent isn't a condition of buying. The same rules bar telephone solicitations before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time, and to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, with exceptions such as a customer's signed permission. People can revoke consent any reasonable way, including replying STOP, QUIT, END or CANCEL, and you must honor it within 10 business days at most.

Inspection form or booking page: add a texting consent checkbox and keep the record.
At the door: ask “Is it OK if I text you the photos and a time?” and note the yes in the customer record.
Bought lists: don't assume the seller's consent covers you; ask for proof or call instead.
Past customers: text the ones who agreed; mail or call the others.

How fast should you follow up on a storm lead?

The same day, and within minutes for web leads, because a homeowner after a storm is often contacting several roofers at once. Our speed-to-lead guide covers the research and the setup. A storm week plan:

When	What to do
Within minutes	Call back web form leads; text back missed calls
Same day	Confirm the inspection time by text (if they agreed) or by phone
Day before	Reminder text with the inspector's name
At the inspection	Photos of every slope and collateral damage; the owner gets them that day
Within 48 hours	Send the estimate or a clear “no damage found” note
If they haven't decided	Follow up on day 2, 5 and 10, then stop

How do you stand out from storm chasers?

Show you're local: a real address, your license and city permit, and jobs on nearby streets.
Give the photos away. A homeowner with proof of no damage remembers who was honest.
Put warranties in writing and say who answers the phone in five years.
Never touch the deductible, and say so before they ask.

Where CrewRobin fits

Storm weeks are a phone problem first. CrewRobin's AI receptionist answers every call 24/7 with your business name, asks the problem, address, ZIP and urgency, checks your service area and books the inspection into your technicians' open times. Missed-call text-back sends a text within a minute of any call you miss. Your online booking page asks for texting consent. When a website form lead comes in, your phone rings, and pressing 1 calls the lead and connects you. Follow-up texts go out at the hours you choose (12, 24 and 36 hours by default) until the lead replies, books or says no, and STOP is honored. CrewRobin doesn't map hail, buy leads, handle insurance claims or manage door-knocking routes. See how it works for roofers.

Frequently asked questions

How do roofers get storm damage leads?

From past customers and their neighbors, inbound calls and searches after the storm, referrals, door knocking in neighborhoods where NOAA reports show hail, and bought lead lists. The first three close best and cost least.

Where can I find free hail reports?

NOAA's Storm Prediction Center posts preliminary hail, wind and tornado reports by day with location and hail size, as CSV and KML files, back to June 1, 1999. NCEI's Storm Events Database has the official records, a few months behind.

Do roofers need a permit to go door to door?

Often, yes. Many cities require a solicitor permit before knocking, sometimes with a background check and a photo ID card. Check the city's ordinance for every town you canvass.

Can a homeowner cancel a roofing contract signed at the door?

Usually. The FTC's Cooling-Off Rule lets buyers cancel a sale of $25 or more made at their home until midnight of the third business day. Some states add more, such as Florida's 10-day cancellation during a declared emergency.

Is it legal to text roofing leads?

Marketing texts sent with automated tools need prior express written consent under FCC rules, can't go out before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time, and must stop when the person replies STOP or revokes consent another reasonable way.

Put it to work this week

Answer every storm call, text back the ones you miss, and book inspections while the phone is still ringing. CrewRobin is free until your first 10 booked jobs, no card up front. Start free or see pricing.

Sources

Figures from outside CrewRobin were checked against these pages in October 2026. Most industry benchmarks come from vendors and agencies, so treat them as ranges, not rules.

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