When you think  ‘tornado’ in the midwest, you know there will be a high likelihood of torrential rain, hail, and wind gusts that like to shoot hail stones across the sky like killer bees.

This is exactly what happened in Andover, KS. Nearly 1,000 structures were hit by a destructive EF3 twister. Downed power lines and large debris blocked most major intersections, more than 13,000 people were without power in Andover and Wichita, and hundreds of homes and vehicles were battered with large hail.

“Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has even issued a State of Emergency Disaster Declaration for the state just before 9 p.m., activating the disaster response and recovery portions of the Kansas Response Plan,” KSN.com writes.

Record high temperatures in the midwest continue to put residents in danger of more severe weather occurrences.

If your vehicle has sustained hail damage, call the auto hail repair specialists in Wichita, KS. The Hail Shop has extensive experience with catastrophic storm recovery services and will be offering a free valet  and pick-up/delivery services for vehicle owners in Andover, KS.

Call 316-247-1249 or you can schedule online.

We all have bad days. Sometimes we can even have a bad week. 2021-2022 is proving to be an overall bad year for Mother Natures. From wild weather mood swings to unpredictable barometric behavior, someone needs to muster up the courage to suggest that MN take a “Netflix & Chill” approach for the rest of the year.

The 2022 Farmers Almanac Playbook

Temperature swings and lots of snow. 

We can all agree that December, January, and February could be considered “unseasonable.” This is especially true for the Texans that traded in their light jackets for snow shovels on February 3rd. South Carolina and Virginia saw rare blasts of snow and ice in late January. A Myrtle Beach fire chief warned residents that “even walking out the front door could be treacherous.” Meanwhile in the midwest, where snowy and icy conditions are quite commonplace, Missourians and Kansans are experiencing blizzard like conditions just 3 days after Valentines Day.

The Farmers Almanac managing Editor Sandi Duncan says this about March.

“And, she says don’t get fooled if March starts off relatively calm…Unfortunately, March looks very stormy. We’re actually calling for some stormy conditions in the middle of the month and the unusual thing is if you look even further ahead in April, we’re calling for possible late-season blizzard across the region. SO, winter is going to hang on.”

Oh, yay.

The official descriptive words used by The Farmers Almanac of 2022 are flip-floppy and mixed bag. We call this Mother Nature manic depression.

La Nina & Her Influence on Spring 2022 Tornado & Hail Season

La Nina has an important influence on the Spring 2022 hail season in the United States. And usually not in a good way.

In a La Nina spring season, there is a substantially higher frequency of hailstorms  in the southern and southeastern parts of the United States.

It nicely shows the main outlines of the central and eastern parts of the Tornado Alley including Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Are You Ready For Hail Season?

In the afore mentioned states (Arkansas, Oklahoma, & Texas) – hail season is nothing new…certainly not appreciated, but not new. If 2021 is any indication of how 2022 comes rolling in, it is a good idea to get ready.

Auto hail damage is a real thing in Hail Alley. If you are in the unfortunate situation of not being afforded the amount of time needed to prepare for a hail storm, The Hail Shop USA has got you covered.

We have repaired thousands of hail damaged vehicles back to their original pristine condition and can do the same for you!

In an article by The Weekly Planet, Alex Kubicek says that “Hail is expanding its footprint across the country at the same time that it is becoming more frequent in the central United States.”

Who is Alex Kubicek? His Twitter feed says – Weather guy, CEO of @UnderstoryWx, Board gamer.

In August of 2021, Wealth & Finance, an international monthly publication dedicated to delivering high quality informative and up-to-the-minute global business content recognized Understory Inc with  top honor of Best Climate Change Insurance Solution 2021 for their work rewriting insurance for the era of climate change.

In layman terms. Alex Kubicek is a super, hard-core weather geek.

When scientists and climatologists list climate change’s biggest (or extreme) threats –  fire, floods, heat waves, & drought are at the top. With occurrences of hail increasing in spread and severity, hail is on its way to making that list.

Changes in Climate Extremes and their Impacts on the Natural Physical Environment white paper defines An Extreme Weather Event as, “the occurrence of a value of a weather or climate variable above (or below) a threshold value near the upper (or lower) ends (‘tails’) of the range of observed values of the variable.” Source.

How much money does hail damage cause per year in the United States?

The catastrophic effects of extreme hail occurrences include:

Crop Damage – Hail annually causes billions of dollars in damage worldwide to crops and property combined.

Personal Property Damage – In 2019, over 7.1 million US properties were affected by hail damage. Between 2008 and 2014, US insurers paid roughly $5.37 billion for auto insurance claims, according to hail data. The highest claim frequency was recorded in 2011 with 4.3 claims per 1,000 insured automobiles in the US due to hail damage. Source.

How do these hail occurrences effect personal property?

From damaged roofs, and personal property damage to hail damaged vehicles  – insurance companies are paying out millions per year to repair the effects of hail damage. We know this.

The problem though is how many of these hail damage claims are actually legitimate?

It works kind of like this. A hail storm hits a portion of Austin, Texas. Not the entire city but more like a span of approximately 25 city blocks. Within those 25 blocks are residential neighborhoods, a couple of car lots, and a shopping center.

How do these hail occurrences effect property and casualty insurance companies?

After a hail storm, it is common for local or out-of-town roofing contractors to visit these neighborhoods and distribute sales paraphernalia in hopes of earning the contract to repair the hail damaged roofs. The same goes for paintless dent repair companies.

The problem is that not every roof or vehicle has the same severity of damage. Insurance fraud is a significant problem after major storms, partly because crooked contractors deceive customers about the extent of roof damage.

“If there is a high rate of weather related home damage or claims being filed in your neighborhood, your insurer will raise the rates for the entire area. This rate increase will affect your premiums regardless of whether or not you recently filed a claim.” Source.

How do these hail occurrences effect people?

“We really don’t know a lot about how the weather affects people. There has to be a better way to understand the weather than what we’re doing,” says Kubicek.

Kubieck’s company Uderstory is seeking to find a better way to detect the actual effect each unique hail occurrence can have on a farmers crops, a personals personal property, their vehicles, etc.  This, in turn, will better help property and casualty insurance adjusters understand just how much damage was sustained based on scientific data.

What does this mean?

Understory has developed what is called an “unmatched hyperlocal network” of ground-level sensors spaced two miles apart throughout a city or other area. Each sensor measures wind, rain and hail by force, direction and angle of impact, 120,000 times a second. That data allows analysts to precisely estimate storm damage, he said. Source.

With this technology, insurance estimators can go into a hail storm damaged area with an understanding of how much damage they should expect to see. If a roofing company or a paintless dent repair company has already estimated the cost to repair the damaged sustained on a roof or vehicle before the insurance estimator has actually seen the damage, they can quickly determine if their estimate is within the range of the data they have received from the sensors.

If a contractors estimate is grossly inflated, the insurance adjuster can visit the property to re-evaluate the damage and deliver a reimbursement amount that more accurately reflects the damage.

Ultimately, this technology will prevent the insured from incurring a cost increase on their property and casualty insurance and vehicle insurance policies.

Hail Sensors in Hail Alley

Currently, there are over 600 sensors placed strategically across hail alley. Understory has installed sensors in Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, and St. Louis – all producing what Kubicek calls “litigation-quality data” with a 97% accuracy rate that can hold up in court.

The insurer hopes that the data obtained from the sensor will help to more effectively handle future claims.

As the world continues to battle the Coronavirus, Mother Nature is working overtime. Massive hail storms, earthquakes, tornadoes, and hurricanes are still on the COVID “essential list” and don’t seem to be slowing down. So what happens if your car gets damaged in a hail storm one of the other multiple repair issues comes up?

Can You Get Your Vehicle Repaired During Pandemic?

Good News. Paintless Dent Repair Shops, Body Shops, and Auto Repair Shops has been deemed an essential service by the government.

Many auto repair locations are operating with reduced staff and repairs may take longer than usual.  It is always best to call ahead if you have concerns about repair times.  Most auto body shops and repair facilities are offering minimal contact, on-location inspections and estimates. Wearing a face mask is recommended.

The Hail Shop USA is operating with a full staff and normal repair times. We do suggest you call if you have any specific questions about insurance, inspections, and expedited repair times. The average shop time for an auto hail repair is 2-5 days but most hail damage vehicles are in the shops for 2-3 days.

What Could Slow Down Repair Times During Pandemic?

The biggest change vehicle owners will find is how the insurance companies and insurance adjusters have changed their claims procedure to better protect their agents and customers. Adjusters are inspecting vehicles remotely and relying heavily on your photography and video skills to document hail damage.

1. Asking customers to take photos of all panels.
2. Requesting a video walk around of the entire vehicle
3. Uploading images and videos to their website

Sounds super easy, right? Well, kind of. With every solution, there will be challenges.

Many customers are struggling to capture images that accurately show the severity of the damage causing estimates (and payouts) to run short.

What we are seeing and hearing from our customers in San Antonio is a lot of over complication and excessive frustration. For example, we had a customer that had scheduled a repair with check / estimate in hand from the insurance company but didn’t have the funds to repair all of the hail damage. We re-inspected the vehicle and documented ALL of the dent damage and initiated the supplementation process to recover the funds needed for a full repair. Unfortunately 5 extra days were expended to complete the filing and repair process.

1. Technical Issues. Another hurdle for car owners to overcome is more on the technical side.  Issues such as photo and video uploading issues of too large a file or timing-out issues from the insurance companies website.
2. Faulty Photos. When a customer finally gets the media uploaded, they photos and videos don’t accurately show all of the damage. When a customer sends in images that fail to show certain parts of the damage, the repair facility then must take and submit a second round of photos to the adjuster. These photos then must await a second review before approval is given to begin the repairs.

The Hail Shop USA Is Here To Help You

Let one of our experienced paintless dent repair technicians guide you through the entire hail claims process or better yet, we can take care of the entire process while you carry on with your regularly scheduled life.

From inspecting and estimating your hail damage for free and at YOUR location to submitting all pertinent media, estimates, and supplements to your insurance adjuster, The Hail Shop is here to work for you and make the process as stress free as possible.

If you need auto hail repairs, claims assistance, or just assurance that you are “doing it right”, we are here and with enhanced safety measures. Call us today at 866-943-2141 or schedule your inspection or repair using our online form.

What can hail the size of Golf Balls do to a vehicle?

Severe damage. Golf ball sized hail leaves behind more than a few dents and dings. Golf ball sized hail breaks windows, sunroofs, and headlights. When you add damaging 60 MPH winds into the mix, you get a recipe for disaster.

Dallas-Fort Worth and surrounding cities woke up to hail covering the ground early Tuesday morning in late April 2020. They also found that their vehicles were covered in dents and more.

Can hail damage be fixed on a car?

Most of the time, yes. There are a few caveats though. The main one being paint damage. Paintless dent repair is obviously “paintless.” This means that PDR techs do not use paint to repair hail damage. Instead, they use a series of tools and gadgets to lift the dents from the underside of the damaged panel. If the paint is damaged, the dents can be removed but there will still be damage. Paint damage isn’t something we typically see on a car after a hail storm.

This also goes for the golf ball sized hail that damaged cars in Fort Worth in late April.

What do I do if hail has damaged my car?

If the damage is obvious, contact your insurance company. You can find a list of phone numbers and filing options here. We have put together a guide for filing auto hail damage insurance claims here. Within the guide, you will find answers to your most frequently asked questions about hail damage claims and the filing process.

If you suspect you have hail damage but aren’t quite ready to file a claim, call us at 866-943-2141. We can inspect your vehicle for hail damage and provide you with guidance for free. Hail damage can be hard to detect by for multiple reasons. The Hail Shop has a team of highly-trained and experienced inspectors that can come inspect your vehicle and provide you with an estimate.

How much does paintless dent repair cost to repair auto hail damage?

If you carry comprehensive insurance on your vehicle(s), the cost repair hail damage on a car is covered under your policy. Your only financial obligation is the deductible. The Hail Shop is a privately owned company and has the option to waive the cost of your deductible. You can read more about our “Deductible Assistance” program here.

You can learn more about our auto hail repair service here.

The Hail Shop has been fixing car hail damage for nearly a decade. We are knowledgable, fast, affordable, and professional. To schedule your free inspection in Fort Worth, call us today at 866-943-2141. We can either come to your location or you can stop by our shop located at 745 W Hurst Blvd., Hurst TX 76053.