Hail damage question

[Texas Proud]

OK... there has to be someone who has gone through this in the group...

This last weekend we had a hail storm come through.... it was coming down fast and hard... I had parked or new truck under a tree hoping it would be protected... (in a way it was since it did not get as dented as the others)...


Now, we have 3 cars with many many dents... I counted over 30 on one hood... two cars have dents on the hood, the roof, the trunk, the sills above the window and even a few on the side of the car.... we will have an adjustor coming by this weekend...

Can you tell me what kind of settlement you got Is it expensive to get the cars fixed Two are small cars, 5 and 6 years old.... one is a brand new SUV...


Also, my main question... what about your roof I am starting to get people coming by talking about 'hail damaged roofs'... I bet I have one... it is about 19 years old... so would the insurance pay for a new one Or do I have to come out of pocket for a good amount

 

[REWahoo]

Also, my main question... what about your roof I am starting to get people coming by talking about 'hail damaged roofs'... I bet I have one... it is about 19 years old... so would the insurance pay for a new one Or do I have to come out of pocket for a good amount

You will be reimbursed for the cost to replace your roof - less 19 years of depreciation and your deductible. IOW, you won't get much.

 

[Telly]

Cars - If PDR (Paintless Dent Repair) can fix it, then the cost isn't too bad. If it has to go the old body shop sand fill sand paint method or replace panels and do same, it's expensive. I have had both methods. Some earlier hail storms PDR wasn't an approved method yet by my ins. co., but has been approved for years now.

Had some minor hail dents removed from an aluminum hood, originally they wouldn't try PDR on aluminum, only steel. Has been over 10 years since PDR was done on it, it's fine, no popback in full sun on scorcher days.

If a whole surface is literally peppered with dents, then PDR is too time-consuming, they go the body shop route then. If it's an easily-replaced panel (hood, trunk lid, door skin) it is usually cheaper to replace the panel than try to fix many many dents.

PDR is clean, and no problems if they put interior panels back properly. On one of my trucks, I had PDR done on a door, it was dented by a careless safety inspection guy, they paid for it (after I twisted their arm). I took off the interior door panel and drove it over to the repair place, and hung around while they did it. I put the panel back on myself.
Body shop method is dirty - body shop dust everywhere, then they send the vehicle out to a detailer to do a quick clean-up. Still messy.

House - I have had roof replaced twice due to big hail. Since then, the deductible is now 1%. It was dollars for full roofing shingle stripoff and replacement, minus the deductible. At least then, there was no discounting for age or wear and tear. The adjuster took out his collapsible ladder, walked the roof and took pics, looking for the characteristic hail impact signature on composition shingles. Once seeing at least a few, he then measured the roof surface and calculated the number of squares of roofing as part of his estimate. Usually, if a neighborhood has been hit with big hail, there isn't much of an issue (at least not around here) with getting it claimed. They see so many houses and cars in the area, and the different ins. co.'s share info on issues like that among themselves.
But if just one person claims hail damage, and the closest area of a lot of hail claims is say 10 miles away, they get suspicious. They have risk people tracking the weather.

 

[Texas Proud]

Thanks for the info so far...

Two cars have many dents... at least 50 and could be as high as 100 (heck, with small dents it might be more than that!!!)...


The new one has maybe 30 to 50.... some look pretty small, but when you look at the panel with a light from the other side it looks like more...

DW said I had to get them all fixed.... so, it will cost $2K for the cars....

I will have someone look at the roof... when I called the insurance they said they do not look unless I make a claim... one guy who was walking the street stopped at my house... he said he could see I got hit 'bad'.... I did see him going down the street... some houses he did not stop at... so maybe he was only stopping at houses he could easily see damage...

The people who put on the roof sent a letter saying they can inspect etc. etc.... that is how I found out when it was last replaced... I had not idea... it still looks in pretty good shape... but who knows what damage happened...

 

[REWahoo]

Telly is correct - you may not see any deduction for depreciation on your roof. Read your homeowners policy to see what to expect.

 

[MichaelB]

This is amazing. Are hail storms of this magnitude common in Texas?

 

[Car-Guy]

This is amazing. Are hail storms of this magnitude common in Texas?

Been through 3 in the past year. Two of them the hail wasn't large enough to do any real damage, but one was.

Most years I haven't seen any hail storms (maybe one every 5 or 6 years).

 

[frank]

you have to make sure all you insurance policies have full replacement coverage or the will depreciate the damages. I never buy insurance without replacement cost coverage, no matter what I am insuring.

 

[sengsational]

I had replacement coverage and got a new roof for the deductible. Actually the installer knocked off the deductible later, so got the roof for free. I might have paid for an upgrade to architectural shingles though.

The cars were in the garage...imagine that...using the garage to store the cars!

 

[MBSC]

you have to make sure all you insurance policies have full replacement coverage or the will depreciate the damages. I never buy insurance without replacement cost coverage, no matter what I am insuring.

+1 I have no experience with hail damage to cars, but for homes it depends on if your coverage is "replacement cost" or "actual cash value". ACV takes into account depreciation over time, so you're likely to get very little after deductible on an ACV claim. It's even possible the higher future premiums for making a claim outweigh the ACV payment.

I have replacement cost coverage and I only had to cover the deductible after my 12 year old roof was replaced due to baseball sized hail. We have had golf ball sized hail that did not warrant roof repair.

 

[rbmrtn]

This is amazing. Are hail storms of this magnitude common in Texas?

Apparently so. This link has a hail exposure map , Mastering Roof Inspections: Hail Damage, Part 1 - InterNACHI ,Seems like TX is bulls eye.

 

[imoldernu]

Agree w/ Telly's post...
Re: car dents... about ten years ago we had many hood dents from hail... I notified insurance company but got lazy and didn't follow up... they closed the claim. In the meantime, almost all of the dents came back of their own accord, over the summer. Anyway, saved the deductible.

My concern was repainting, and the possibility that the top clearcoat might not work as well as the original. Will never know, but the hood looks perfect today. The popping back of the dents took about 5 months, as I recall.
1998 Lincoln. Don't know about today's cars.

 

[sanfanciscotreat]

Had minor hail damage on my last truck; $1600 insurance check went in my pocket.
So negligible that no discount was noted when traded for another truck a few years later.

 

[athena53]

I had replacement coverage and got a new roof for the deductible. Actually the installer knocked off the deductible later, so got the roof for free.

That's fraud. They told the insurance company they charged you X plus the deductible, that's what the company paid you, and in the end they charged you only X.

I worked in insurance for 39 years. Excuse my language, but those people who walk the streets of hail-affected areas and put up signs offering a "free" new roof are whores. Many swarm in from out of town. Take your time, especially if you can't see any damage yourself. After the charlatans have left town and the good contractors are done with work that really needs to be done, get an honest opinion.

And people wonder why their homeowners insurance is so expensive in hail-prone areas.

 

[eytonxav]

Can't speak to the cars, but your insurance deduction for hail will most likely be pretty high. Seems the insurance companies have wised up in the DFW area at least. I've had 4 replacements over a 21 year period.

If your roof is that old, I'd suggest you get it replaced before you start getting interior water damage.

 

[Texas Proud]

I had replacement coverage and got a new roof for the deductible. Actually the installer knocked off the deductible later, so got the roof for free. I might have paid for an upgrade to architectural shingles though.

The cars were in the garage...imagine that...using the garage to store the cars!

In my last house that was where they went.... but DW wanted a boat... and it takes up the whole garage as we have to angle it in to fit the trailer...

 

[Texas Proud]

Hail is not that common where I live (Houston area).... but, when talking to the insurance company they said they had a number of events where I am living... or at least close to me... they said the Woodlands got hit the week before... there were hail warnings out the last few days... so a lot now, but not common...

I do have replacement costs... so will see what happens....


This is my first claim for hail damage for any reason, car or house... on my old house we had a hail storm once... lots of new roofs in the neighborhood... but my roof looked like nothing happened and I did not file... (just as an aside, if I make a homeowners claim it will be the first one in my life)....

 

[Texas Proud]

That's fraud. They told the insurance company they charged you X plus the deductible, that's what the company paid you, and in the end they charged you only X.

I worked in insurance for 39 years. Excuse my language, but those people who walk the streets of hail-affected areas and put up signs offering a "free" new roof are whores. Many swarm in from out of town. Take your time, especially if you can't see any damage yourself. After the charlatans have left town and the good contractors are done with work that really needs to be done, get an honest opinion.

And people wonder why their homeowners insurance is so expensive in hail-prone areas.

Just a question... how is that fraud As mentioned, I have not filed a property claim... only auto...


But, with auto I can choose to fix my car or not fix it.... it is up to me... the insurance pays me for my loss and I get to decide what to do with the funds.... heck, when I called about the hail, the contact person said I had the choice to pocket the money or get the cars fixed.... so, straight from the insurance company...

Why would property be any different... IOW, if I had a roof failure and the standard cost to fix was $10K and I had a $1K deductible... the insurance company owes me $9K... if I can hire my own crew, buy my own materials and get the job done for $7K.... how is that fraud

 

[Badger]

How does the insurance work if you have hail damage to a metal roof? Is this something Pop-a-dent can fix?

Cheers!

 

[meierlde]

How does the insurance work if you have hail damage to a metal roof? Is this something Pop-a-dent can fix?

Cheers!

If you get the discount you sign a cosmetic damage waver, so if there are dents nothing happens (and the roof still does its job). If the hail knocks holes then its a different matter. (That would be big hail a class 4 roof is tested with steel balls 1.25 to 2 inches in size dropped from 12 to 20 feet, hitting the same place twice and no penetration).

 

[bizlady]

We had hail damage a few years ago, and the roof was placed. I would strongly advise you to not use the door-to-door contractors that show up-most are not reputable. Contact a reputable contractor will get a referral from your building supply company. You may have to wait a long time for the replacement if there is a lot of damage in your area, but getting it done right is important. And yes, we also just had to pay the deductible on a roof that was about 10 years old.

 

[Car-Guy]

T
I worked in insurance for 39 years. Excuse my language, but those people who walk the streets of hail-affected areas and put up signs offering a "free" new roof are whores. Many swarm in from out of town. Take your time, especially if you can't see any damage yourself. After the charlatans have left town and the good contractors are done with work that really needs to be done, get an honest opinion.

About 25 years ago, we had a hail storm come through and I was told by my insurance company that I had hail damage to my roof and it was covered. (Although I couldn't see any damage). They even quoted me a figure they would pay. I don't remember the details of my policy that was in effect at the time but I wasn't asked to pay a dime.

As I recall, one of these roofing contractors that "swarmed into the area" (and there were a lot of them) agreed to replace my roof at the price the insurance company quoted. They did the work as agreed, with the roofing material I specified, on time and did a very good job. I had put on the previous roof myself about 5 years earlier, and they did a much better job than I had done. They even did a little extra worked for free that was not included in the original quote/estimate. I'm sure there are some "crooks" out there but maybe I was just lucky?

 

[athena53]

Why would property be any different... IOW, if I had a roof failure and the standard cost to fix was $10K and I had a $1K deductible... the insurance company owes me $9K... if I can hire my own crew, buy my own materials and get the job done for $7K.... how is that fraud

Sorry- I missed the part where you said you hadn't filed a claim.

I was specifically addressing a case where the roofing contractor provides false information to the insurance company- giving an estimate of $X plus the deductible but charging you only $X. OTOH, if you get an estimate from a legitimate contractor for $X, collect that from the insurer, and go out and buy shingles and spend a weekend doing the work with your buddies, I don't consider that fraud.

 

[audreyh1]

You will be reimbursed for the cost to replace your roof - less 19 years of depreciation and your deductible. IOW, you won't get much.

I think we got quite a lot even though the roof was probably 15 years old. Paid the deductible is all I remember.

 

[walkinwood]

We went through this last year though our roof was just 2 years old.

I would stay away from anyone who knocks on your door. It got so bad here that I put a sign on the door asking roofers to stay away.

Look for a reputable roofer who has been in business for a number of years under the same company name - the last piece is important, because roofers change company names often to avoid all sorts of issue caused by sloppy work. The roofer will not only inspect your roof for free, but should let you know - based on your insurance coverage - what you'll have to pay out of pocket. A good roofer will also handle all the insurance paperwork for you.

If you have asphalt shingles, know that the hail "probably" did not cause your roof to leak. Rather, it knocked off enough of the ceramic granules to expose the fiberglass to the UV of the sun. That will drastically reduce the lifespan of your roof. (I'm not expert, but that's my understanding).

It seemed like a big deal, but our roofer made it a non-event -except for paying out of pocket expenses since we had a large deductible.

Two more points:
- Look for class 4 shingles since they can bear the brunt of hailstorms the best - but are not hail-proof!
- You may have up to 12 months from the incident to file a claim - make sure you know how long you can wait.

All the best.