We Accept All Insurance Claims
Does all or part of your car dent repair work involve an insurance claim? Dealer's Hail & Specialty has you covered! We've worked with numerous insurance companies and fleet managers over the years on everything from universal PDR cost and dent repair pricing charts, to helping build and scale in-house Catastrophe Response Teams, so our staff is familiar with the specific procedures of each organization. Additionally, most major national and regional insurance companies have recognized us a Preferred Vendor for PDR and auto hail repair, allowing us to significantly reduce the time needed to process CAT claims and repair hail damaged vehicles. No matter who your policy is with, if you have a hail damage insurance claim or a question about any part of the process, please call us today. Our team of Hail Damage Insurance Claim Experts will coordinate directly with the insurance company and one of our PDR dent repair managers, streamlining the process to make sure your experience with a hail damage insurance claim or paintless dent removal is pleasant, short lived and completely hassle free.
Dealer's Hail & Specialty is a Preferred Vendor for auto hail repair with all major insurance companies!
Hail Damage Car Insurance Claims
Between the mobility and independence they provide and the often significant financial cost of ownership, for most consumers an automobile is one of their household's most prized assets. Aside from a collision with another object or vehicle, few things diminish the value of a car as quickly as a hailstorm. And while many people get very upset after seeing their hail damaged car covered with dents, most are relieved to learn that their auto insurance policy provides coverage for hailstorm damage as, thankfully, around 80% of vehicle owners in the U.S. carry comprehensive coverage on their car insurance policies. Unlike coverages for a collision or liability damage, comprehensive auto insurance protects against vehicle damage caused8lik by no fault of the owner, such as theft or vandalism, flooding, and hail.
Once you notify your insurance company that your vehicle has sustained damage, which you should do as soon as possible, the claims process is initiated. Some insurance companies will ask that you take your vehicle somewhere and get an estimate for the cost of repairs. Other insurers will want to have the vehicle inspected by one of their own in-house claims adjusters. Using a PDR dent repair price chart, or hail matrix, the insurance adjuster will estimate the hail damaged car's repair cost using paintless dent removal if possible, or in some cases, traditional auto body repair methods, along with the cost to replace any hail damaged moldings or broken glass and any other expense required to restore the vehicle to pre-loss condition. When a major weather related event like a flood or hail storm takes place, causing a surge of property damage claims in a somewhat localized area, many insurance companies deploy a special team of loss adjusters who are trained to mange claims during catastrophe situations. These "CAT" teams, as they are called, usually work to establish a location for a drive-in inspection site for processing damaged vehicle claims. This allows the CAT team adjusters to centralize their claims workflow and inspect hail damaged vehicles in the most efficient way. While convenient, these claims drive-ins are not always to the benefit of the insured, particularly when involving hail damaged vehicle claims. The workflow is often hurried while the lighting and other visual conditions are less than optimal. The resulting estimates, as you can probably guess, tend to be for much less than the actual cost to repair the vehicle's hail damage. Knowing this, many insurance companies will issue their customers a check on the spot for the low estimate amount, in hopes that many will end up using the money for other things, and thus never even know they were not properly compensated for their vehicle's damage. Over the course of a storm season, with thousands of hail damaged car insurance claims, these tactics save insurance companies millions of dollars each year.
Some insurance companies almost encourage their customers not to repair their vehicle's hail damage, knowing they have written a low estimate. For most vehicle owners still making payments to a lien holder, however, not repairing their car's hail damage will be a huge mistake financially down the road. In fact, according to the Consumer Advocacy Institute 70% of vehicle owners who choose not to have their car's hail damage repaired will find themselves still owing at least $5,000 more on their vehicle than it's worth at trade-in time. Because of this, most lenders require that you have repairs made on a hail damaged vehicle that is financed, though some lenders will allow you to apply the insurance payment against the balance of your loan. For those who are leasing their vehicle, the consequences of not repairing their car's hail damage can be even greater, costing them thousands of dollars in penalties when they turn the vehicle in. Over time, all vehicles depreciate in value, even when kept in pristine condition. Unfortunately this effect is dramatically accelerated when a car sustains hail damage that isn't repaired.
The other unscrupulous tactic many insurance companies like to use on hail damaged vehicle claims is called steering. By law you are free to have your vehicle repaired at any facility you choose, however some insurance companies aggressively try to "steer" their customers into using one of their "in network" repair shops. These are repair facilities with whom the insurance company has pre-negotiated discounted labor rates and they are contractually obligated to look out for the interests of the insurer, not the customer, and are literally required to do what is most cost effective, instead of what is best.
1-3 Day Repair Time - 100% Satisfaction Guarantee - Lifetime Warranty - Free Loaner Car
For most vehicle owners still making payments on their vehicle, not repairing their car hail damage will be a huge mistake financially down the road. For more insurance claim do's and don'ts and great auto hail repair insider tips check out our hail damage car insurance claim FAQ's. Most insurance companies will try to steer you to one of their "in network" shops at this point, but you are actually free to have your hail damaged car repair done at a facility of your choosing, which usually results in a much higher repair quality, and often a much lower cost. For instance an independent dent repair shop does not have to follow the insurance company's pricing policies, and can usually reduce or even waive a customer's deductible amount. At Dealer's Hail & Specialty, we have worked hard to create a flawless customer experience which is underscored by our commitment to restoring your hail damaged car to full, pre-loss value with zero out of pocket costs to you!
Once you notify your insurance company that your vehicle has sustained damage, which you should do as soon as possible, the claims process is initiated. Some insurance companies will ask that you take your vehicle somewhere and get an estimate for the cost of repairs. Other insurers will want to have the vehicle inspected by one of their own in-house claims adjusters. Using a PDR dent repair price chart, or hail matrix, the insurance adjuster will estimate the hail damaged car's repair cost using paintless dent removal if possible, or in some cases, traditional auto body repair methods, along with the cost to replace any hail damaged moldings or broken glass and any other expense required to restore the vehicle to pre-loss condition. When a major weather related event like a flood or hail storm takes place, causing a surge of property damage claims in a somewhat localized area, many insurance companies deploy a special team of loss adjusters who are trained to mange claims during catastrophe situations. These "CAT" teams, as they are called, usually work to establish a location for a drive-in inspection site for processing damaged vehicle claims. This allows the CAT team adjusters to centralize their claims workflow and inspect hail damaged vehicles in the most efficient way. While convenient, these claims drive-ins are not always to the benefit of the insured, particularly when involving hail damaged vehicle claims. The workflow is often hurried while the lighting and other visual conditions are less than optimal. The resulting estimates, as you can probably guess, tend to be for much less than the actual cost to repair the vehicle's hail damage. Knowing this, many insurance companies will issue their customers a check on the spot for the low estimate amount, in hopes that many will end up using the money for other things, and thus never even know they were not properly compensated for their vehicle's damage. Over the course of a storm season, with thousands of hail damaged car insurance claims, these tactics save insurance companies millions of dollars each year.
Some insurance companies almost encourage their customers not to repair their vehicle's hail damage, knowing they have written a low estimate. For most vehicle owners still making payments to a lien holder, however, not repairing their car's hail damage will be a huge mistake financially down the road. In fact, according to the Consumer Advocacy Institute 70% of vehicle owners who choose not to have their car's hail damage repaired will find themselves still owing at least $5,000 more on their vehicle than it's worth at trade-in time. Because of this, most lenders require that you have repairs made on a hail damaged vehicle that is financed, though some lenders will allow you to apply the insurance payment against the balance of your loan. For those who are leasing their vehicle, the consequences of not repairing their car's hail damage can be even greater, costing them thousands of dollars in penalties when they turn the vehicle in. Over time, all vehicles depreciate in value, even when kept in pristine condition. Unfortunately this effect is dramatically accelerated when a car sustains hail damage that isn't repaired.
The other unscrupulous tactic many insurance companies like to use on hail damaged vehicle claims is called steering. By law you are free to have your vehicle repaired at any facility you choose, however some insurance companies aggressively try to "steer" their customers into using one of their "in network" repair shops. These are repair facilities with whom the insurance company has pre-negotiated discounted labor rates and they are contractually obligated to look out for the interests of the insurer, not the customer, and are literally required to do what is most cost effective, instead of what is best.
1-3 Day Repair Time - 100% Satisfaction Guarantee - Lifetime Warranty - Free Loaner Car
For most vehicle owners still making payments on their vehicle, not repairing their car hail damage will be a huge mistake financially down the road. For more insurance claim do's and don'ts and great auto hail repair insider tips check out our hail damage car insurance claim FAQ's. Most insurance companies will try to steer you to one of their "in network" shops at this point, but you are actually free to have your hail damaged car repair done at a facility of your choosing, which usually results in a much higher repair quality, and often a much lower cost. For instance an independent dent repair shop does not have to follow the insurance company's pricing policies, and can usually reduce or even waive a customer's deductible amount. At Dealer's Hail & Specialty, we have worked hard to create a flawless customer experience which is underscored by our commitment to restoring your hail damaged car to full, pre-loss value with zero out of pocket costs to you!
