Hail Damage Before a PCS? Fix It in Leavenworth

If PCS orders and hail damage land on the same car, get the repair done in Leavenworth before you leave. A typical paintless dent repair takes 5-7 days. Fit that in, and the claim closes where the storm happened, with the car and the shop in the same town. Leave it, and you are working the same claim from another state while you also set up a new house.

For Fort Leavenworth households, the shop is in town, at 426 Miami St. The free 3D scan takes about 10 minutes and tells you how big the job is, which is the number you plan around. Here is how to fit the repair in, and what to do if it will not fit.

Why fix it before you leave

A move already has enough open items. Hail damage does not need to be one of them.

• One claim, one place. The storm, the car and the shop are all here. Report it, let the insurer look, get it repaired, done.
• No new shop to find. After the move you would be looking for a hail shop in a town you do not know yet, with the claim still open.
• The car leaves finished. Factory paint kept, panels done, nothing left to sort out at the other end.
• Turning in a lease? If the move means handing back a leased car, the dents come up at turn-in. Read lease turn-in with hail damage before you decide.
• Selling before you go? A buyer will see the dents too. A repaired car is a simpler conversation.

The only real question is timing.

Will 5-7 days fit before your move?

Usually, if you start early. Work backward from the day the car needs to be on the road or handed to a carrier.

• As soon as you know: get the free 3D scan. About 10 minutes, every panel documented with dent counts, sizes and depths.
• As soon as you find the damage: report the claim to your insurer, and give them the chance to inspect it.
• Once it is approved: the car goes into the bay. A typical paintless repair takes 5-7 days.
• Well before your last week: pick it up with time to spare. Do not plan the repair for your final days in town.

Heavier damage takes longer, and so do aluminum panels. The scan tells you the size of the job, and how long hail repair takes covers what moves the timeline.

If you need a car while yours is in the bay, check your declarations page for rental reimbursement. It is an optional add-on, separate from comprehensive. Where you carry it, it pays a limited daily amount for a rental while the car is repaired for a covered loss, usually capped in dollars and in days.

That timeline only works if the claim is moving, so start it early.

Getting the claim moving before you go

• Report it promptly. Standard policy language asks for prompt notice of how, when and where the loss happened. Have the storm date and the place the car was parked ready.
• Let them look first. The standard policy lets the insurer inspect and appraise the damage before it is repaired. Do not start the repair before that chance has passed.
• Know the coverage line. On a standard policy, hail is an other-than-collision loss, which is the comprehensive part of the policy.
• Let the shop carry the paperwork. The insurer can be billed directly. If the first estimate comes in light, which is common on hail, the shop writes the supplement on the same claim.
• Know who the check goes to. On a Kansas claim, the Kansas Insurance Department says the settlement check is issued in your name, and a repair shop appears on it only if you authorize that.

The full sequence is on the hail claim process page. Policies differ, so if anything about your own policy is unclear, ask your agent before the move, not after it.

Then there is the move itself, which your insurer needs to hear about too.

Moving states: tell your insurer

Your insurer needs to know about the move. Ask how your open claim and your coverage are handled once your address changes.

• Tell your insurer about the move. Do it before you leave or as you go, not months later.
• Ask about the open claim. Ask how it is handled once your address changes, and who your contact will be.
• Ask about the policy itself. Ask when it needs to change for the new state, and what you need to do.

The Kansas rules in this post apply to Kansas policies. If your policy was written in another state, its own terms and that state's rules apply, and your agent is the person to ask.

Working an open claim from a new state is one more thing to manage from a distance, during the busiest weeks of the year for your household. If the calendar is too tight anyway, there is still a right move.

If the repair will not fit

Sometimes the orders come late, or the storm does. Then do the things that travel with you:

• Get the scan before you go. The free 3D scan documents every panel with dent counts, sizes and depths. You leave with a record of what this storm did, made here, close to the storm.
• Report the claim before you go. Prompt notice is part of standard policy language, and a move is not a reason to wait.
• Keep the paperwork together. The claim number, the scan record, your own photos and the storm date, in one folder that moves with you.

Then the repair can happen after the move, with the damage already on record. It is not as clean as a finished repair, but you are not starting the claim from scratch in a new state either.

Either way, the first step is the same.

Book the scan the week your orders land

The shop is in Leavenworth at 426 Miami St. Start with the free 3D scan: about 10 minutes, every panel documented with dent counts, sizes and depths. You will know the size of the job, whether 5-7 days fits your calendar, and what to tell your insurer. More about the shop is on the Leavenworth hail repair page.

Bring your claim number if you have one. If you have not reported the damage yet, the scan is still free, and you will know what the claim should look like before you call.