How To File Your Insurance Claim

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when your vehicle gets damaged by hail. Without comprehensive insurance coverage, auto hail damage repair can be extremely expensive. The average cost for hail damage repair is greater than $7500. By filing an insurance claim for hail damage, the cost of repair will be entirely covered by your insurance company. However, filing your claim can be tricky without guidance, so we’re here to help you understand the process of filing your claim for hail damage. 

Before You Can File A Claim For Hail Damage, Make Sure You Have Comprehensive Insurance

To avoid paying out-of-pocket for your auto hail damage repair, you should confirm with your insurance company that you have comprehensive insurance coverage on your insurance policy. 

Comprehensive insurance coverage covers damage outside the scope of a collision, such as hail damage, vandalism, contact with an animal, windshield damage, and more. Please keep in mind that your insurance company will not cover the cost of repair unless you have comprehensive coverage.

As a local Texas resident, you probably know how hail-prone the state is. If you need a refresher, here’s a quick overview of historical data compiled by the Insurance Information Institute:

• Almost 638,000 hail damage claims were filed from 2017 to 2019
• Over 600 hail events occurred from 2017 to 2019
• Texas is the most hail-prone state

If you’ve bought your vehicle with a loan, or you’re currently leasing it, your insurance company would’ve likely required you to purchase comprehensive insurance. However, if you’re not sure if your vehicle is insured with this coverage, it’s always best to contact your insurance company. 

The average cost of hail damage repair is greater than $7500. With comprehensive coverage, your insurance company will cover 100% of the hail damage repair cost for your car, truck or SUV.   

How Do I File A Claim For Auto Hail Damage

Before filing your insurance claim for hail damage, there are several questions that you should be prepared to answer beforehand:

1. On what date did your car incur hail damage?
2. What time did the damage occur?
3. Where was your vehicle located?
4. Was anyone injured?
5. Was anyone else in the car?
6. Were the police or ambulance called?

These are common questions that your insurance company will ask you when you file a claim for hail damage. If you don’t know the exact date, time, or location, please provide your best estimate of when and where the incident occurred. 

Once you’re ready to file your claim, the process of filing for hail damage can be simple or difficult, depending on the route you take. 

Route 1: Filing Your Claim Yourself. 

Depending on your company, there are different methods to file your claim such as through online methods via their webpage or mobile app, or you can send them an email or call their designated hotlines.

Here are quick links to file your claim with major car insurance companies:

• Geico
• State Farm
• USAA
• Progressive
• Allstate
• Liberty Mutual

The Downfall Of Filing Claims On Your Own

If this is your first time filing for auto hail damage, it can be very intimidating and confusing without guidance. Your insurance claim may take weeks to be approved and the estimate provided by your insurance company is typically lower than what we would’ve written. W 

Here Are Several Reasons Why Your Insurance Company’s Estimate Is Lower Than Ours

1. Insurance adjusters do not wipe down your vehicle before inspecting it and writing up an estimate. When a car is covered with dirt, dust, or grime, it’s easy to miss dents.
2. Insurance adjusters inspect vehicles without proper PDR lighting. Inspections tend to take place outside your home, office, or at any agreed location. Without proper PDR lights to identify even the smallest dents, most dents can go unnoticed under harsh sunlight. 
3. Insurance adjusters inspect vehicles out in the open. Without a proper covering (such as within a repair shop), it’s hard to control the lighting surrounding the vehicle to accurately identify dents. 

Lastly, it’s because it is not in the best interest of your insurance company to pay more than they should, whereas we want you to have the best and highest quality repair you deserve.

Route 2: Going To Body Shops

Body shops do not offer insurance assistance like helping you file your claim in your stead if you go to them for auto hail damage repair. Instead, you’ll end up filing your claim on your own. Not only that, your vehicle will spend weeks in the body shop with no real repair progress. Body shops will only begin your repair once your insurance check is in their hands. 

Route 3: Filing Your Claim With The Help Of Hail Specialists — The Best Method

At Hail Specialists, we help file your insurance claim for free. Unlike body shops and other repair facilities, we expedite the claim approval process by getting things done quickly. Your vehicle’s repair estimate is written and sent off to your insurance company the same day you bring your car to us. It doesn’t matter if you bring in your vehicle in the morning, afternoon, or evening -your insurance adjuster will receive our estimates on the same day. On average, insurance claims filed by us are approved in 1-3 days.

Choosing A Repair Facility: Paintless Dent Repair Specialists vs. Traditional Body Shops

When it comes down to who will deliver a better repair for your car in terms of quality and time, shops specializing in Paintless Dent Repair like us win over traditional body shops. Why? 

Here are several reasons why:

1. Paintless Dent Repair (PDR) is the preferred method for hail damage repair. It is an advanced restorative technique that massages dents out of your vehicle’s body without disrupting paint. 
2. Paintless Dent Repair does not require new paint or body fillers to remove dents. This allows you to maintain your car’s market value. Traditional body shops often use fillers and new paint to remove dents that will devalue your car.
3. Unlike body shops, Paintless Dent Repair allows for quick turnover. What this means is that your car won’t be stuck in the facility for weeks. At Hail Specialists, all of our Paintless Dent Repairs are completed in 1 to 3 days. 
4. We never choose the easy way out with your repair. We are against panel, roof, and hood replacements because they greatly devalue your vehicle. As long as the hail damage on your vehicle is deemed repairable, we will do our best to remove it via PDR. Most body shops would rather replace parts than repair dents via PDR because it’s easier. However, with panel, hood or roof replacements, ordering new parts for your vehicle will also increase the overall repair time. This is why we only perform PDR to quicken your repair time!

In Conclusion: Filing For Hail Damage Is Easy With Hail Specialists

When you want your hail damage repair process as stress-free as possible, Hail Specialists is there for you. 

Starting from filing your hail damage insurance claim, we’ll handle everything related to your insurance company and the repair process itself without troubling you. 

Plus, we take pride in our speedy repairs! Take it from us when we say we won’t stall your repair just because we haven’t received your insurance company’s check. Most body shops would only perform your repair once the check is in their hands — and this might take a while. We’ve had customers who’ve had their vehicles in body shops for over 3 weeks without any signs of repair progress before they’ve decided to come to us instead. Whereas we want your vehicle back in YOUR possession asap.

Call us now at 737-274-0500 or request your FREE auto hail damage assessment in McKinney, Texas today!

PS: We cover up to $1000 for your deductible too!

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