What a week...hail damage ???

Wednesday I started a job in Apison, T.N. this was supposed to be a two day job but is going to turn into four because I have to go back down tomorrow to finish it. The house I'm working on is less than a mile from where a couple of the tornado's touched down and killed eight people. And we actually saw one of them form on our way to the hotel. We had another crew working in Ringold, G.A. as well and I had to take them some equipment on Friday. Man I have never seen that type of devastation in person before, I'm still kind of shell shocked about it. The Ruby Tuesday's just off the highway blew my mind, the front and rear walls were still standing but everything in between was leveled. My heart goes out to all the people down there.

Anyway my car was sitting at the shop here in Knoxville and took some significant hail damage. All things considered I feel pretty lucky to just have some dents on a car, but now I have to deal with the insurance company and a repair shop. I was going to put it up for sale next week but now I've got to get it fixed first.

Here's some pics;

It's a similar picture all the way around the car. The insurance company said they would send an appraiser out to look at the car and then deposit money into my account and I could take anywhere I want to get it fixed. This concerns me. What if they say it's going to take $1500 to fix it and I can't find any place to do it for under $2500? I've never had to deal with an insurance company so I don't know if this is standard procedure but it seems to me I should get it appraised by the shop that's going to do the work. With that type of repair would a shop use to fix this? Paintless dent removal or standard body work and paint? Any thought's on how I should handle this?

We had two cars get significant hail damage: GTO and MS6. Made the claim with State Farm and they will call us. I dont think that the damage on either is enough to total the car. There are a large number of cars running around Knoxville today though that could be totalled if they have full coverage insurance. Generally paintless is the way to go unless a significant number of the dents are in compound curves. If they can reach the dent the guy can usually work out your average hail dent.

My experience with auto body shops is that they mostly use the same software the appraisers use for calculating insurance claim work. They know what the appraisers are going to charge- it's important to them, because otherwise they don't get paid.

Not counting, of course, small shops that can't afford a computer in the first place.

The discrepancies in quotes is usually related to the take-off, not the individual prices. So, if the body man says it will cost $2500, but the appraiser says $1500, it's usually because the appraiser missed something (accidentally or intentionally). At this point, it is usually the body man's job to fight it out with the insurance company to justify the higher cost ("hey, you missed the damaged fender support bracket, and forgot to include primer"), at which point the insurance company usually issues a bigger check.

I wouldn't pay anyone to do it with my money and have to wait for a reimbursement. Get the quotes, decide who you want to work with, and see what the check looks like before authorizing the work. But count on the body shop to run interference for you.

Don't be shocked if they total it. You could be closer than you think.

Your question about dentless vs typical is a good one. It may put a little money in your pocket. I would be hard nosed with the appraiser about desiring a "proper" fix, then see if your body man feels he can do an adequate job with the dentless. Since you were going to sell it anyway, you might be able to get close to it's book value for the repairs, pay 1/3 of that for the dentless repairs, then sell it at a bargain price and end up pocketing a little money.

In reply to SVreX:

Wow I never thought about them totaling it. If that happens would it have a salvaged title? It did crack the windshield and beat the hell out of the trim around the windows. I still have a hard time believing it'll get totaled.

I wouldn't go to a body shop that couldn't afford a computer. If you don't hae a shop you deal with ask friends that have had work done, and see if you are happy with the job they did. Bring the car to the shop and let the ins. company look at the car with the estimator from the body shop, that way they can discuss the price with the ins company and get the amount they need to do the job. You should never have the ins company look at the car at your house unless you don't plan on fixing it.

yeah i got berkeleyED again. over a dozen broken windshields, thousands of hail dents, etc...

and thats just the cars

nicksta43 wrote: In reply to SVreX: Wow I never thought about them totaling it. If that happens would it have a salvaged title? It did crack the windshield and beat the hell out of the trim around the windows. I still have a hard time believing it'll get totaled.

It's not really a big deal- you were gonna sell it. So consider them the buyer.

They will total it if the cost of the repairs exceeds the book replacement value of the car.

Unfortunately, that book value is probably less than you think it is worth.

You said the whole car was damaged, including the trim and the windshield. That's not a $1500 fix. I don't know the age of the car, the mileage, or the condition. But the insurance company will know the book value including the depreciation, and will not pay more than that.

jhaas wrote: yeah i got berkeleyED again. over a dozen broken windshields, thousands of hail dents, etc... and thats just the cars

Brother, I feel your pain. I am really sorry to hear that.

From what I've seen it books for around 10,200 private party value and around 8,400 dealer trade in. So even if they say it's worth say 7,500 It's still hard to imagine there's that much damage. Oh well I guess we'll wait and see what the appraiser says. Thanks for giving me some guidance though at least now I know I have to take the time off work to meet the appraiser instead of letting my wife do it. Hopefully I will find out something next week.

The body shop I use is also the adjuster for my insurance company.

In your situation I would get a couple of quotes before the adjuster sees it. That way if the adjuster comes back with a low price you'll know it.

jhaas wrote: yeah i got berkeleyED again. over a dozen broken windshields, thousands of hail dents, etc... and thats just the cars

Holy cow! Again? I feel like I should actually head over your way and buy you that drink.

Resident adjuster chiming in...

Here's what will happen. A guy, very weary of counting hail dents, will show up and write an estimate most likely for PDR (paintless dent repair). You'll get paid. You'll take it to a repair shop (probably everyone in town has a PDR guy right now). The PDR repair guy will look at it and write an estimate for more, because he'll see the two dozen other dents the adjuster didn't. No bother. PDR guy calls/faxes adjuster with his estimate. Adjuster issues second check for addtl repairs. No worries.

Especially when there's a "catastrophe" situation, adjusters are told to write 'em hard and fast. Just get people paid and out the door. Supplemental estimates are commonplace and nothing to worry about in most cases.

I seriously doubt a ten grand retail car would total out from hail damage.