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Reduce Your Out-of-Pocket Expenses on Your Hail Damaged Vehicle

Hail damage on cars can be expensive to fix. Sometimes people are caught off guard by just how expensive it is. Below are some pointers to help you understand what the expenses will be, how you can reduce some of the costs, and how you can keep from accruing new, unexpected costs.

Call your insurance company ASAP.

Maybe this seems obvious, but people often don’t realize how important it is to work with their insurance company to get car hail damage repair work done as quickly as possible. Sometimes people think they don’t need to work with their insurance company at all. If your car has sustained hail damage, you might look at it and think it’s no big deal – just some light cosmetic damage. But even cosmetic damage can cost thousands of dollars to fix, and it can decrease the value of your car by that much as well. You don’t want to pay that out-of-pocket, so work with your insurance company to get it fixed. If you’re worried that working with your insurance company will raise your premium, don’t be. Hail damage is considered a “no-fault” claim so that they won’t raise your premiums for storm damage. In Dallas-Fort Worth, where hail storms are common, we already pay a higher premium for hail coverage, so you might as well take advantage of it. And finally, there’s one more reason why time is of the essence when it comes to contacting your insurance company after a hail storm. During hail season in North Texas, insurance companies are often inundated with hail damage claims, so you want to get your name on the list ASAP because the process can take a while. If your car is damaged a second time before it’s fixed, the damage from the first event will be considered “pre-existing damage” and therefore is uninsurable. That means you might have to pay to fix the damage from the first event out-of-pocket.

Save time and money with paintless dent repair.

If you have to pay out-of-pocket for the hail dent repair, you’ll save a significant amount of money by getting paintless dent repair instead of traditional dent repair. If you’re unclear about the difference between the two, let us break it down for you. Traditional dent repair is a lengthy and involved process that requires sanding off the original factory paint, hammering the damaged material back to its original form, filling in any gashes with putty, the second round of sanding, and then finally repainting, which requires a primer, a base coat, and a final coat of paint. All those materials cost money, and because it’s a longer process, the cost of labor is higher. You also have to figure out how to handle having a car out of commission for days or sometimes weeks, which could cost extra money. Paintless dent repair is a much simpler, faster, and therefore less expensive process. With paintless dent repair, a technician examines the damage, determines the best way to access it and the right tool for the job. Then the technician starts at the outside edge of the damaged area and carefully massages the material back into the correct position. As the technician works, the damaged area will get smaller and smaller and then eventually disappear altogether.

Don’t try this at home, kids.

You might think paintless dent repair sounds easy, and consider buying a DIY dent removal kit so you can try your hand at hail dent removal. We strongly suggest you don’t, as it could end up being a very costly mistake. Most DIY kits come with one or maybe two tools, but paintless dent repair isn’t a one-size-fits-all practice. Remember those technicians we told you about? Skilled technicians, like those at Bodyguard, have various tools at their disposal and the training and experience to know which are the best tools to use, depending on the damage. Bodyguard technicians have spent years apprenticing and training to get to that point. We treat each dent as unique. The size, shape, and location of the dent on the vehicle are all factors that a skilled technician must consider when determining which dent removal method to use. Fixing hail damage without further damaging the material takes exacting precision and years of practice. With that in mind, there are two reasons why trying DIY dent repair could end up costing you a lot of money. First, your car is only eligible for paintless dent repair if there are no scratches, cracks, or gashes involved. If the factory paint is damaged – either during the original event or in the attempt to fix it – your car cannot be fixed with paintless dent removal. Second, if you further damage your vehicle, you could ruin your insurance claim. Your insurance company will send out an appraiser to assess your vehicle’s hail damage, and they will most likely notice if you’ve attempted DIY hail dent repair. If you create new scratches, gashes, or cracks in your vehicle in your attempt to fix the damage, there’s a good chance your insurance company will refuse to pay to have it fixed because the repairs will be more expensive than they would have been if you hadn’t tampered with the dents.

Work with a reputable company that offers a warranty.

You might have seen some ads from paintless dent repair companies offering unbelievable deals or offering to cover the cost of your deductible. As a general rule, if it seems too good to be true, that’s because it probably is. Autobody work is an art, and like all good art, you get what you pay for. Bodyguard has been serving Dallas-Fort Worth for more than 18 years. We have more than 125 years of combined experience, and we’ve repaired more than 20,000 vehicles. Being a stable, long-lasting company is extremely important in the paintless dent repair industry. During hail season in Dallas-Fort Worth, the market is flooded with temporary hail repair shops that promise great deals but close up as soon as the season ends. That means they’re not held accountable in the long-term to their customers. At Bodyguard, we’re so confident in our work that we stand behind it with a lifetime warranty. Do you think a pop-up shop is going to do that? Not a chance. If you’re not 100 percent satisfied with your auto hail repair, bring it back, and we’ll make it right. We like to remind our customers that Bodyguard was here long before hail season started, and we’ll be here long after it ends. We’re proud of our work and our repeat customers.

Bodyguard’s auto hail specialists can help. Call today to schedule an appointment!

Bodyguard is a paintless dent repair company, so fixing cars with hail damage quickly, efficiently and with expert skill is what we do best. If you want to work with a long-standing, reputable hail damage repair company that is willing to guarantee your satisfaction with a lifetime warranty, call Bodyguard. Let our highly trained technicians handle your car hail damage and restore your vehicle to its original condition. Go to our website at bodyguardpdr.com for more information, or call us today at 469-628-4910 to set up an automotive hail damage repair appointment.