Paintless Dent Repair

The Cost of a Hail Storm It’s surprising to most how much damage a hailstorm can do: what looks like a few dimples here and there on your car can actually cost thousands of dollars to fix. But the real question is: will your insurance cover the car hail damage repair cost? There are 3 different types of insurance coverage a car can have. If you have comprehensive coverage, you’re in luck. If you have liability-only insurance for your car or truck, the hail damage will not be covered.  However, if you don’t have comprehensive insurance or want to keep the insurance payout and sell your vehicle, you may be wondering how much un-repaired hail damage can devalue your car. It depends on the situation. Minimal hail damage is mainly cosmetic, but more serious damage can make a car undrivable. In general, it’s best to get car hail damage repaired as soon as possible — it could just save the value of your car. How Much Does It Cost To Repair Hail Damage? (Click to view the infographic) The cost to repair the damage can be quite steep. The average cost of auto hail repairs is $6,500 (After more than 20 years fixing hail-damaged cars, we know!). Repair costs could be as little as $2,500, or as high as $16,000, depending on various factors that will affect how the hail damage is estimated.  While some mistakenly are told that hail dents can be repaired for as little as a few hundred dollars, beware that that is not referring to a bumper-to-bumper full hail repair. A small dent repair job may be relatively inexpensive, but when several panels have numerous dents, the price will likely be in the thousands.   Car Value And Insurance Hail Coverage If you have comprehensive insurance to cover your hail damage, is it worth filing a hail claim?  For extensive hail damage, the rule of thumb is that if the damage exceeds your comprehensive deductible, it’s advisable to fix it. But if the repair cost exceeds around 50% to 60% of your car’s value, your vehicle might be considered a total loss, otherwise known as “totaled.” If the repair cost does exceed 50% to 60% of your car’s value, you should still consider making the claim.  Just keep in mind that if your car is deemed totaled by the insurance, the hail repair claim could become part of the Carfax vehicle history report—information that is public to potential car buyers. This could knock thousands of dollars off your car’s trade value when you go to sell it.   How To Determine a Car’s Value After Hail Damage? The value of your car is evaluated on the following factors: The type and condition of your car The age of your car (mileage) Additional add-on features The industry standard for new and used car value is based on Kelley Blue Book (kbb.com). You can also get a rough idea of pricing from the National Automotive Dealers Association website. How Much Does Insurance Pay For Hail Damage? Once you file a hail claim, the insurance company will typically schedule an adjuster appointment to look at the damage and write an estimate. Since COVID-19, however, many insurance providers have been moving away from field adjusters and towards virtual estimating techniques. Either way, an adjuster will inspect the car in person or virtually. Then, they will put together an estimate for the repairs. From there, they will send you or the repair facility a check. This is typically a two-party check with both the insured and the repair facility listed. They do this to ensure the car gets fixed. If you haven’t selected a repair facility by the time the insurance is ready to initiate payment, they will sometimes make it out as a two-party check to you and your lien holder. The lien holder is the bank who has loaned you the money for the car. This is because technically you don’t own the car until it’s paid off. If you own the car outright, the insurance company may also simply mail you a check for the estimate minus your deductible. Sounds pretty straightforward, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not always like that. In fact, 99% of the time, the estimate you receive from a repair shop will be higher than your insurance tells you. That’s because the initial estimate from the adjuster didn’t capture all the damage. If that happens, don’t panic. A qualified provider (like us!) will write a list of items your insurance didn’t capture and send it to your adjuster to approve. This is called a “supplement.” An insurance supplement is a complicated matter, but it can be done.  Besides the cost to fix the hail damage, your insurance policy may also cover a rental car while your car is in the shop being repaired. Even if your policy doesn’t include rental car coverage, if you fix your hail damaged car at StormWise, we’ll provide a loaner free of charge.*. Plus, we can usually help cover your deductible—simply ask one of our helpful customer representatives about the offer. Will Filing For A Hail Repair Increase My Insurance Premium? The short answer is NO, as hail damage is considered an Act of Nature. However, most insurance companies would tell you that they keep a record of every hail claim, and if you have an exorbitant amount of hail claims, they could drop you. We see this in very rare cases, and it only happens when it’s questionable whether the hail claims are legitimate. Insurance companies actually make up the loss when catastrophic hail damages a large number of cars and homes in one zip code by raising the rates for everyone in the affected area. They get away with this as it’s not technically singling any one individual out who has made a hail claim, but rather everyone in the area, whether they made a claim or not. Upon the next renewal, everyone will have slightly higher

In June 2020, a hailstorm rolled through the front range. The intense storm set off national weather alerts and produced pea-sized to golf ball-sized hail stones. One storm even dropped up to 5.5-inch large pieces of hail in Castle Rock. Even if you’ve only had quarter-sized hail stones in your area, it may still pose significant damage – small hailstones can actually reach speeds of 20 mph and usually come down in greater quantities than large hail, creating a higher risk for damage.  We have already seen extensive damage from the June 2020 storm to the tune of $7,000 to $8,000 in damage, and our customers showed us photos of the hail damage that was no larger than a grape. If you were caught in that particular hailstorm, you might have wondered how you could fix all the dents and cracks or broken parts (windshields, taillights, etc.) and how much to fix hail damage on car. Average Hail Damage Repair Cost Based on our database, out of 700 cars StormWise fixed, the average cost is $9,000.It could vary between $2,511 and $16,875, depending on the true extent of the damage. We wrote an in-depth article explaining the ins and outs of a hail damage estimate. Click here to learn how hail damage is assessed on a car. You can also get a free estimate using our auto hail repair cost calculator. These hail damage repair costs don’t look pretty, so you may be wondering if the hail damage on your car may even be worth fixing. Is It Worth Fixing Hail Damage On A Car? Hail damage is complicated for several reasons. The storm is made up of heavy ice balls formed in the upper a YES, definitely—and if you’re ready to get your car fixed, here are your dent repair options. It may seem like you’re spending too much just to take care of cosmetic issues, but these seemingly minor damages can progress to more expensive repairs down the road. There are three main reasons you should fix hail damage:  1. It will maintain your car’s value and keep factory paint warranty  2. If an accident happens, insurance won’t refuse payment because of pre-existing conditions  3. Avoiding further damages How Much Does Hail Damage Devalue a Car? If you’re wondering how much hail damage devalues a car, your vehicle’s overall value plummets significantly even if the damage is purely cosmetic. This is why it’s advisable to have a hail-damaged car repaired by a trusted PDR technician right away—it’s to preserve the vehicle’s value as well as the factory finish. A few factors to look at to get a better understanding of how hail damage devalues your car: Does your car have any add-on components? How old is your car? (Mileage) What type of car do you have? What condition is it in? No one wants their car’s value to drop significantly, so can you use your auto insurance to address the hail damage? Will Auto Insurance Pay For Hail Damage Repair? There is some good news: your auto insurance may have you covered – that is, if you have comprehensive coverage (NOT liability-only or collision insurance). Comprehensive claims cover “Acts of Nature” and do not affect your rates whatsoever. If you have full coverage, you’d likely have a comprehensive policy included, which means the damage can be fixed without increasing your insurance premiums. Sometimes, the minor hail damage may not be enough to meet your deductible, while some severe hail damage can total even a brand-new car. Can a totaled hail damage car still be saved? To determine whether the car can be repaired or totaled, make sure to talk to a professional hail repair company. StormWise employs reputable and experienced paintless dent repair technicians that can talk you through your options and help file an insurance claim. OUR 2-Cents on Insurance Coverage According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), Colorado had the second-highest number of hail claims in the US from 2016 to 2018. If you live in Colorado Springs (or other cities in Colorado), it’s essential to have comprehensive coverage to prevent you from paying for hail damage. Insurance companies sometimes prevent individuals from purchasing last-minute coverage right before a disastrous weather event is predicted to occur. If you just moved to beautiful Colorado from another state and haven’t checked your auto insurance coverage for a long time, it’s a good idea to review it now. About Hail Damage Insurance Statute of Limitations If your vehicle has been damaged in a hailstorm, you should have it inspected and repaired immediately. Most insurance companies will have a statute of limitations for hail damage, so to take advantage of your auto insurance policy, have the vehicle inspected and repaired as soon as possible.  When you drive around with what the insurance company calls “unrepaired damage,” you’re already running a risk. If you get into an accident and your car is a total loss, the insurance can net off the amount of unrepaired damage that you have on the car, which would decrease the payout you would receive for the total loss. This can be extremely disastrous if you owe more on the loan than what the insurance pays out to you! Even if you have “gap coverage” through your lienholder, that DOES NOT cover any difference in the insurance company’s payout due to unrepaired damage. If you are to file a claim (perhaps for the hail damage from a recent hailstorm), keep in mind that your car won’t be the only one affected by the hailstorm. It may take longer than usual to process your insurance claim and repair your vehicle, but it’s more important than ever to act quickly to ensure you repair the damage quickly. Quick Turnaround and Virtual Estimate at StormWise Most hailstorms occur from May to July in Colorado but sometimes start early in April and can last until September.  When there’s a huge hailstorm, automotive body shops can get backed up for months!

Everything You Need to Know About Hail Damage Repair There hasn’t been a significant hailstorm in the Denver, Colorado area for almost eight months. Because of that, it’s likely few drivers in the area will be thinking about driving through hail any time soon. But the reality is that the hail season typically starts around May and June in Colorado, meaning it could begin imminently. Nobody expects the weather to have a significant impact on their vehicle, but hail is a different beast. If you’ve been caught by it, you’ll know how bad hail damage can be to your car. But few people know the ins and outs of hail damage repair. That’s why we here at StormWise have written this post to outline the realities of hail damage repair. We’ll briefly cover what to expect with hail damage, how repairs are typically dealt with, and how much it will cost.  That way, you won’t be caught out when the hail season starts! What Is Hail Damage? Hail damage is a fairly self-explanatory form of vehicle damage. It relates to any damage sustained by a vehicle resulting from being caught in a hail storm. Hail damage is typically felt on the exterior of a car, in the form of large hail-shaped dents. Unlike most other types of vehicle damage, hail damage usually impacts the entirety of a car’s exterior. This is because, unlike other accidents, the damage isn’t concentrated. Instead, the hail shows little care for a target zone and simply pummels your car with little care as to the result. In some good news, hail damage will often only affect the outer areas of a car rather than the internal framing or key functions. But this still means you’ll have an unsightly vehicle pummelled full of holes, even if the damage is only to the outside. Now that you know the basics of what hail damage is, let’s go into greater detail on how hail damage repair works. What Does Hail Damage Repair for a Car Consist Of? When it comes to hail damage repair, the first stage in the process should always be in the form of inspection. If someone is quoting you any kind of car repair before seeing the vehicle in question, they likely aren’t reliable. A thorough inspection allows the repair company to assess the damage first-hand. This can often be done either in-house or on-site by a repair company. As an advanced hail damage repair provider, we at StormWise make it possible to even schedule an entirely remote inspection, using a virtual video chat service – try our virtual estimate today. Once the damage has been assessed, you’ll likely need to talk about insurance if a claim hasn’t been filed. This is something a reputable company like StormWise can assist with. We’ll provide more details on that in the relevant section below. After this, the real repair process starts. During a hail damage repair, your repair service provider should send you updates regularly. A proper hail damage repair provider should, in most scenarios, be able to conduct a paintless repair of any minor hail damage. These advanced techniques ensure a car can be repaired without any sanding, filling, or painting (usually a costly part of the process) at all. There are times, however, where the size of the hail stone has damaged the paint itself already, and when that’s the case, repainting will be necessary to seal the panel and prevent any sort of rust from beginning. This process where the vehicle is repaired without the use of any painting is known as paintless dent repair or PDR. What is Paintless Dent Repair (PDR)? Paintless dent repair is an advanced and complicated repair process, but we’ll try to explain it in brief. Essentially, PDR is a way of repairing dents on a vehicle by reshaping a damaged panel, rather than sanding, filling and painting the dents. This is a considerably quicker, more efficient, and superior solution to hail damage repair overall. But it requires a skilled technician to complete successfully. The technician will need to deftly manipulate dents using precise measurements and movements in the metal.  With large dents caused by bigger chunks of hail, this can be a multi-stage process. The result is a car that looks as good as new, without having to repaint or perform any other significant repairs beyond the sophisticated PDR process. Learn even more about PDR through our detailed page on this topic. How Much Does Hail Damage Repair Usually Cost? When it comes to the cost of hail damage repair, it’s tough to pin down to a single figure. This is because every vehicle is different, and every hail storm is also different. A slight storm may have only caused a few dents in your car, whereas a huge storm with large hail may have caused significantly more damage. This is why the inspection aspect of the repair process is so important, as it is where a full assessment of the damage can be considered. Luckily, you can usually rely on your insurance provider when it comes to paying for hail repair. A full coverage car insurance policy will class hail damage as a comprehensive claim. This is because hail is an uncontrollable “Act of Nature” and occurs through no-fault of the driver or another vehicle on the road. Where Can I Get Help With Filing a Hail Damage Insurance Claim? Filing an insurance claim isn’t an everyday process, which is understandably why many people need assistance. Luckily, StormWise can help with anything hail damage insurance-related. We specialize in automotive claims and are happy to be the primary contact in any PDR claim for our clients. That means we deal directly with your insurance provider so that you don’t have to. Our assistance with the insurance process works to make the entire hail damage repair process go much smoother for everyone involved. Where Can I Get Help With My Hail Damage Repair? Here at StormWise, we provide