When your car has been impacted by hail, you must have it repaired. Though it is often classified as a cosmetic repair, hail damage can significantly impact the value of your vehicle. Today, we will talk about how auto hail damage affects your auto insurance policy, the auto insurance claim process, and your auto insurance company’s preferred method of repairing hail damage. We will go over paintless dent repair and how hail damage is repaired.
If you are ready to repair your hail damaged vehicle, reach out to Capital Dent Masters in the Park Hill neighborhood of Denver. Specializing in auto hail repair, our auto body shop in Denver will work with you to return your vehicle to its original state, before and after the hail storm. Let us get started.
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How Do Hailstones Damage My Vehicle?
Wreaking havoc on crops, homes, and automobiles alike, hailstones pose a significant threat to Colorado residents. In order to fully understand how hailstones cause damage to your vehicle, let’s first remind ourselves what exactly hailstones are.
How are Hailstones Formed?
Hailstones are formed by water droplets freezing in the clouds. As the clouds collect raindrops, they float along the air currents across the sky. When the air currents go upward, raindrops are carried high into the atmosphere. At these higher altitudes, the temperature drops, and the raindrops freeze. The ice drops pick up more water and follow the current back up to the cold. When the air current no longer supports the weight of the hailstones, gravity takes over, and we find ourselves in a hail storm.
How Does Hailstone Size Impact the Damage?
Hail damage ranges from very severe to incredibly light, mainly depending on the size of the hailstones. High winds will also change the course of the hailstones and can intensify the impact as it falls. Even smaller than an inch, hail can leave dents on your vehicle, though nearly impossible to see with an untrained eye. Once the hailstones reach an inch in diameter, you can expect moderate to severe hail damage. After being hit by a hail storm, your vehicle will be reminiscent of a golf ball. These impacts damage the body of your car and can crack windshields, sunroof, and quarter panel glass. Depending on the diameter and size of the hail, it can also break the paint on your vehicle, which makes the repair process longer since it will need a new coat of paint after taking the dent out.
How Does Auto Hail Damage Affect My Auto Insurance Policy?
Hail damage to your vehicle can affect your auto insurance policy in a few different ways. The most critical part of how your auto insurance policy is impacted is what kind of coverage your policy offers. Since hail storms are an event caused by Mother Nature, there is not one person who can take fault for the damage. On insurance policies, hail storms are often classified as an “Act of God.” This clause means that your premium will not go up if you choose to repair your hail damaged vehicle. Most comprehensive auto insurance policies include this Act of God clause, so check with your provider to determine if your specific policy has it.
Repairing the hail damage on your vehicle is something auto insurance companies encourage, and many will cover repairs each time your car is caught in a hail storm. Please make sure to repair your vehicle each time it gets hail damage. If the damage accumulates with several hail storms, your car can be deemed a total loss, in which case the vehicle cannot be repaired. There are a few things to understand when repairing auto hail damage and as you move through the repair process.
Why is Hail Damage Considered a Cosmetic Repair?
It is almost always considered a cosmetic repair when hailstones hit your vehicle. The windshield, headlights, or windows may break in severe cases. However, because damage from hailstones does not change how the engine runs, it is classified as cosmetic damage. This does not mean that hail damage will not affect the value of your vehicle, however. Your vehicle’s value can remain intact if repaired on time, or it can decrease by several thousand dollars if left untreated.
Why Should I Repair the Hail Damage on My Vehicle?
Each time your vehicle is caught in a hail storm, make repairing your car as soon as possible a priority. Hail damage dramatically changes the value of your car, which is why your auto insurance provider prefers the damage to be repaired. While it may seem like an unnecessary fix, each dent on your vehicle averages about $60 to repair. Hail storms leave many dents, and vehicles can average $6,000 to repair. Here is where the cosmetic classification can be a bit blurry.
If you were driving and hit by another driver, it would be considered a collision repair. When the insurance adjuster arrives to see your vehicle, they will also look for damage unrelated to the accident. This allows the insurance to have a complete picture of the value the car was at before the collision. Auto insurance has every right to say “no” to cover your fender bender repairs if you are driving with hail damage.
If the hail damage is substantial enough, it can cause your vehicle to be marked as totaled (the total cost of repairs exceeds the value of your car) by your auto insurance adjuster, even just in a fender bender. Repairing the hail damage on your vehicle is a top priority for keeping your vehicle’s value as high as possible. Luckily, auto insurance companies have declared across the board that they prefer you repair any hail damage immediately after each storm. They have also chosen a preferred repair method: paintless dent repair.
What is Paintless Dent Repair?
Paintless Dent Repair, also referred to as PDR, is a method of repairing dents that do not affect your vehicle’s paint. This eco-friendly auto repair method has been around for the better part of a century. However, paintless dent repair has only recently been recognized as the preferred auto hail damage repair method for auto insurance companies. Specialized LED panel lights allow the PDR technician to see the precise curvature of each dent within the panel of your vehicle.
Vehicle designers today include what they called “factory access points” when building automobiles. These access points allow paintless dent repair technicians to guide metal rods between the panels of your vehicle. Using their strength and the help of specialized lights, PDR technicians use these rods to massage the metal dent back to its original shape tenderly.
Becoming a paintless dent repair technician takes dedication and a lot of time. Training is all-encompassing as you learn how to see each dent’s curvature, train your eye to be immaculate, and build your strength to bend the metal. Capital Dent Masters has been repairing hail damaged vehicles around the world for over a decade and brings worldwide experience to Denver, Colorado.
Auto Hail Repair Specialists in Denver, Colorado
For Coloradans, hail storms visit us multiple times a year. This makes it more critical to repair your auto hail damage after each hail storm. When two hail storms have hit a vehicle before repairs are completed, it is almost impossible to do so, rendering your vehicle a total loss. Capital Dent Masters is your local, family-owned auto body repair facility in Denver, Colorado. Located in Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood, our shop is conveniently accessible from all the Denver metro areas.
When a hail storm has impacted your vehicle, reach out to Capital Dent Masters. Our team of claim specialists will walk you through the repairs needed for your car, clarifying any part of the process and your options at each step of the way. We can also work directly with your auto insurance company, allowing you to focus on daily life rather than transmuting messages from your auto insurance to the auto repair shop.
When you decide to repair your vehicle with Capital Dent Masters, you will have a dedicated insurance specialist that guides you through the insurance claim process. They will sit down with you and explain how the process will go, and how to answer frequently asked questions by your insurance company. We have the ability to communicate directly with the insurance company once the claim is made.
At Capital Dent Masters, we also offer a variety of ways to help your daily life go unaffected while we are repairing your hail damaged vehicle. We are happy to cover up to $1,000 of your auto insurance policy deductible, diminishing or removing your cost of repairs out of pocket. We also offer assistance with a rental car and have an exclusive contract with a local rental car company.
