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Monday, June 18, 2007

Fifteen Minutes of Hail

Two weeks ago we had a hail storm blow through with 70 MPH winds. I work in the office of a collision repair shop. Need I tell you that we have been extremely busy at work the last two weeks?

Also, a word to the wise: It seems hail does not usually crack the paint on a car so don't think you can get all your chips painted out on your car in the event of a hail storm.


And: If you are going to turn in a claim, collect the money and not have your car repaired, be aware that the insurance company has a memory like an elephant. Should your car be totaled at a later date, the insurance company will remind you that you were driving a hail-damaged car and will deduct that loss in value from what they pay you for the totaled car.



This was only the second time in my life that I have seen hail of this size. The first time was the summer before my senior year in high school. It is weird, seeing ice balls fall from the sky in June. And the noise on the roof of the house! Lawsie, it was loud!

I'll be back with more later.

4 comments:

  1. WOW! I used to work claims for an insurance company. You are totally correct...they never ever forget.

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  2. This must be the same storm that wrecked our camping trip a couple of weeks ago!

    (I've always wondered how to spell Lawsie. Thanks!)

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  3. They want proof you got it fixed. If you don't have it, even if you DID get it repaired, you're screwed. Also, if it is a new enough car that you still owe a certain percentage of the total, they will NOT make the check for the repairs solely out to you; they make it out to you and the repair shop. We found that out after having hail damage to a 3 month old car a few years ago. Not that we would have kept the money and not repaired it; it was way too ugly, lol. But they use some formula to determine how much to pay, and it didn't end up costing that much. The shop refunded the difference of over $100 in the check to us.

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