Got hail damage on front, now what?

So spring weather in Texas has struck and an early hail storm has made a crater face out of the front of my trail runner. Has anyone ever dealt with this? I'm wondering about costs, downtime, and is it worth it?

All depends on you. I would not want to look at the damage. It will also affect resale.

If you have Collision/Comprehensive insurance coverage on the trailer, it'll pay for repairs, less your deductible.

Yea I know about the insurance but my concern here is what if the damage isn't much higher than the deductible. It wouldn't be worth a claim in that case.

I didn't think about the resale so that's a good point.

Had similar experience 2 years ago here in east Tx. Resulted in a new roof due to tears. Suggest you look carefully at the roof, helped me to have an insurance adjuster look as he found a couple things I had missed.

I got about $2500 of hail damage to my truck when it was less than a month old with less than 1000 miles on it . . .

I finally did get the check from the insurance company, but I never did get the work done as I can hardly see that damage unless I look for it.

I am going to call the insurance company and ask them where I can send the check to return it to them.

I figure that as soon as I get it fixed . . . we'll just have another hail storm and we'll be doing it all over again!

It is a truck, after all . . .

What real man's truck doesn't have a ding or two in it?

Our first camper, a 1978 Coachman Cadet, had so much hail damage on it that we called them 'character marks'!

Anyway, our previous Trail Runner was in a few pretty good hail storms and we lucked out and never got any damage.

My guess is that the side panels that have hail dings in it will have to be replaced, and depending on how wide spread the hail dings are, it could be a very costly repair.

JohnD said:

I got about $2500 of hail damage to my truck when it was less than a month old with less than 1000 miles on it . . .

I finally did get the check from the insurance company, but I never did get the work done as I can hardly see that damage unless I look for it.

I am going to call the insurance company and ask them where I can send the check to return it to them.

I figure that as soon as I get it fixed . . . we'll just have another hail storm and we'll be doing it all over again!

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John,

Not sure if you're serious, but as long as there's no lien on truck, the check they sent is yours to keep. Even if you don't repair the damage, it's still yours. The unrepaired damage reduces the value of the truck, so it's really your choice whether to use the check to pay for repairs, or to use it as compensation for the reduced value.

Keep in mind that in a trade or private resale, the reduction in value may exceed the $2500 repair cost. For example, if I were shopping a used truck that had unrepaired damage, I would try to get an estimate of the current repair cost, add a contingency in case something unforeseen arises, and add more for my having to manage the repairs and lose use of the truck for however long it takes to get it repaired. The same thing would be likely to happen with a trade-in.

And in a repair situation where cost of repair starts approaching the value of the vehicle, you could end up with the insurance company appraising a low value on the truck and declaring it totalled. You would then get that low valuation.

Your decision, but there may be some risk involved.

What real man's truck doesn't have a ding or two in it?

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Mine. Because I have the paintless dent guy take them out if I get one. I am anal that way. Now the ranch truck was different. Between cattle bumping against it, throwing for the bed and missing plus a few misses when going through tight gates, it had more than it's share. And if you back a horse up into the side of it it makes a really big dent.

I have seen vehicles "totaled" for insurance purposes from hail damage. Value decreases with the amount of damage and as mentioned hidden damage can haunt you later. Having the adjuster come out and then not filing a claim because the damage is under the deductible is not a big deal.

I can't cash the check as it was made out to me AND the Chevy dealership where I got the estimate for repair.

I think this might be a new wave of the future for insurance companies to stop us from getting the check and just cashing it instead of actually having the work done.

As for trade in value, I don't plan on trading this truck in for at least 10 years . . . so not too worried about that.

John, the checks are made out that way just for that reason. This has been going on for years now. If your dealer signed the check so you could cash it without doing the work....that's more than likely fraud. Not a good thing.

Bob&Patty said:

John, the checks are made out that way just for that reason. This has been going on for years now. If your dealer signed the check so you could cash it without doing the work....that's more than likely fraud. Not a good thing.

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My dealer hasn't seen the check . . . it is still in the envelope on my desk!

I will be returning it to my insurance carrier.

Get the truck fixed. Who knows that you may get hot pants for a new one in the near future. Insurance Companies have way more money than us anyway.

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DO NOT GIVE THE MONEY BACK!

Your entitled to that money, the next time your vehicle is damaged they will deduct this amount as previous damage! Just get the insurance company to re issue check to you. They can not dictate who does your repair. There is,no reason they won't re issue the check. I had a body shop for many years, wrote thousands of estimates that never returned, cashed the checks and went on their merry way. If nothing else have them make payment to you and lending institution, that way you can pay down your debt.

Lance & Jo said:

Had similar experience 2 years ago here in east Tx. Resulted in a new roof due to tears. Suggest you look carefully at the roof, helped me to have an insurance adjuster look as he found a couple things I had missed.

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How long did it take for that repair to be done? I've got dings on the front façade and the left siding but nothing super serious.

So this conversation ended up moot since we got hit again and this time worse. Softball hail basically pummeled the door side and the wind actually moved the entire rig and bent the support jacks. Now I have to go through the insurance. Now the question is will they total it.

ChefMikeDFW said:

So this conversation ended up moot since we got hit again and this time worse. Softball hail basically pummeled the door side and the wind actually moved the entire rig and bent the support jacks. Now I have to go through the insurance. Now the question is will they total it.

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I saw that on the news . . . that was some bigtime hail!

ChefMikeDFW said:

So this conversation ended up moot since we got hit again and this time worse. Softball hail basically pummeled the door side and the wind actually moved the entire rig and bent the support jacks. Now I have to go through the insurance. Now the question is will they total it.

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We had strong straight line winds hit our ElkRidge in storage and knock it off the blocks back in 2011, bending one of the landing gear. No hail damage, but insurance did pay for replacement of the landing gear, along with the steady-fast system attached to the legs.