Should I Claim Hail Damage On My Car

Short Answer: Yes, if your vehicle was in a hail-affected area, you should call a paintless dent repair shop or your insurance company and schedule an inspection.

Getting an inspection by a professional should be your first step after a hail storm. Even if you see little to possibly no hail dents, you could overlook thousands of dollars in damage. Using our dent lights inside a building will show every dent on a vehicle, even ones smaller than a dime that does not appear to the naked eye, especially outdoors.

Why would I make a hail claim if I can’t see the dents?

More often than not, your vehicle has thousands of dollars of hail damage. How does this affect you? Depreciation. Whether you care about it cosmetically or not, you will lose tons of money when you sell or trade in your vehicle (especially trade-in). We are talking as much as $5,000 – $20,000+.

Hail damage can leave you with a lot more than just dents. Hail dents on the edge of panels will sometimes crack the paint. These cracks are often where the panel edge wraps around and are not immediately visible. Left untreated, these cracks will rust quickly. Once the rust spreads, the panel will need replacement, adding to the depreciation cost.  

But won’t making a hail damage claim raise my rates?

Making a claim on your hail damage will not raise your rates. After a large hail storm, the rates of everyone in the area increase, whether they made a claim or not. This is because the area where you are insured is considered a higher risk for the insurance company. Hail damage is considered an act of god, and you are at no fault. By not making a claim, you are paying a premium for a product you aren’t using. Paying thousands of dollars for insurance you never use doesn’t make sense. Maintaining the value and appearance of your vehicle with a service you already pay for…now that makes sense. 

I can’t be without a vehicle for long. How long will this all take?

Getting an estimate and starting an insurance claim with a paintless dent repair shop is the fastest way to get the ball rolling in the hail repair process. At a trusted shop, this will often eliminate the need for an insurance adjuster to appraise the vehicle, and you can leave your vehicle with the shop that day. 

Once this process is started, it can take up to a week before approval, depending on your insurance company and the shop you chose. If your chosen shop is persistent with the insurance company, this can take just a few days. After insurance approval, paintless dent repair should take a few days, depending on where you are in line. This is why it’s good to make an appointment with a shop as soon as possible.

Most policies have rental coverage so you won’t be without a vehicle during the hail damage repair process. If you don’t have rental coverage, a shop should be able to help you get one through their network of rental agencies.

To sum up, if your vehicle has no paint damage, repairing its hail damage should take only a few days and no longer than two weeks.