How To Identify And Deal With Hail Damage

While manufacturers make most modern cars to high standards, hail storms can still cause significant damage. Large stones falling at terminal velocity can easily dent the bodywork.

The amount of damage hailstorms cause varies according to the size, weight, and speed of falling hailstones. Seemingly severe storms often result in virtually no damage, while milder ones produce noticeable dents in your vehicle. If stones are more than an inch in diameter, they can impact cars with the same energy as a golf ball driven off a tee.

How much damage your car experiences also depends on vehicle construction. Some cars are more robust than others. Again, shape, size, type of metal used, and even color all define the extent of vehicle damage. Following a storm, owners may notice anything from minor, hardly noticeable dents in the bodywork to full-blown holes in corroded areas.

Does Hail Damage All Parts Of The Vehicle?

Hail doesn’t damage all parts of the vehicle equally. Metal body panels on upward-facing surfaces fare worse, while side panels and plastic elements do better. If the hailstorm is severe, you may notice damage to the roof and hood.

Plastic or rubber exterior elements also fare better because they are natural shock absorbers. Moldings around the windows and doors can also require repair.

Fortunately, repairing hail damage is a straightforward process. Specialists can remove dents using various tools and processes (or, in extreme cases, replace panels outright). They can also repair plastic elements around the doors and windows, though this is rare.

How To Deal With Hail Damage

If your vehicle has been damaged by hail, here’s what you need to do:

Call Your Insurance Company

Call your insurance company as soon as you notice hail damage on your vehicle. Most policies offer coverage for this, protecting you against weather-related damage that could leave you out of pocket.

When you call your insurer, they will connect you with an adjuster. An adjuster is a professional who calculates the value of the damage done to your vehicle.

Get Your Estimate Done

The adjuster will need to physically review the damage to your vehicle to determine an estimate of how much it will cost to repair. Appraisals can be done by a third-party specialist, independent appraisers, or here at Canadian Dent.

Wait For The Insurance Company To Review The Estimate

Once the adjuster appraises your vehicle, they will return their findings to the insurance firm. The insurer will then review the damage and decide what repairs the car needs. In 90 percent of cases, it is possible to remove dents from existing panels and make the vehicle look new again. However, we may need to replace the hood or roof panels in rarer cases where the hail damage is severe.

Get Us To Carry Out Repairs

Once your insurer approves repairs, we can get to work.

Paintless dent repair techniques are employed, and hail damage is gently massaged from behind the affected panel. Sometimes we can also “pull” dents from the outside when access behind the panel is impossible. Through these PDR techniques, we can effectively remove all evidence of hail dents, which results in restoring the surface to its original factory finish.” We may also use other methods, depending on the condition of your vehicle.

We Invoice The Insurance Company

Once we finish the work, we invoice the insurance company for the bill. You must pay the deductible stated on your policy when you pick up your vehicle. If your deductible is zero, you won’t have to pay anything.

Conclusion: Always Repair Hail Damage As Soon As Possible

Most insurers put time limits for how long you can claim for hail damage after a storm (usually two years). However, you should check your policy wording carefully in case you have less time.

We recommend dealing with hail damage as soon as it occurs. This way, you can get your vehicle back to normal as quickly as possible. If you wait longer than two years, the insurance company may refuse your claim outright, leaving you with an expensive out-of-pocket repair bill.