Lawrence, KS Hail Damage: Where to Get It Fixed

If your car took hail in Lawrence, the repair happens at our shop at 426 Miami St in Leavenworth, 28.8 miles from the center of Lawrence in a straight line. Start with the free 3D scan there: about 10 minutes, every panel documented, then a typical paintless repair of 5-7 days with your insurer billed directly.

Lawrence does take hail. NOAA's Storm Events Database lists 6 hail reports on 4 days within 12 miles of the city since the start of 2024, up to 1.75 inches in Lawrence itself on April 27, 2026. Below are those storms, what Kansas rules say about the claim, and how to get the car scanned.

Lawrence hail since 2024: the storms on record

Here is every day NOAA logged hail within 12 miles of central Lawrence from January 2024 on:

• March 13, 2024: 2 reports, up to 1.00 inch, near Clearview at the Johnson County edge.
• March 10, 2026: 1 report, 0.88 inch, at Eudora in Douglas County. That was the same evening as the big metro storm, which reported stones up to 3.00 inches in Johnson, Leavenworth and Wyandotte counties.
• April 27, 2026: 2 reports, up to 1.75 inches, in Lawrence, Douglas County. On the National Weather Service size chart, 1.75 inches is golf ball size.
• June 8, 2026: 1 report, 1.00 inch, at Clinton in Douglas County.

Three of those four days reached at least 1 inch, the size at which the National Weather Service calls a storm severe.

Two things to know when you read a list like this. A report is one observation: one place, one time, one size. The list shows where hail was measured, not every street it touched. And NOAA's official database currently runs through June 25, 2026. Storms after that date are not listed yet.

If one of those days found your car, the next question is what Kansas rules say about the claim.

What Kansas rules say about your hail claim

These are the points that matter most for a Lawrence driver with a Kansas policy. Some come from Kansas rules, some from standard policy language:

• Hail is comprehensive. On a standard auto policy, hail is an other-than-collision loss, which is the comprehensive part of the policy, not collision.
• Report it promptly. Standard policy language asks for prompt notice of how, when and where the loss happened. The Kansas Insurance Department tells drivers to notify their agent or company as soon as possible.
• Let them look before the repair. The standard policy lets the insurer inspect and appraise the damage before it is repaired.
• The check is in your name. 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 estimate is not final. If the first estimate comes in light, the shop writes the supplement on the same claim.
• Diminished value is not part of it. The Kansas Insurance Department says Kansas has no statute requiring payment of a diminished value claim, and most policies exclude it from first-party coverage. The repair is what restores the car.

The full order of steps is on the hail claim process page.

Two more Kansas rules matter more for Lawrence drivers than for most: the shop question, and the total-loss question.

Choosing a shop 28.8 miles away

There is no hail shop of ours in Lawrence, so the choice is a drive. Kansas's claims regulation, K.A.R. 40-1-34, does two things that matter here:

• No unreasonable travel. Insurers may not require a claimant to travel unreasonably to get a repair estimate, or to have the car repaired at a specific shop.
• If the insurer picks the shop, the insurer must have the car restored to its condition before the loss at no extra cost to you, other than what the policy states.

Whether you make the drive to Leavenworth, 28.8 miles away in a straight line, is your call. Plan your own route; the address is 426 Miami St. For more on who decides where the car is fixed, read can I choose my own hail repair shop.

Drivers in Emporia face the same choice from further out. Emporia hail damage repair covers that version.

Then there is the question that comes up after a 1.75-inch storm: will it total the car?

Will hail total your car in Kansas?

Not by the percentage alone. Kansas law makes a late-model car a salvage vehicle when the repair cost is 75% or more of its fair market value just before the damage. But K.S.A. 8-197(b)(2)(B) leaves out cars whose condition was merely exterior cosmetic damage from windstorm or hail. Late model means the model year of the damage or any of the six years before it.

So a big hail estimate does not, on its own, turn a Kansas car into salvage. What does:

• The insurer's decision. Under K.S.A. 8-197(b)(2)(C), a car the insurer determines is a total loss and takes title to is a salvage vehicle, whatever the cause.
• What comes after. Once repaired, a Kansas salvage vehicle gets a rebuilt salvage title.

The decision to total is the insurer's. A full paintless estimate puts a real repair number in front of it. If you have already been told the car is totaled, read what to do when hail totals your car before you accept it.

Before any of that, you need the real number.

Getting the scan from Lawrence

The scan happens at the Leavenworth shop and takes about 10 minutes. It documents every panel: dent counts, sizes and depths. You leave knowing what the storm did, so a claim, if you file one, is built on the whole car.

• Bring your claim number if you have one. The shop needs it to bill the insurer and send a supplement.
• Have not filed yet? The scan is still free, and you will know what the claim should look like before you call.
• Plan for 5-7 days. That is the typical paintless repair once the car is in the bay.
• Bring the storm date. Use the list above, and note where the car was parked. Standard policy language asks you to report how, when and where the loss happened.

If your car spends its days in the metro, check the Kansas City hail storms 2025-2026 list too. The March 10, 2026 storm logged 33 reports there the same evening Eudora took hail.

More about the shop itself is on the Leavenworth hail repair page. Book the free 3D scan at 426 Miami St, and the Lawrence storm gets measured panel by panel before anyone settles on a number.