Multiple Auto Hail Claims & How to Handle Them
With yet another round of hail storms on the Oklahoma City weather horizon, so does the chance of additional damage to your already damaged car and roof.
As my grandfather always used to say, “You’d best be on your way, you want to get ahead of the weather.” In OKC, this rings so true on so many levels but sometimes you can’t always predict exactly when the weather will strike. In today’s article, we will talk about being preemptive but also discuss what to do if you couldn’t get ahead of the weather…once, twice, or even multiple times.
Oklahoma City – Damaging Winds, Hail, & Possible Tornado Threat
Prepare & Be Aware.
KOCO OKLAHOMA CITY 5 Meteorologist Jonathan Conder says,
“There’s a low chance of damaging winds Friday night, but those storms will snowball into a bigger risk Saturday morning across southeastern Oklahoma with new storms Saturday afternoon. The damaging winds Friday could be 60-70 mph, and there’s a risk for small hail and a low tornado threat.”
Although you’d much rather be reading the “Boy rescues baby deer who fell into backyard swimming pool” article that popped up in the “additional news” column, you know that protecting your personal property from additional wind & hail damage is more important. Just in case you missed it, you can see the video here. 🙂
Prepare.
Do a quick mental scan of your plans for the next couple of days or check your calendar for any immediate obligations that might involve being exposed to the elements if severe weather arises. Considered rearranging your plans.
Now is the perfect time to make sure your garage is clear and you can pull your vehicles inside. Do a quick scan of your yard. Are there any loose limbs that could be taken down? Are the trashcans secured and not in a position to be blown around the yard?
Be aware.
Watch the weather. Turn on the weather channel or your local news station.
What Do I Do If My Car Was Damaged By Hail?
You did everything you could but unfortunately, the weather won. It’s OK, it happens. When you live smack dab in the middle of Hail Alley, which Oklahoma City most certainly is, hail happens.
Now, we are in a “choose your own adventure” fork in the road. This is either your FIRST round of auto hail damage in OKC or your second encounter due to the April 19, 2023 severe hail storm.
No Prior Hail Damage Claim.
If this is your first Oklahoma City auto hail damage occurrence, visit our article Filing Auto Hail Claim in OKC – Step by Step. We’ve already repaired multiple cars with auto hail damage from the April 19th storm that hit parts of OKC, Yukon, Edmond, and other surrounding cities. We’ve handled hail claims from almost every major insurance company out there and have become familiar with the variances in how they handle hail damage claims.
Multiple Auto Hail Damage Claims.
If you already have hail damage on your vehicle from the first round of OKC hail storms, you probably have some questions about what to do next. These are the biggies.
Can you claim hail damage twice In Oklahoma City?
Yes, of course, you can. As long as it isn’t from the same hail storm, that is what car insurance is for but here in lies another “choose your own adventure.” You have filed a claim for the first storm and already had your hail damage repaired OR you filed a claim but haven’t had the damage repaired yet.
Either way, yes and yes. Here’s how you go about it.
Filed First Claim > Hail Damage Repaired > Need to File Another Claim
All you need to do is call your insurance provider again and file another claim.
Filed First Claim > Hail Damage NOT Repaired > Need to File Another Claim
If you have filed the first claim, your adjuster already has documented how much damage occured from the first storm. They will go through the claims process again and send out an adjuster. The adjuster will access the damage in it’s entirety. They will then take the information from the first storm and subtract that from the total damage from both storms. It is a good idea to get the damaged assessed by Superior Dent Solultions to make sure all of the damage was documented. If any damage was missed, we will request a supplement from your insurance company to cover the cost to repair all of the damage.
What if I didn’t file an auto hail damage claim from the first storm and now I have additional damage from the second storm?
This is totally OK. You will call your insurance company and tell them that you need to file 2 auto hail claims on your vehicle. If you need any assistance, we are happy to help you. You will need to provide them with some basic information about your policy. Then, they will ask you to provide the dates of the 2 different storm occurances.
You will be assigned an adjuster that will contact you, usually by email, to schedule a time to come out to inspect and estimate the cost to repair the damage. Once the total amount is determained, they will associate a “cost to repair” to each storm occurance. They do that by looking at the historical data from the first storm and getting an average “cost to repair” and subtracting that average from the total.
Regardless, all of the damage will be repaired.
Will I have to pay two deductibles?
Technically, yes. For each singular claim, you will be required to pay a deductible. At Superior Dent Solutions, we take care of the cost of both deductibles.
