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 an experienced hail repair service driven to take care of both your car and your insurance claim.

We’ll give you clear, transparent information from day one to ensure you’re always in the know when it comes to the repair as well as the insurance claim.

We’ve also earned our reputation as one of the very best PDR providers in the U.S. Not only that, but we provide a free auto dent repair quotation directly on our website. Filling this in will let you know what to expect throughout the repair process.

If you want to find out more about hail damage repair, or how StormWise can help, make sure you contact us directly. Our team is on hand to answer any hail damage repair questions you have!