Preparing your vehicle's insurance for Siouxland's severe weather
According to AAA, an average of 245,000 auto insurance claims are filed for hail damage each year, which can make it difficult for Sioux Auto Body to get your vehicle in for repairs.
'All of a sudden you have, you know, 100 people that want their car fixed, so scheduling to be difficult,' said Costa Tsiobanos, the manager of Sioux Auto Body
Jake Goodin with Goodin Insurance said the first thing you need to do when your vehicle has been damaged by hail is to file a claim as soon as possible.
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'If you do experience any type of damage, the first thing that you want to do is maybe take some photos and or videos, and the next thing would be to contact your insurance agent to set up a claim,' said Jake Goodin.
Whether your hail damage repairs are covered by your insurance depends entirely on the type of policy you have. Goodin said liability coverage will not cover for the damage, but comprehensive coverage will.
'It'd be everything but collision is what it is. So, if you had a tree limb fall on your vehicle or if you had a hailstorm, that would be covered under comprehensive coverage'
Therefore, Tsiobanos said people typically wait to get the check from their insurance before they get the repairs done to their vehicle.
'That way they can make sure that they get paid in full, you know, if they pay the shop up front, sometimes they can get the run around trying to collect money from the insurance company,' said Tsiobanos.
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Filing a claim can potentially increase your insurance premiums, whether it's for your car or house.
'Usually it's a catastrophic type of event. When we have large hailstorm that doesn't really impact your rates to file a claim, but, you know, with the amount of storms that we've had, rates tend to go up still,' commented Goodin. 'Typically, if it's pretty small damage, you may want to just have a roofer come out and do an inspection on it to see if it is a very large claim.'
The best way to protect your car from any hail damage is to store it in a garage or to cover your vehicle in thick blankets.
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