Golf ball sized hail came through the area last night. You might have some hail damage to your car. Here's what you should do next. 

First the bad news. If you only have collision insurance it won't cover any damage done by hail since it didn't happen during a collision. You need to have comprehensive insurance to get it covered, even then you will be paying your deductible.  If it's just a cracked windshield you might be in luck since some basic policies include glass coverage.

Your first option is to just leave it alone. The small dents won't affect the performance of your car so if the deductible or any other costs are more than you'd like to spend it will really only affect it's appearance and possibly it's resale value.

If you do want to repair it dentwizard.com has your plan of action.

  • Contact your auto insurance provider to see if the hail damage repair is covered in your policy. Every insurance company handles hail claims differently. Follow up with your agent if you do not know where to start the claim process.
  • Get your truck or car's damage appraised either through your insurance agency's claim drive, field inspection, or through a direct repair program like Dent Wizard.
  • Clean the exterior of your vehicle to ensure that the best estimate can be given.

There are two basic types of repair that can be done, Paintless Dent Repair (PDR) and conventional body repair. PDR is a process where they massage out any dents with metal rods and nothing is replaced. If the damage is too extreme then conventional body repair comes into play where they simply replace an entire panel.

I feel bad if you had some damage done but just be thankful that you yourself weren't outside during the storm. Hospital bills are way less fun that car bills.

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