Does car insurance cover hail damage?

Your car insurance will cover hail damage as long as you have comprehensive coverage.

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Andrew HurstSenior Editor & Licensed Auto Insurance ExpertAndrew Hurst is a senior editor at Policygenius who has spent his entire career writing about life, disability, home, auto, and health insurance. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Forbes, USA Today, NPR, Mic, Insurance Business Magazine, and Property Casualty 360.

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Anna SwartzAnna SwartzSenior Managing EditorAnna Swartz is a senior managing editor who specializes in home, auto, renters, and disability insurance at Policygenius. Previously, she was a senior staff writer at Mic and a writer at The Dodo. Her work has also appeared in Salon, HuffPost, MSN, AOL, and Heeb.

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Your car insurance will cover hail damage as long your policy includes comprehensive coverage, which covers damage that’s not caused by a collision. This includes hail, along with theft, other falling objects, flooding, and more.

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But if the hail damage isn’t extensive, it might be better to pay for it yourself. Making claims can raise your rates, so minor damage may not be worth higher costs in the future.

Key takeaways

  • Your car insurance will cover hail damage if you have comprehensive coverage.

  • Comprehensive coverage is optional, and if you don’t have it as part of your policy, hail damage won’t be covered. 

  • Comprehensive coverage requires a per-claim deductible that you have to pay out of pocket.

  • If the cost to fix the hail damage is close to (or less than) your deductible, it wouldn’t be worth it to file a claim.

Is hail damage covered by car insurance?

Yes, hail damage is covered by car insurance, as you have a policy with comprehensive coverage. Comprehensive coverage isn’t required by law, like liability coverage, but it’s usually required if you lease or finance your car.

Comprehensive coverage, sometimes called other-than-collision, is what covers damage from falling objects and extreme weather (along with fire, vandalism, and theft). Along with collision coverage, it’s what makes up a full-coverage policy.

Does car insurance pay for windshield damage from hail?

Some car insurance policies include glass coverage, which covers damage to your windshield — and usually with no deductible required, unlike comprehensive coverage. 

If your windshield is cracked or damaged by hail and you have full glass coverage, you can file a claim and have it repaired without having to pay a deductible. There are also a handful of states where insurance companies have to cover safety glass repairs without a deductible, so if you live in Florida, Kentucky, or South Carolina, you won’t have to pay out of pocket to fix windshield damage. 

When does full coverage cover hail damage?

Assuming you have full coverage, your car insurance will cover hail damage no matter where it happens. Although comprehensive insurance usually applies to damage that happens while your car is parked, it can still cover hail damage that happens during a drive. 

Even if you left your car outdoors during a hailstorm, full-coverage car insurance will still cover hail damage, assuming you pay any required deductible.

What is the average insurance payout for hail damage?

Assuming that the hail doesn’t total your car, your insurance will cover the cost of the damage minus your deductible. That means the average payout for hail damage depends entirely on how much damage the hail did, and how high your deductible is.

When you should use your insurance to cover hail damage

Comprehensive coverage requires a per-claim deductible that you have to pay out of pocket — meaning that amount, often set at $500 or $1,000, will be subtracted from any claim settlement. That means that if the damage from the hail costs less than your deductible amount, it’s not worth filing a claim.

Even if the hail that damages your car causes damage that’s greater than your deductible, it’s not always the best idea to use your insurance to cover hail damage, since filing a claim means risking a rate increase. 

Let’s say that you drive through a hail storm and your car is dented. Your deductible is only $500, and the estimate to fix the dent comes out to $600. In this situation (and others like it), it’s probably better to pay for the damage yourself.

If you factor in the cost of the deductible in this situation, insurance will cover just $100 in hail damage:

Cost of hail damage

$600

Comprehensive deductible 

$500

Total covered by insurance

$100

Spending the entire $600 out of pocket might be better (and more affordable in the long term) than using insurance to cover $100 in repair costs and having your rates go up because of your claim later on.

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Does hail damage claim raise your car insurance rates?

Yes, a hail damage claim can raise your car insurance rates, just like any other claim. But the good news is that your rates probably won’t go up by very much after a claim for hail damage.

Car insurance usually doesn’t go up very much for drivers who make comprehensive claims because the damage was out of their control. If your car was hit by hail, it doesn’t mean that you’re a riskier driver who’s at a higher risk of making another claim later on. It just means that you were unlucky.

Bottom line: While you should think about how a claim for hail damage will affect your rates, your premiums probably won’t go up by that much. If the damage is significantly more than your deductible amount, it’s probably worth making the claim.

How to file hail damage claim on car

You can file a hail damage claim the same way that you would file a claim for other types of damage. The claims process can vary slightly by company, but generally you’ll have to:

  1. Report the hail damage to your company right away: Your insurance policy likely requires you to report damage as soon as you’re aware of it. You don’t have to start a claim, but at this point you should take the opportunity to ask about whether you’re covered and about your deductible if you’re unsure.

  2. Document the damage that the hail caused: When you make a claim your insurance company will want to know everything about the incident that you can tell. You should take pictures of your car’s hail damage to show your insurance provider (sometimes you can do this right in your car insurance company’s app).

  3. Work with your insurance company: When you make a claim for hail damage, make sure you follow your insurance company’s claims process. Keep up with deadlines and cooperate with your company’s adjuster. Since no other drivers were involved, the claim will probably be resolved quickly.

  4. Accept your settlement offer: Once your claim is settled, you can choose to accept or reject it. You may get a check if you accept the settlement, but your insurance company may send the check directly to the repair shop instead. If you choose to reject the offer, you’ll have to follow your company’s claims dispute process.

Where is hail damage most common?

Hail damage can happen in any state, but it’s more common in some places than others. Based on data collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, we found that in 2021 Texas had the highest number of hail storms with 1,214 incidents. [1]

No other state saw at least 1,000 hail storms in 2021, but there were at least 200 incidents in Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Colorado, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Minnesota that same year.

State

Number hail reports

Average car insurance rate

Texas

1,214

$1,840

Kansas

537

$1,604

Nebraska

333

$1,735

South Dakota

326

$1,618

Colorado

268

$1,751

Oklahoma

259

$1,928

Wisconsin

253

$1,062

Minnesota

246

$1,418

Iowa

198

$1,152

North Dakota

180

$1,397

Missouri

167

$1,568

Arkansas

153

$1,772

Montana

138

$1,888

Tennessee

138

$1,329

Alabama

134

$1,726

North Carolina

129

$1,009

New Mexico

121

$1,480

Wyoming

111

$1,398

Virginia

102

$1,314

Pennsylvania

100

$1,605

Illinois

99

$1,403

South Carolina

87

$1,864

Georgia

84

$1,710

Michigan

80

$2,377

Florida

78

$2,914

Mississippi

78

$1,674

Indiana

76

$1,219

New York

72

$2,172

New Jersey

62

$2,259

Louisiana

61

$2,906

Kentucky

52

$2,158

Ohio

51

$1,038

Arizona

49

$1,565

New Hampshire

42

$1,224

West Virginia

35

$1,681

Maryland

29

$1,798

Massachusetts

25

$1,614

Utah

21

$1,503

California

16

$1,857

Maine

13

$1,147

Idaho

11

$1,109

Oregon

7

$1,461

Connecticut

5

$1,790

Nevada

4

$2,137

Delaware

3

$2,110

Rhode Island

3

$1,860

Washington

3

$1,651

Vermont

2

$1,124

Hawaii

1

$1,200

Collapse table

Policygenius analysis of data from NOAA and Quadrant Information Services.

If you live in any of the states where hail storms are common, you should make sure you have comprehensive coverage. You can compare rates from multiple companies to find your best rates for a full-coverage policy.

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Frequently asked questions

Is hail damage covered by auto insurance?

Auto insurance does cover hail damage, but only if you have comprehensive coverage and the cost to repair the damage is greater than your policy’s deductible. Otherwise, you’ll have to pay for the cost of repairing your car by yourself.

How does hail insurance work?

Your insurance will pay for the cost of repairing your car after it’s damaged by hail. If you decide to use your insurance to cover the hail damage, you’ll make a claim and receive a settlement (minus your deductible) for the cost of the damage.

When should you make a claim for hail damage?

You should make a claim for hail damage if you can’t afford to pay for the damage yourself. But it might be better to cover the cost of repairs yourself if you can afford to. Your insurance costs will go up after you make a hail claim (though probably only slightly), so make sure that the cost of using your insurance will be worth it.

Methodology

We found the cost of full-coverage car insurance by analyzing rates provided by Quadrant Information Services. These rates were for every ZIP code in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Our data experts analyzed combined rates for a full-coverage policy for 30, 35, and 45-year-old drivers of a 2017 Toyota Camry with a clean record. The rates we analyzed were for a policy with the following limits:

  • Bodily injury liability: $50,000 per person, $100,000 per accident

  • Property damage liability: $50,000 per accident

  • Uninsured/underinsured motorist: $50,000 per person, $100,000 per accident

  • Comprehensive: $500 deductible

  • Collision: $500 deductible

In some cases, additional coverages were added where required by the state or insurer. Some carriers may be represented by affiliates or subsidiaries. Rates provided are a sample of insurance costs. Your actual quotes may differ.

References

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Policygenius uses external sources, including government data, industry studies, and reputable news organizations to supplement proprietary marketplace data and internal expertise. Learn more about how we use and vet external sources as part of oureditorial standards.

  1. NOAA

    . "

    Citation: NOAA Severe Weather Database Files (1950 to 2021)

    ." Accessed November 29, 2022.

Author

Andrew Hurst is a senior editor at Policygenius who has spent his entire career writing about life, disability, home, auto, and health insurance. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Forbes, USA Today, NPR, Mic, Insurance Business Magazine, and Property Casualty 360.

Editor

Anna Swartz is a senior managing editor who specializes in home, auto, renters, and disability insurance at Policygenius. Previously, she was a senior staff writer at Mic and a writer at The Dodo. Her work has also appeared in Salon, HuffPost, MSN, AOL, and Heeb.

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