Dirty Secret Down
Five Dirty Secrets Your Insurance Company Doesn’t Want You To Know About Hail Damage
Your rates will NOT go up if you make a hail damage claim! The amount of your damage or cost of your repairs also does not effect your rates. So whether you have a few hundred dollars in damage verses several thousands, with hail damage the number is irrelevant.
The insurance companies know that approximately 50% of the cars damaged in the hail storm will never be repaired. This makes for a bit of a moral dilemma for the insurance company. Because they know half of the cars are not going to be repaired, they don’t reach out to you and let you know that you’re eligible for a claim and also the cars that have estimates written, a lot of the time, are written far below what it really costs to repair. This leads us to number 3 on our list.
Over 95% of the estimates written by insurance companies for hail damage on vehicles need what is called a supplement. What this means is when your vehicle comes in for a repair, there is a 95% or greater chance that your repairs will cost more than the original estimate. In some of the most extreme cases we have seen initial estimates that were four or five times lower than what they should have been. On a number of occasions, we have had insurance companies tell their clients that the damage is below their deductible and not worth repairing when in reality the damage was well into the thousands of dollars once properly estimated by a Paintless Dent Repair Professional. Rememeber this is a conflict of interest, they are the ones paying the bill. Don’t worry if you have had an estimate that is low the insurance company is obligated to pay the proper amount to have your car repaired, and we can handle all of those dealings for you!
Your rates will not be directly impacted if you make a hail damage claim. Hail damage and storm damage is considered an act of nature and fall under your comprehensive coverage. You’re still liable for your deductible, but unlike a collision where you were driving and ran into something, this type of claim does not count directly against you. Often times a comprehensive delectable is LESS than a collision deductible!
You are allowed to have your car repaired anywhere and you do not have to take it to the shop that your insurance company recommends. Most of the time when an insurance company recommends a body shop as one of their preferred shops or “certified” shops they have negotiated special rates and it is not always in the best interest of you the customer. Those decisions are normally made to financially protect the insurance company’s bottom line. Now, here is one thing you need to know, before you trade your car in if it has been in a hail storm. All of the car dealers are trained to inspect for hail damage. When you go to trade your car in, they will do a full inspection and if there is damage, they will deduct the full amount it will cost to repair your car. If you have gone past the statute of limitations to file a claim, your insurance company owes you nothing for the damage on your car. This one mistake can literally cost you thousands of dollars. At least have your vehicle inspected by a professional!