You may have heard that the Denver area had a bit of a hail storm. If you were on the road at the time, you heard it literally, in the form of hundreds of ice balls pinging off your car. Or watching from inside your house or office.
Once the storm is over, you will have to contend with the damage? What if all those hail stones left dozens of tiny dents on your hood, or even shattered your windshield, as happened to many Denverite’s
This is what the affected car owners should know.
Insurance
Standard insurance policies, also known as collision insurance, won’t cover the body damage done by hail stones, because it didn’t happen during a car accident or liability coverage, won’t cover this damage.
You’d need to have an additional “comprehensive insurance’’ plan in order to have your hail damage covered, and even then, you’ll probably be paying a deductible for the repair.
Anyone who had their windshield cracked or shattered by hail might have better luck. “It would just be like a stone getting kicked up and hitting your windshield,’’.
Check to see if your insurance policy includes glass coverage. If it does, you’re covered and probably with no deductible.
Repairs
If we’re talking dozens of tiny dents all over the body panels of your car, you have a few paths forward, the first is to just leave it alone.
Then it’s just an appearance issue, it’s not really affecting how the car is going to perform.
If you’re looking to resell your car at some point in the future, the fact that it’s covered in dents will devalue your car. But if you plan to keep the car until it’s ready for the junkyard, and aren’t worried about it looking good on the road, then those little dents aren’t going to hurt you.
If you decide to pay for repairs, the standard route is to take the car to your usual dealership or body shop, but most likely this route will not be the cheapest option.
Look for companies who specializes in” PDR, paintless dent removal, a method that pops dented areas back into place, but can’t get rid of scratches or chips. These companies have specialized tools, and push the dents out from the inside, as long as the paint isn’t cracked, This is a workable solution.’
Although there are kits at some hardware stores that will let you try this method on your own, but you should use caution with this approach. Let the PDR professionals repair it.
The hail dents tend to be a little harder. They have to be literally massaged from the inside to get the dent out. The PDR technicians are talented and experienced with hail damage. When they’re done, you can’t see any dents.
The reputable shops, will prepare the estimate, review your insurance, arrange a car rental, and provide updates all the way through the repair. When the car is delivered, it will be on time, quality assurance and with a life time warranty. Some of these shops, will cover your deductible, pay for your rental and offer you a cash incentive. Zero out of pocket repair, this is the best option.
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