If your car was damaged in a hail storm, you may be wondering if your auto insurance company will cover the hail damage repair costs or if you’ll have to pay out of pocket. The severity of the hail damage will also impact the type of repair best suited to fix your vehicle, such as paintless dent repair or conventional autobody repairs, which directly affects the time and cost. Below is some information that will help you figure out whether or not your insurance will cover the cost of your repairs.
Auto Insurance Policies and Hail Damage Repair Coverage
The first step in figuring out whether or not your automotive policy coverage includes hail damage repair is to determine the type of coverage you have. You can do so by calling your insurance agent or contacting your insurer online to ask about your chosen policy. Here are two common types of auto insurance policies:
- Liability Coverage. This type of insurance policy is specific to car accidents where you are determined to be liable or “at fault” for the collision. This coverage applies to property damage or medical injuries caused by you to the other driver, after you pay your deductible and only up to the covered limit. This coverage does not include hail damage repair.
- Comprehensive Coverage. A comprehensive insurance policy covers damage that occurred for reasons besides a traffic collision: acts of nature (hail storms, flooding, fallen tree limbs), fire, vandalism, animal collisions, etc. Since hail damage results from severe weather, it’s classified as an act of nature that is covered under a comprehensive policy. You should also know that filing a hail damage insurance claim does not raise your rates. You’ll need to meet your deductible before your insurance company will pay for the remaining repair costs.
The type of plan you have will determine whether or not your hail damage repair costs are covered completely, partially or not at all by your insurance company. Note that you can change your policy after the damage occurs, but it still won’t retroactively apply to your pre-existing vehicle hail damage.
Hail Damage Repair Claims and Estimates
The amount of damage that your car sustains due to the hail storm will also determine whether or not your insurance company will cover the cost of repairs. For example, if the hail does enough damage that the cost of repairs exceeds the value of the car, your insurance company will declare it totaled and will not pay for the repairs. However, claims adjusters are not repair experts, and may incorrectly assess the value of your car or the extent of the damage. At times, your claims adjuster may undervalue your car, or may mistakenly estimate the cost of repairs as too high to be worth fixing. On the other end of the spectrum, it’s also possible that their estimate lowballs the cost of repairs, meaning you may end up paying more than your fair share if the actual repair cost is higher than the compensation you agreed upon.
That’s why you’ll need to get a professional estimate from a certified hail damage repair technician. Conventional repairs cost significantly more money and time to complete, but it’s possible that your car may be eligible for paintless dent repair, which is a much faster and more cost-effective repair option. This repair method methodically involves working out the dents rather than filling them in and painting over them, by massaging them out slowly – a process that restores rather than reduces your vehicle’s value.
If your car has been damaged by hail, make sure to get a quote from your local paintless dent repair shop before agreeing to the amount estimated by the claims adjuster. For assistance with filing your claim and negotiating with your insurance company to obtain fair compensation, reach out to us at Dent Shop today. Our skilled hail damage repair technicians offer the valuable expertise you need for accurate estimates and thorough repairs, and we provide top-notch customer service all the way through the claims process. Contact us today to experience the Dent Shop difference!