Advice for Hail Claim / The Insurance Man Commeth

[99guy]

Oh great, another auto insurance claim to deal with. Third one for our family this year, none our fault.



Today it’s the 04 Ram 2500, 10k miles. 5 minutes of golf ball hail. Top of the cab is a real mess, hoods a little better and a cursory look shows bedside damage and fenders too.



After feeling screwed on two insurance deals already this year, I’m thinking this is gonna be another giant hassle and it’s probably not me that’s gonna come out smelling like a rose.



Any advice on these hail deals with a newer vehicle like this and what to ask for???



Oh, I had to buy this truck early this year when the 99 was in the body shop for over 2 months on a near total. Business use.

 

[TexasDodgeRam]

I have heard that the paintless dent repair is pretty dang good. You might want to go that route.

 

[99guy]

I haven’t seen that done though I have heard of it. I just can’t think that’s going to be feasible on this damage. I don’t think I would be exaggerating too much to say many of these dings are near ¼ deep and there are so many on the top it looks like the surface of a giant golf ball.



After taking another look at it tonight, in the dry, it looks pretty bad. Even cracked the windshield.

 

[jgillott]

99guy



I think that you will be pleasantly surprised by the job that some of these dent removal companies will do. My parents had a car pretty well damaged by hail back in 1998. The insurance company referred them to a company called Dent Wizard. The car came back nearly perfect.



I believe that the dent removal company charged a flat rate per body panel, which the insurance company covered without question.



Justin

 

[99guy]

Hmmm … well I’ll ask about it when I see the adjuster. Do they have to get to the back side of the dented panel? There are several dents in places like door window frames, back of the cab and other places where there is no doubt double wall construction.

 

[jgillott]

Originally posted by 99guy

Hmmm … well I’ll ask about it when I see the adjuster. Do they have to get to the back side of the dented panel? There are several dents in places like door window frames, back of the cab and other places where there is no doubt double wall construction.

I'm not real sure if they need to get to the back side or not. That may be a good question to ask. The advantage to me is that you don't need to paint those sections as long as the paint wasn't chipped or cracked.

 

[crobertson1]

I'm a PDR guy and it sounds like yours is a good canidate for conventional repair (body shop). If the dents are that deep, more than likely the metal is slightly stretched and will be next to immpossible to make flat again. If that's the case, the area that's dented will either be high or low. Yes , there has to be access to the "back" of the dent to apply pressure to massage the dent out. Pillars, edges of roof and hood, tops of beds etc are difficult to access. There is a new method using glued on pullers but your dents sound too deep for that to be successful. My recommendation for you is to is to stay away from the huge PDR corporations that train guys and send em out with little to no experience. Try to find a small independent company with a good reputation. There IS a difference in PDR skill levels and competency! There are "hail chasers" that will hear about an area hit with hail and go there to work for a few months. Some of those guys are awesome at hail repair. Some aren't. I fix the work of "hacks" all the time. Sorry to hear about your truck.

Craig

 

[HOBrian]

Well if you ever wanted a SRT-10 hood now would be the tiome. I would not mention the dent repair until the adjuster does you do not want to give them any ideas and the dent repair will be your idea if you mention it. . just my . 02

 

[99guy]

What I would like to do is trade it and let the insurance pay the difference. I just hate the thought of having a new truck already full of putty and a repaint. Was planning on keeping it for several years.

 

[Hale on wheels]

I feel your pain. We bought a new grand cherokee in November 02, and the following January had a huge hail storm come through and pummel the jeep. It had so many dents in it, the PDR guys said no way! They ended up putting on a brand new roof, hood, and had to fix a lot of other panels. It sucks to have a brand new vehicle with squeaks and what not from the body shop guys not putting it together right. I took it back multiple times but all the interior is still not together correctly, but I guess they won, they got my money and I quit taking it back because of all the hassle.

 

[wyosteve]

I don't have any real words of advice. I'm in the same boat. Mine goes in next Tues. for the #3k worth of hail damage a couple weeks ago. Truck was 6 wks. old with 3k miles. My ins. co. is letting me use a local shop that does excellent work. When they did the estimate, they said some dents can be done the PDR way and some have to be done conventionally. My ins. co. says I don't pay the deductible until the truck is finished to my satisfaction. They also provide a rental vehicle. We'll see how it turns out.

 

[Todd G]

I went thru this a few years back. The bill was over $4000 to heat each dent to pop it out and repaint the entire top half of the truck. It took 3 weeks to complete the job.

 

[99guy]

Well, I took it by a friend that runs a body shop this morning. He thinks the PDR would fix some but not near all, thinks it will need a new top, that means the cab has to come apart and then re-welded. They do good work but it will never be factory again will it?



Probably have to paint the whole truck and that brings up another point, there goes my factory warranty on finish, right? We quickly counted 175 dents, there are probably more. He tells me an adjuster recently told him a rule of thumb was $50 per dent. That’s $8750.



I suppose there is a waiting list for the adjuster as many vehicles damaged around here. I am told that in some places there was “6 of golf ball and larger hail on the ground. Some still melting early this morning around buildings. Storm hit at 3 p. m. yesterday

 

[HOBrian]

The new paint will be much better than what you have now!!!

 

[Hale on wheels]

I can't complain about the paint job on our jeep. It looks as good as factory to me. But I hope your truck is put back together better than ours. Ours was in the shop for 31 days the first time, 3 days the second time, and 2 days the third time before I gave up. It is mostly back together, but the interior panels squeak sometimes, like you would expect out of an older vehicle. If you know the body guy, then you may have better luck, or else you may lose a friend! Good luck.

 

[Extreme1]

They might give you another option. A few years ago this area was hit hard two years in a row. The insurance companys offered to pay the owners a percentage of the damage and not fix the vehicle. It wouldn't be worth it with a new truck like yours but with an old beater it'd be OK.



I wouldn't worry about getting a new roof welded on. Find a shop that does a lot of major work and it'll be fine.

 

[99guy]

Update, .....comments?

Update, finally went through the “drive thru” adjuster service. Adjuster looks at the damage maybe 5 minutes. Decides it needs a new top, both left door skins, left front fender, hood and grill, fix the right front fender ( he missed the few small dents in the RH doors and the tailgate) replace the front glass, paint and clearcoat the whole truck. He “wants” me to take his check for $5600 dollars, I decline. I guess tomorrow I see the body shop again for their estimate. I can’t see doing all that for $5600, maybe I’m wrong. Wonder if I could trade it in and get bluebook less the $5600? What do ya’ll think?



PS, I had to send him back with his first estimate, seems he missed the smashed windshield the first time!

 

[crobertson1]

That does sound low to me. Unless maybe he's figuring a bargain basement body shop. I'm with you, a second and third opinion are in order!

What about the left bedside?

 

[99guy]

Ya, I forgot to mention that, bid was for repair to bedside as well. I’m sure I’m also going to loose my factory finish a rust guarantee, 5 years I think??? That ought to be worth something too.



I am now dealing with three separate adjusters on three separate Shelter Insurance claims and feeling like I have to do all the research and footwork myself to get treated fairly. I’m thinking we pay this company over 10k a year in premiums on various things.



After this is over I am gathering all my policies together and soliciting bids from any company interested. It seems increasingly clear whomever you are insured with you can expect very little honest service. From now on it goes to the cheapest bidder.



If I treated my customers like this I would be out of business right soon …. . sorry …. Had to vent a little!

 

[wyosteve]

FWIW, I just picked my truck up this a. m. after a week in the shop due to hail damage. They were able to PDR virtually all of it. Very pleased. Can't see a dimple, wrinkle or anything. Looks new. Total bill was $3074. That included roof, hood, right front fender, right rear fender, both right side doors and a couple in the bed. The $5600 may not be that far off.