Does Insurance Cover a Rental During Hail Repair?

Insurance covers a rental during hail repair only up to a limit, and only through one of two routes. Rental reimbursement is an optional add-on in both Kansas and Missouri, separate from comprehensive, and it pays a limited daily amount while your car is repaired for a covered loss. Without it, the standard policy form still includes a small transportation benefit when your hail damage is covered: up to $30 a day and $900 in total. Amounts vary by insurer, so the place to check is your declarations page.

The good news for hail is that paintless repair is short. That keeps the rental window, and anything you pay above the limit, small.

Rental reimbursement is an optional line

When people say "insurance pays for my rental", they usually mean one of two things. The first is rental reimbursement, a coverage you add to your policy. The Kansas Insurance Department describes it like this:

"Provides for a limited daily amount for rental car charges while your motor vehicle is repaired for covered damages. Policies generally limit the maximum dollar amount and the number of days"

Missouri's Department of Commerce and Insurance lists it under additional optional coverages, separate from comprehensive:

"Rental reimbursement, which pays for a rental while your car is being repaired for a covered loss"

The key word in both is optional. If you did not add it, you do not have it, even if you carry comprehensive coverage.

The small transportation amount in a standard policy

The second thing people mean is a benefit already built into many policies. The standard personal auto policy form includes it in the part that covers damage to your auto. When your car carries the coverage that applies to the loss, which for hail is comprehensive, the form pays "up to a maximum of $900" for "Temporary transportation expenses not exceeding $30 per day". The form pays this without applying a deductible.

Amounts vary by insurer, so read your own policy or ask your agent before you count on that figure. Your policy may have rental reimbursement, this built-in amount, both or neither.

How to tell what your policy has

You can usually answer this in a few minutes, before you book anything.

• Look at the declarations page. Look for a rental reimbursement line with a daily amount and a maximum number of days. If you cannot find one, ask your agent.
• Check the daily limit against real prices. If the rental counter charges more per day than your limit, the difference is yours.
• Check the day cap. A limit on days matters less for a short repair, but know the number.
• Ask about transportation expenses. If there is no rental line, ask your agent what your policy pays for temporary transportation after a covered loss, and from which day.
• Ask how it is paid. Ask whether the insurer pays the rental company or pays you back, and what paperwork it needs.

Write the answers down next to your claim number, so you are not guessing halfway through the week. Keep the rental agreement and every receipt. Rental reimbursement is paid against rental charges, so the paperwork is what gets you paid.

How long you will actually need a car

For a paintless hail repair, the shop typically has the car for 5-7 days. That is the window your rental needs to cover, and it is much shorter than a repair that needs new panels and paint. Our page on how long hail repair takes explains what moves a car to the short or long end.

A few things keep the rental days to the days that count:

• Get the claim approved first. Book the repair once the insurer has inspected the car and approved the work.
• Line up the dates. Pick up the rental the day you drop the car off, and return it the day you collect it.
• Ask how days are counted. Your insurer decides which days count on your claim. Ask before you sign the rental agreement, not after.

One thing can stretch the window. If the shop finds damage the first estimate missed, it writes a supplement to your insurer on the same claim. Ask your insurer up front whether extra repair days from a supplement are covered by your rental limit.

If you want the full order of a claim, from filing to the final check, the hail claim process lays it out step by step.

If you have no rental coverage

If you find out you skipped rental reimbursement, you still have options.

• Ask the shop first. Before you book a rental, ask what the shop can offer for the days your car is in.
• The built-in amount. If your policy follows the standard form, the transportation benefit may cover part of a short rental. Ask your agent what yours pays.
• A household car. For a 5-7 day repair, sharing a second car for a week is often the simplest answer.
• Pay for a short rental. Because paintless repair is short, a week of rental is a known, limited cost.
• Time the repair. Once the claim is approved, ask the shop for a week when you need the car least.

It is also worth asking your agent about adding rental reimbursement before next storm season, so the question is settled before the next hail day. Our page for drivers covers the rest of what a driver needs to know about a hail repair with us.

What the rental does not change

A rental is a convenience, not part of the repair itself. It does not change what is on your estimate, how the panels are repaired, or what your insurer pays for the repair. Those are set by your comprehensive coverage and the estimate.

Your comprehensive deductible applies to the repair claim on most policies whether or not you rent a car. The rental question is separate, and so is the coverage that pays for it.

It also does not change who picks the shop. Missouri's insurance department tells drivers they can choose which body shop repairs the car, though if the insurer has a lower estimate from another shop, it will only pay that amount. Our page on choosing your own hail repair shop covers that choice in more detail.

Book the scan, then the rental

The order that keeps rental days short is simple: get the damage documented, file, let the insurer approve the repair, then book the repair and the rental for the same dates. A free 3D scan at our Leavenworth shop takes about 10 minutes and documents every panel, so the estimate is complete before the car goes in. The insurer can be billed directly, and the car is typically back in 5-7 days. Bring your claim number and your rental details to drop-off, and the week is planned before it starts.