Do you know about - My Car Has Hail Damage, Now What?
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So your car got hit by hail now what do you do? If you've ever had your car damaged by a hail you know it can be a very frustrating and expensive experience. Well if you have full coverage guarnatee on your car it doesn't have to be frustrating or expensive. Often population don't understand how to properly use there guarnatee coverage and are even afraid to claim the damage for fear that their rates will go up. This is a tasteless fear but let me assure you a overall claim such as hail damage doesn't not raise your rates. In fact, if you don't claim the damage and have it repaired you risk having any hereafter claims being denied because of unrelated pre-existing damage.
What I said. It isn't outcome that the true about Farmers Insurance. You check out this article for information on anyone wish to know is Farmers Insurance.How is My Car Has Hail Damage, Now What?
The first thing you should do is call your guarnatee business and file a claim. Make sure you write your claim number down and it is always a good idea to ask the name of everyone you talk to and adjuster being assigned to your claim. The next step is the introductory inspection or the "estimate." Some guarnatee companies will ask you to go out get three estimates and hen fax them in. If your guarnatee business asks you to jump through these hoops just politely say No. Ask where you need to go to have "them," write "their," estimate. Thats it, do not waste your time driving colse to getting complicated estimates because in the end your guarnatee business is just going to use those estimates as a beginning point and write their own anyway.
An estimate means just that. It is an estimate of how much money and what the guarnatee business thinks it will take to repair your car. It is very leading that you clean your car before having it inspected because you wont get paid for dents the appraiser can't see. Secondly it is very leading that you are as nice and as accommodating to the appraiser as you can be. It will do you no good to argue with or be rude to the man deciding how much money your going to get to have your car repaired.
Often times when there's a large storm event the guarnatee companies are overloaded with claims and the have to outsource to independent estimate services to help write all the claims that are pouring in. This is ordinarily referred to as a catastrophe team or "cat team." Now I don't think I have to tell you that these very busy appraiser's are going to fly through your estimate as fast as they can and will probably miss a bunch of things. You may think your estimate looks a minute low. In my line of work 90% of the estimates are written low. I've seen estimates for 00 on a car that had over 00 in damage. Don't worry that estimate is not the final word it is merely a beginning point. Unfortunately many population select to keep they're guarnatee money and never get their car fix. Some population even wait colse to til it hails again colse to and try to claim the un-repaired damage again. The guarnatee companies lose millions of dollars every year to fraudulent claims. It is impossible for them to keep track of every claim and they can't force you to get your car fixed. The only way the guarnatee companies can combat this is by writing their introductory estimates a minute on the lighter side. I've had many appraisers tell me that their business no ifs ands or buts trains them to feel the buyer out and if they think they probably wont have their car repaired to write the estimate for as minute as possible. Obviously if you have a brand new Bmw your going to get it fixed but if you a 1984 Toyota Corolla with 350,000 miles on it you are probably going to keep the money, right?
The next step is to find a business to repair your dents. If you have large dents with paint damage and broken windows you will probably need to find a full aid body shop. If you have mostly quarter sized dents and the damage is just superficial then Pdr is the best option. Pdr, or paintless dent repair is a repair method in which the dents can be slowly massaged out and the original facility end is left undisturbed. A good Pdr shop can make your car look exactly like it did before the hail damage. Most dent's half dollar sized or smaller can be removed fairly no ifs ands or buts and quickly. In a perfect scenario your car could be repaired in as minute as a few hours. Well, the world is not perfect and depending on your guarnatee company's original estimate it may take several days to get an appraiser to come back out and re-write their estimate. This process is known as a Supplement. Usually on the back page of your estimate there are schooling for filling a supplement. The guarnatee business knows that if a pro repair facility is doing the repair then they are going to catch all the dents that were missed and ask to be paid for every last minute bolt or clip that has to be removed. This is proper course and most insurers no ifs ands or buts have a supplement hot line that body shops can call to have an appraiser sent out to the shop.
Some guarnatee companies send an appraiser out right away while other companies can take 7-10 days. I won't get into which companies are the worst but I will say that Progressive and Farmers are top notch! This is not a paid endorsement it's just the painfully positive truth. If I call farmers they are at my shop the next morning every time even though their course is within 48 hours. Progressive is roughly as fast within 48 hours usually. Some of the other companies won't tell you when there arrival and your at their mercy. This is Usually the longest delay in the repair process but it is the most important. Often times we get twice as much money as the original estimate. This is very leading because without this additional money you may get a shop to do a perfect repair or worse you may have to pay money out of pocket.
The next issue is "deductibles." You have a ageement with your guarnatee business that you will pay the first 0, 00, or anything your deductible is, towards the repair of your vehicle. This money is always deducted out of the check your guarnatee business gives you and they leave it up to you to pay it or find a business that will fix it for less. Essentially any business that repairs your car without requiring you to pay a deductible is giving you a "discount." This is wholly legal and in fact most Pdr companies will not need you to pay your deductible. Make sure you get any promises made to you in writing. I also recommend you get an estimated distance of repair time. At my shop we always provide a buyer with a written quote of the exact number due for the repair or we give the buyer a warrant in writing that we will perfect the repair for the negotiated number the guarnatee business issues payment for. If we file a supplement it is expressed that we earned that money in increasing to the original estimate. It is very leading that you have written proof that you as the buyer will not have to pay more than "x" number of dollars when your car repair is completed. If a shop is unwilling to put their promises in writing then you need to find a new shop.
Once you find your repair shop or Pdr business it is leading that you know where the shop is and meet the owner or manager. I know this sound's weird but a large majority of our customers never come to my shop and meet me. Often they are approached by one of my sales personnel and they let them pick the car up and then deliver back to them when it is done without ever arrival to my shop. This is great for me but it is very scary to think how no ifs ands or buts population just hand over their keys and guarnatee checks. I always recommend to my salesmen that they recommend to their buyer that they at least come out to our shop so they know where their car will be. It is also a good idea to ask for references. Often times we have repaired other cars in the neighborhood and have satisfied customers just down the street. Also you should check out a companies website if they don't have one or it is poorly put together that may be an indicator that the business doesn't pay much concentration to detail. For a business to not have a website today is roughly inexcusable! You may also call the local best business bureau. Even if a business is not a member the Bbb will still field complaints and keep files on companies that receive complaints. Also check with your insurer. The will have files on companies that have had complaints or are suspected of fraudulent activities.
In closing Pdr is assuredly a great alternative to original body repair, and with a minute research and due diligence the mean man can navigate the claims process and find a great shop to repair their car for minute or no money out of pocket!
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