Should You Fix Hail Before the Adjuster Sees It?

No, not if you plan to claim it. A standard auto policy asks you to let the insurer inspect and appraise the damage before it is repaired, so fixing first can cost you the claim. The order that protects you is simple: document the damage, file the claim, let the insurer inspect, then repair.

If you are paying for the repair yourself and never plan to claim, the order matters less. Make that decision before the first dent is touched, because once the car is repaired, a claim gets much harder to prove.

What the standard policy says

Most of the answer is in one line of the standard personal auto policy form. In the section on your duties after a loss, it says you must:

"Permit us to inspect and appraise the damaged property before its repair or disposal."

The same section asks for prompt notice:

"We must be notified promptly of how, when and where the accident or loss happened."

To inspect and appraise means the insurer looks at the damage and puts a repair number on it. That number becomes the insurer's estimate, the starting point for what the claim pays.

Put those together and the policy expects two things from you: tell the insurer soon, and give it a chance to see the damage before it is gone. Your own policy may word this differently, so read its duties section or ask your agent.

Why repairing first can cost you the claim

The newer edition of the standard form explains what happens when a duty is missed. The insurer has no duty to provide coverage if the failure to comply with those duties "is prejudicial to us". Under that wording, a missed duty lets the insurer refuse coverage when the failure prejudiced it.

A repaired car is the clearest example of that problem. Once the dents are gone, the insurer cannot count them, size them or see which panels were hit. It is left with your word and maybe a receipt.

• No inspection. The adjuster has nothing to appraise.
• No proof of cause. It is harder to show the dents came from hail, and from which storm.
• No way to check the bill. The insurer cannot compare the repair to the damage.

Even a careful repair can turn a routine claim into a dispute. The time to avoid that is before any work starts. For how long you have to report in the first place, see how long you have to file a hail claim in Kansas or Missouri.

The order that protects you

Four steps, in this order. None of them takes long.

• Document it. Photos of every panel, and a full damage record from a free 3D scan if you can get one. More on that below.
• File the claim. Report it promptly, with the storm date and where the car was. The Kansas Insurance Department advises notifying your agent or company as soon as possible, and following up online or in writing if you report by telephone.
• Let the insurer inspect. It may send an adjuster, use a drive-through site, or ask for photos. Give it the chance to see the car.
• Then repair. Once the insurer has inspected and written its estimate, the repair can start.

A quick inspection can still miss damage. Small hail dents disappear in flat light, and a drive-through look or a set of photos may not catch every dent on the roof and rails. That is not a reason to skip the inspection. It is a reason to have your own record, and it is why the shop writes a supplement when an estimate comes in light.

Our page on how a hail claim works walks through each step, including what happens after the estimate.

What to document before anyone touches the car

A record made before the adjuster arrives does two jobs. It shows what the storm did, in your words and pictures, and it gives you something to compare the estimate against.

• The date and place. Write down when the storm hit and where the car was parked or driven.
• Wide photos. Each side of the car, plus the hood, roof and trunk.
• Close photos. Dents photographed at an angle in daylight show up far better than straight on.
• Glass and lights. Any cracks, chips or broken lenses, photographed separately.
• A full scan. Our free 3D hail scan records every panel in about 10 minutes, with dent counts, sizes and depths.

The scan does not replace the insurer's inspection. It sits next to it. If the first estimate comes in light, the shop uses that record to write the supplement, so the missed panels get added to the same claim.

What you can do while you wait

Waiting for an inspection does not mean parking the car for weeks. A few things are worth doing, and a few are worth avoiding.

• Use it only if it is safe. If glass is broken or a light is out, tell the insurer and ask what it wants done first.
• Keep it covered if you can. A garage or carport keeps the next storm from adding dents to the claim.
• Leave the dents alone. Suction cups and glue pullers can crack paint and turn a paintless repair into a repaint. They also change the damage before the insurer sees it.
• Keep your claim number handy. You will need it for the inspection and for the shop.

If the insurer is slow to schedule an inspection, call and ask what it needs from you. Keep a note of each call.

If you already fixed it, or already took a check

If the car is already repaired, tell your insurer what happened and send what you have: photos from before the repair, the repair invoice, the date of the storm. Whether it is paid depends on your policy and the facts, including whether the early repair prejudiced the insurer. Ask your agent before you assume either way.

If only part of the car was fixed, for example a cracked windshield replaced so you could drive safely, say so when you report and send that invoice with your photos. The dented panels have not been touched, so the insurer can still inspect them.

If you took an insurance check and never fixed the car, that is a different problem with its own steps. Read cashed the hail check and never fixed it before you book anything.

Get it documented first, then file

The first step costs nothing and takes about 10 minutes. A free 3D scan at our Leavenworth shop documents every panel, so you file with a full record and the insurer inspects a car that has not been touched. Once the insurer approves the repair, paintless repair typically takes 5-7 days, and the insurer can be billed directly.