Is your vehicle properly equipped to face Mother Nature this year? Do you have sufficient insurance that will help you to rebound from any damage? And, most essentially, how can you get your car or truck fixed up to pre-storm condition without making a sizable dent in your pocketbook?
Jungerman CARSTAR sees and fixes up plenty of cars harmed by hail storms. Jungerman CARSTAR in St. Peters, Missouri, also serving the people in St. Charles, O'Fallon, and Lake St. Louis, Missouri, provides this information to aid motorists as they seek to deal with hail storms:
Whenever you do get hail damage, your first priority should be to establish contact with your insurance company, even before calling up a repair shop. This is because there is a distinct possibility that your insurance provider will call in what’s called a Catastrophe Team if there is a sizable hail storm. If you decide that instead of visiting the Catastrophe Team, you'll drive around town and get a bunch of estimates, sadly, it’ll just be a lot of wasted time for you. The insurance companies will tell you to go and have their Catastrophe Teams look at it, commence the claim process, and then they'll allow you to bring it to Jungerman CARSTAR or any auto body shop so that they can work with the insurance company to guarantee that all the dents get fixed on your car.
Even if you don't really think that your car was damaged too badly, it’s important that you have it looked at quickly. You may find that there's a lot of damage that you cannot see when you’re just visually looking at it. Once you get it under some shop lights, and you actually have the chance to take a good look at it, you'll find that there are a lot of dents that you won’t see until you go to trade your vehicle in, and then you’ll be stuck with a bunch of hail damage and a vehicle that's worth that much less. Realistically, your best bet is to have a claim processed, and get it to a certified auto body shop, and have the experts really look over the vehicle carefully. Once you're inside and the car is under the florescent lights, what you thought was maybe ten to fifteen dents very well may wind up being one hundred dents.
Analyze Your Coverage
It is not time to review your car insurance once you hear the smack of hail hitting your car. Read the policy right now to know what is and is not protected, what the deductibles are going to look like, if you have rental coverage, and what to do whenever the storm strikes.Comprehensive coverage shields your vehicle from a lot of damage that can be incurred from natural disasters. Two other choices to think about are gap coverage – which covers the difference between what your loan is and what your car is worth -- and rental reimbursement.
One warning – if you've submitted a prior damage claim and got a check from your insurance company, but didn't really go to have the vehicle repaired – the insurance company will take off this amount from your estimate for the damage, and bill another deductible, too.
Protect Your Vehicle
When you are aware of a hail storm that is headed your way, it is important to get your vehicle to higher ground or beneath some type of cover. If you don’t have a garage at your place of residence, find a covered public parking garage to shield your vehicle. If you absolutely must park your car outdoors, park it on as high of ground as you can possibly find, away from potentially hazardous objects like trees and phone poles.For hail storms, cover your automobile in something like an old blanket and a car cover from your local automotive merchant – prior to the storm hitting. This will offer some defense for your hood, roof and rear deck-lid. If a storm comes without sufficient warning, find an awning at a gas station, the drive-through at the banking institution or car wash to get underneath for quick protection. If you're on the highway, find cover under a bridge or viaduct.
Get Your Car Repaired
Handling the aftermath of a large hail storm can be distressing, particularly if you’ve had significant damage to your home, too. Getting your car up and running again shouldn’t add to your stress, if you are ready for the repairs. To help with this procedure, Jungerman CARSTAR offers the following tips:• Create copies of your vehicle registration, title, insurance card, and driver’s license prior to the storm hitting and secure them within a safe, dry place.
• Whenever the storm clears itself up, record the damage with photos and video.
• Have a repair plan in place before something actually happens. Know where you want to have your car repaired beforehand so you don’t have to make a rash decision.
When you pick which body shop you want to use for repairs, remember:
• It is important that you do your homework and look at the reputation of the shop, business or trade associations they belong to, and if their specialists are I-CAR trained.
• Reputable repair facilities will always offer a warranty of some kind or another for the work that they do … ensure that it is both written down and fully explained to you.
• Your vehicle is a big investment. Only trust your car or truck to a good body shop business that has been operating long before the storm. Don't fall into the trap of smooth operators attempting to make a quick buck off of the storm. If they are in a tent or other temporary location, absolutely do not trust them with your automobile.
When your car makes it to the body shop for repairs, there are a some things you should remember to ensure that you get a quality repair:
• Look over the estimate that they give you in detail, but do not forget that it only addresses the visible damage and what it's going to take to fix the vehicle up to pre-accident condition. If you find that the estimate doesn't cover the full extent of the damage, a Supplement will be created, submitted to your insurance company for approval.
• Get a comprehensive outline of the parts that are going to have to be replaced and if they're OEM, new or refurbished, and in what condition the car is going to be returned to you. Most insurance policies only cover as far as pre-accident condition, so your seven-year old minivan may not come back looking brand new.
• Get a timeline that will outline when the work will be done and when the job is going to be completed.
• Detail the terms and methods of payment, such as down-payment, final payment and costs for follow-up work.
• Ask the manager of the shop for continuing updates on the job, and ensure that you are given approval for any work done outside the original estimate.
• Do not feel pressed to simply accept whatever repair they give you if you don’t think it is repaired properly. Contact your insurance agent for guidance if you don't want to accept it.
Whenever your car is in the shop, it’s a great time to have other dents and dings fixed too. It will be more cost-effective and your car will ultimately benefit.
For other tips on dealing with a car accident or having your car repaired after a collision, visit www.auto-body-st-peters-mo.com. CARSTAR Auto Body Repair Experts provides top-quality, reliable repairs in thirty-one states and ten Canadian provinces. Just call 636-939-4199 when you want to have your vehicle repaired and they will send out the tow truck, contact your insurance company, get you a rental car, and fix your car.
