Key numbers
Sixteen U.S. states had severe hail affect more than 20% of roofs in 2025, up from 12 states in 2024 (Insurance Journal (reporting Verisk), 2025).
| 67.5% | According to Remodeling's 2025 Cost vs. Value Report, the national average asphalt shingle roof replacement cost $31,871 and recouped 67.5% at resale. Source: Remodeling / JLC (Zonda), 2025 |
|---|---|
| About 1 | In IBHS's 2024 field campaign, 26 of 32 shingle test panels were hit by hail about 1 inch or larger. Source: Roofing Contractor, 2024 |
| 49% | Replacement projects such as roofing, windows and HVAC accounted for 49% of U.S. homeowner improvement spending in 2023. Source: Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, 2023 |
For many homeowners in Stetson Hills and the rest of northeast Colorado Springs, a Class 4 impact-resistant roof is worth it if hail claims keep coming, you plan to stay several years, and your insurer offers a premium discount or deductible savings for it. A Class 4 roof will not make a house hail-proof, but it resists the moderate hail that totals standard shingles, which can mean fewer claims, fewer deductibles paid, and less time living with a damaged roof. The way to decide is to put three numbers side by side: the upgrade cost, the yearly insurance savings, and your hail deductible.
Why Stetson Hills homeowners ask
We first wrote about Stetson Hills in 2010, after a July 4 storm. The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center logged hail reports on the city’s east side that evening, including 1.5-inch hail 5 miles north of Peterson Air Force Base and 1.75-inch hail at Powers Boulevard and Palmer Park. One of our clients there, Ray, had replaced his roof several times and asked us, “This is getting old, what can I do about it?” On September 3, 2010 our crew installed an impact-resistant roof system on his home, with impact-resistant ridge cap as well as field shingles, and his insurer gave him a premium reduction.
That question is still the right one. Repeated claims mean repeated deductibles, and the Colorado Division of Insurance notes that many policies now carry wind and hail deductibles set as a percentage of coverage, for example 1, 2 or 5 percent. On a home insured for $400,000, a 1 percent deductible is $4,000 per claim.
What Class 4 means
Class 4 is the highest impact rating under the UL 2218 standard. Owens Corning’s Duration FLEX line, which we install as an Owens Corning Platinum Preferred contractor, carries a UL 2218 Class 4 rating and is made with SBS polymer modified asphalt for flexibility. A roof system matters too: matching impact-resistant hip and ridge caps, not just the field shingles.
For the full product and test comparison, see Class IV shingle comparisons. For the statewide cost-and-insurance view, see is a Class 4 shingle system worth the investment.
Running the numbers for your house
| Number | Where to get it | What to compare |
|---|---|---|
| Upgrade cost | Your roofing estimate: standard vs Class 4 | One-time cost |
| Insurance savings | Ask your insurer or agent in writing | Yearly premium discount and any deductible change |
| Hail deductible | Your declarations page | What each future claim costs you |
| Years you will stay | You | How long you collect the savings |
If the yearly savings times the years you will stay comes close to the upgrade cost, and you avoid even one deductible, Class 4 usually pays off. If you are selling soon, a standard roof may be the better value; the big-picture decisions before roofing a home helps with that call, and what you gain from a new roof covers the other benefits.
What Class 4 will not do
- It will not stop very large hail from damaging a roof.
- It does not change what your policy covers for the current claim; upgrades are your cost.
- It does not replace good installation: valleys, flashing and ridge still have to be done right.
- Older impact-resistant shingles, like all asphalt, become less flexible with age.
Weighing metal instead? Read whether insurance will pay for a hail-dented metal roof first.
Comparing contractors for an upgrade? Make sure each bid prices the same Class 4 line and the same ridge cap; why the cheapest bid can cost more explains how to compare. And for how Class 4 stacks up against metal, tile and standard shingles, see which roofing materials hold up in Colorado.
Integrity Roofing and Painting is veteran-owned and family-run since 1990, with 650+ Google reviews and our office at 115 N Union Blvd. Call (719) 488-2800 or book a free inspection; we document any hail damage with photos, the claim stays yours, and we make sure nothing gets missed in the scope. We respond the same business day.
Sources: NWS Storm Prediction Center, storm reports for July 4, 2010; Owens Corning, Duration FLEX (2019); Colorado Division of Insurance hail advisory (May 22, 2024); Colorado DOI consumer advisory (May 31, 2024).
