Blog · Hail & dents
Hail Season in the Permian Basin: Before and After the Storm
What to do when hail is in the forecast, what to do the morning after, and how to avoid the mistakes that turn a simple hail claim into a headache.
Hail in West Texas is not a question of if. Every spring and summer, storms build over the Permian in the afternoon, and some of them drop stones the size of golf balls on whatever is parked outside. Here is what to do when it is in the forecast, what to do the morning after, and the mistakes we see people make in between.
Before the storm
- Get it under something. A garage, a carport, a covered parking deck. Even the side of a building that blocks the direction the storm is coming from helps. This is the only thing that actually prevents damage.
- A blanket is better than nothing. Moving blankets or a thick comforter over the roof, hood and trunk, weighted so they do not blow off, will take the sting out of small hail. They will not stop big stones.
- Do not drive into it. People try to outrun a storm and end up on the highway when it hits, with hail coming at the windshield at seventy miles an hour. If it is coming, park under something and wait.
- Know your comprehensive deductible. Hail is a comprehensive claim, not collision, and the deductible is often different. Knowing the number ahead of time makes the decision after the storm faster.
The morning after
Walk the vehicle in daylight. Look at the roof, the hood and the trunk lid from a low angle, with the reflection of the sky in the paint. Dents show up as breaks in the reflection. Count roughly. Then look for anything worse than dents: cracked paint, a broken windshield, cracked light lenses, a dented mirror housing.
Take photos, from a distance and close up, before you wash the vehicle or drive it anywhere. Then decide whether it is a claim.
Filing or not
If there are a handful of small dents and your comprehensive deductible is significant, it may not be worth filing. If the roof looks like a golf ball, it is. The way to know is to get it counted at the shop, free, and compare the number to your deductible. We will tell you honestly which side of the line it falls on. There is more on that decision in file a claim or pay out of pocket.
If you do file, your carrier may direct you to a catastrophe appraisal site if the storm was big. That is fine. Get their estimate, then bring it to us. You still choose the shop.
The pop-up tent problem
After every big storm, tents go up in parking lots across Odessa and Midland offering hail repair. Some are legitimate traveling paintless-dent technicians who follow storms for a living. Some collect deductibles and are gone in two weeks. It is very hard to tell them apart from the sign.
What you can check: a fixed address, a phone number that has been the same for years, reviews you can read, and whether they will be here in a month if something is wrong. We are at 7033 W 24th St, we have been in the Permian Basin for over 40 years, and our reviews are on Google for anyone to read, including the ones that are not five stars.
What the repair looks like
Dents with intact paint and no body line behind them usually come out paintless, working the metal from behind with rods and tabs. That keeps your factory paint, which is the best outcome. Dents on a crease, on an edge, or with cracked paint need a conventional repair and a refinish, with the color matched off your VIN and blended into the neighboring panels. A roof or hood with too many hits to work may be replaced. Here is the full process.
Do not let cracked paint sit
A dent with intact paint is stable. A dent with cracked paint is an opening, and the sun and the occasional rain get into it. On steel, that is rust within months. If you see chipped or cracked paint in the dents, move it up the list.
Fleet vehicles after a storm
A yard full of trucks parked outside when a storm comes through is a lot of hail claims at once. We can count and photograph units at the shop and stagger the repairs so you are never more than a couple of trucks down. Tell us how many you run and we will build a schedule.
FAQ
Does hail repair go on the vehicle's history?
The insurance claim generally gets reported. A paintless repair leaves no filler and no repaint, which is as clean as a repair can be on the vehicle itself.
How long after the storm can I file?
Policies vary, but sooner is better. Adjusters get busy after a big storm, and a claim filed early gets seen first.
Will my rates go up for a hail claim?
Comprehensive claims are generally not treated as at-fault, but the effect on your premium is between you and your carrier. Ask your agent.
Can you repair hail on a vehicle that also has collision damage?
Yes, and it is often two claims, one comprehensive and one collision, on the same vehicle. We keep them separate on paper and do the work together. Call (432) 220-3243 and describe both.