Hailstorm

DG1

Saturday afternoon, we had a hailstorm that lasted approximately 10 minutes. H, who grew up here, said he'd never personally seen hail so big. I've only been here 8.5 years, and my previous places of residence weren't really hail-y places.

Anyway, whenever there's a bad storm, random fire alarms go off all over town. So H went to be a firefighter for a little while. But we had borrowed MIL's truck to possibly bring home a new washer or dryer, so my car was the better option for the trip to the fire house.

Y'all. We live 1.5 miles (maybe) from the fire house. It had not yet started hailing when H left. By the time he arrived, there were SIXTEEN hail dings in my car. Guiness won't be calling or anything, but it was pretty big hail. We haven't checked the roof of the house yet, but we need to, because it was that bad.

Afterward, I occupied/entertained the boys by having them go collect hailstones from the yard to try to find the biggest one. They had a blast.

Related: Does anyone have any experience with insurance claims for such things? My car is no beauty anyway, but if we can make a claim without a premium increase or something, I am all for it.

tawillers

We filed a claim for hail damage in the summer of 2009.  It was super easy and we ended up with $4K.

zsazsa-stl

My car was totaled by hail damage.  That was six years ago.  I just took the cash and I am still driving the dinged up car.  It didn't raise my premiums at all.  Our other comprehsive claim a few years ago (after H got hit by some stuff falling off of a truck in front of him that banged up the front hood and bumper) also didn't raise our rates.

DG1

Well that settles that. Guess I have a phone call to make.

**O-Face**

I don't think it should really affect your premium as it isn't collision and it's beyond your control.

MinM

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_hailstorm?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:f58d7689-2f12-4052-9a79-f23b122e7529Post:2558b4fe-5943-4032-b322-27f9acb6d03c">Re: Hailstorm</a>:
[QUOTE]My car was totaled by hail damage.  That was six years ago.  I just took the cash and I am still driving the dinged up car.  It didn't raise my premiums at all.  Our other comprehsive claim a few years ago (after H got hit by some stuff falling off of a truck in front of him that banged up the front hood and bumper) also didn't raise our rates.
Posted by zsazsa-stl[/QUOTE]

I was told if they total the car, they take it? Which is why I have not bothered with the damage on my car. Everyone here has been dealing with it. No one has mentioned rates going up as a result of it.

DG1

I'm just hoping they don't give me any trouble about the car's not being in the garage. I think our premiums are a tiny bit lower because the cars are garaged. But I guess they can't expect you to have the car in the garage 100% of the time and never drive it.

On the plus side, MIL's truck WAS in the garage. I know it was beyond our control, but I would have felt really badly about returning it all hail-damaged.

tawillers

Our rates didn't go up.  It's the same as if you get a chip in your windshield and need it replaced.

We called our agent and he just told us to take it to Place X and they'd take care of it.  We had our check a week later.

zsazsa-stl

They can't just confiscate your car, Min.  Or maybe they can in TX?  They paid me the value of my car and then I had to apply for a salvage title to be all legal about it.  I was annoyed that they didn't automatically change the insurance coverage to liability only (maybe I'm misunderstanding this, but I don't think they would be willing to pay for any further repairs after totalling it, yet they wanted to keep charging me for those premiums).  I had to call and specifically ask for that change.

Wzz

the rates can go up according to how much money the insurance has to pay out. so one or two claims means nothing, unless those one or two claims add up to tens of thousands of dollars. my rates haven't gone up and we've had to make a few claims. years ago, we had ONE accident that totaled the car and the rates immediately went up even though we weren't found at fault.

calling to start the claim should be very easy.

MinM

zsa - the way it was explained to me, a 'totaled' car is one that has been declared unfit for the road, so they take it. I would love to take the cash (since I own the car) and shove it in savings for a down payment on a newer car later, but I don't want to run the risk of losing my now, perfectly fine but for some cosmetic crap, car.

MNNEBride

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_hailstorm?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:f58d7689-2f12-4052-9a79-f23b122e7529Post:8a13b2e2-5a68-4c44-8668-95e0ce11c528">Re: Hailstorm</a>:
[QUOTE]zsa - the way it was explained to me, a 'totaled' car is one that has been declared unfit for the road, so they take it. I would love to take the cash (since I own the car) and shove it in savings for a down payment on a newer car later, but I don't want to run the risk of losing my now, perfectly fine but for some cosmetic crap, car.
Posted by MinM[/QUOTE]

A "totaled" car should be a car whose current value (blue book type thing) is less than the cost of the repairs.

*Barbie*

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_hailstorm?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:f58d7689-2f12-4052-9a79-f23b122e7529Post:7468b3c6-556e-4fb9-a2f9-b234e85c2741">Re: Hailstorm</a>:
[QUOTE]the rates can go up according to how much money the insurance has to pay out. so one or two claims means nothing, unless those one or two claims add up to tens of thousands of dollars. my rates haven't gone up and we've had to make a few claims. years ago,<strong> we had ONE accident that totaled the car and the rates immediately went up even though we weren't found at fault.</strong> calling to start the claim should be very easy.
Posted by Wzz[/QUOTE]

this sounds screwy. when i was rear-ended in august, and my car was totaled, my rates didn't increase as a result of the accident. (they went up slightly because i purchased a brand new car and replaced the 14yo car that was insured, but it was something like $20/month - nothing significant)

tawillers

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_hailstorm?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:f58d7689-2f12-4052-9a79-f23b122e7529Post:8a13b2e2-5a68-4c44-8668-95e0ce11c528">Re: Hailstorm</a>:
[QUOTE]zsa - the way it was explained to me, a 'totaled' car is one that has been declared unfit for the road, so they take it. I would love to take the cash (since I own the car) and shove it in savings for a down payment on a newer car later, but I don't want to run the risk of losing my now, perfectly fine but for some cosmetic crap, car.
Posted by MinM[/QUOTE]

Eh, totaled just means it costs more to repair than it's worth, not necessarily unfit.

It won't hurt to call your agent and find out the details, will it?  They may let you keep your car but still issue a check, maybe minus the deductible.

MinM

I am too scared they will take my car. I can have H call. He's home today with the dog and I'm trying to keep him busy.

tawillers

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_hailstorm?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:f58d7689-2f12-4052-9a79-f23b122e7529Post:64166825-c2ac-4fb1-9f88-d0d2fc78d9e9">Re: Hailstorm</a>:
[QUOTE]I am too scared they will take my car. I can have H call. He's home today with the dog and I'm trying to keep him busy.
Posted by MinM[/QUOTE]

You (or PT) can call anonymously.  Don't tell them who you are. :)

dharmabunny

In Response to Re:Hailstorm:[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Hailstorm:zsa the way it was explained to me, a 'totaled' car is one that has been declared unfit for the road, so they take it. I would love to take the cash since I own the car and shove it in savings for a down payment on a newer car later, but I don't want to run the risk of losing my now, perfectly fine but for some cosmetic crap, car.Posted by MinMA "totaled" car should be a car whose current value blue book type thing is less than the cost of the repairs. Posted by MNNEBride[/QUOTE]

This. Totaling a car and getting a salvage title is NBD if you know why it got totaled and choose to drive it anyway ie a POS with cosmetic damage that added up The biggest problem is with resale and the salvage title and the buyer figuring out exactly why it was salvaged a lot of hail damage, bent car frame, got flooded, etc

MinM

OK. I'll have H call. And the plan is to run this baby into the ground and turn it over to a dealership for $5, or whatever they will give me, when I buy a newer car. If they won't give me anything, I'll donate it for a tax break.

murmist01

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_hailstorm?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:f58d7689-2f12-4052-9a79-f23b122e7529Post:fc434ca8-a1f2-4d2d-a081-05b4ea4d5184">Re: Hailstorm</a>:
[QUOTE]OK. I'll have H call. And the plan is to run this baby into the ground and turn it over to a dealership for $5, or whatever they will give me, when I buy a newer car. If they won't give me anything, I'll donate it for a tax break.
Posted by MinM[/QUOTE]

You would be bettter off donating the car when you are ready. We have donated 2 POS cars in the past few years and got really good tax breaks from them, I was even surprised that they took the S-10 truck because it wasn't even running at the time.

Wzz

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_hailstorm?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:f58d7689-2f12-4052-9a79-f23b122e7529Post:49433be0-73c0-43ef-818f-6913b0afb2de">Re: Hailstorm</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Hailstorm : this sounds screwy. when i was rear-ended in august, and my car was totaled, my rates didn't increase as a result of the accident. (they went up slightly because i purchased a brand new car and replaced the 14yo car that was insured, but it was something like $20/month - nothing significant)
Posted by *Barbie*[/QUOTE]

we got into an accident with a motorcyle. on top of our damage, our insurance paid out $25,000 (just because that was their motorcycle payout) plus who knows what for medical, because the laws in this state allow insurance to pay for motorcycle damage regardless of fault. i dont remember the whole reasoning of why he got this money, but i think it was because he didnt have his own insurance. i know for sure i wasnt at fault and even my insurance reported it this way, but because it was a motorcycle, that was the law. i was livid and very young.