For Australians, summer offers two completely different types of weather – sunshine and blue skies one day, storms and hail the next! Unfortunately, storms can come out of nowhere and for Sydney and Melbourne residents, hail damage is not uncommon. If your vehicle has ended up in the chaos and suffered damage from hail, we have some tips and advice to help you through the next steps.
Contact your insurer as soon as possible
Before you do anything else, get in touch with your insurer to check that you are covered and if so, start the appraisal process so you can get back on the road faster. Typically, comprehensive car insurance is necessary for hail damage repairs.
Not covered by your insurer?
You need to find out if your car is safe and legal to drive and if you are okay with dents in your car’s panelling. If the hail has dented your car’s panelling, visiting a hail damage repair specialist, like our team at Megadent, is the first step! Hail damage can greatly reduce the value of your car, so consider this when you get a quote.
What’s next?
If you are insured, the next step is organising repairs. They will likely tell you to get the car to a smash repairer or a Paintless Dental Repair (PDR) specialist. We can recommend a smash repairer with with one of our preferred suppliers if this is needed. The insurer can arrange a tow if your car is unsafe to drive.
Be prepared to wait
After extreme and unpredictable weather events, it is not uncommon for hundreds of people to make a claim with their car insurers. Understand that repairs may take some time as insurers try to manage the backlog.
Is your car an economic write-off?
An economic write off is when the cost to repair your car is more than the amount it’s insured for, typically 70% to 80% of the vehicles’ market value. The insurer will buy the car for what it is insured or you can keep the car and you will receive a reduced payout with the value of your car also reduced.
Looking for more advice or want to organise a quote for your hail damaged car? Get in touch with the Megadent team today!