The German Car Blog

Why Hailstorm Damage Is Not Always Obvious

19 June 2019 by Yvonne Carter

Damaging storms seem to be front and centre these days as global warming and climate change take centre stage in the political arena. As you may know, Australia has its fair share of major storms, and they can be an almost daily occurrence in the height of the season. Each one of these storms may present an element of danger to your property and in particular, your car or truck and it's not always possible to keep this vehicle in a garage or under some form of protection to mitigate the risk posed by hail. If you've just suffered the effects of a major thunderstorm and know that hail was in the area, what should you do next?

Not Always Major

If a storm produces golf ball-sized hail, then you won't have to look very closely to determine the extent of the damage as it will be very obvious. You may find that your windscreen is shattered, and most panels will exhibit signs of this damage and you will certainly be facing an expensive repair job. Luckily, this type of hailstorm is quite rare, but damage can still be caused by others.

Close Inspection

A cursory glance may not reveal any issues, but you should look more closely to determine whether you need to schedule a repair. Certain types of hail damage are not very easy to see from an elevated position, and you may need to crouch down and look across the bonnet, boot or roof while at the same level. Slowly scan backwards and forwards, and you may be able to pick up evidence of hail damage on the surface.

Assessing the Damage

If you want to maintain the value of your vehicle and especially when it's time to sell, then you will need to get this hail damage repaired. You may need to make a claim on your insurance in some cases, and if so, you'll want to gather evidence right now for their analysis. Keep any news reports of the storm and take photos of your car while making sure that each image has a timestamp for correlation.

Get an assessment so that the insurance company can come up with an estimate of the bill. If you are lucky, this will not affect any no-claims discount you may have, as some insurance companies consider this to be an act of God.

Getting Repair

Once all the formalities have been completed, you can then book your car into a hail damage repair specialist. They have special lighting equipment that will help them to reveal the full extent of the problem so they can get to work in order to fix.

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