21st Century Auto Insurance - 21 Century Car Insurance QuotE

Date: May 13, 2005
Contributor: Guy Sheller

Insurance adjusters move in to take care of hail damage claims

At the Ross Hyden Auto Superstore, insurance claims adjusters were still looking over 140 cars damaged by hail a week ago, while a Carlsbad Imports manager said about 80 cars on his lot were affected, and a State Farm representative estimated that the company would handle about 800 claims in the coming weeks.

Todd Hyden, president of Ross Hyden, said a hail storm last April caused more than $100,000 in damage to the cars and the building.

“We’ll be over $100,000 this year,” Hyden said, noting that for years before last year, the dealership had not suffered major losses from a hail storm.

Hyden said when the dealership knows about an impending storm, they generally drive some of the more expensive cars into the service department.

“This happened after hours, so there was no chance of that,” Hyden said of the storm, which struck right around 6 p.m. last Friday.

Ross Hyden relies on three insurance carriers for the cars, and one also covers the building.

“It’s like your own personal insurance on your vehicle,” Hyden said. “We have deductibles just like you do on your car, so the dealership does experience some loss on the vehicles.”

Brian Santo, general manager at Carlsbad Imports, said adjusters just finished looking at his cars Thursday morning.

“Last year’s (storm) was worse,” Santo said. “This one was short compared to last year’s. They were bigger hail stones, but they didn’t come down as long.”

Although Santo didn’t have a total estimate on the damage to the vehicles at Carlsbad Imports, he said last year’s storm caused close to $250,000 in damage.

Santo said one of his customers who recently bought a Toyota Avalon sustained $6,000 in damage, but he said most of the cars on the lot sustained about $1,500 in damage.

Customers purchasing one of the affected vehicles will be offered the choice of a discount or having the damage repaired, he said.

Insurers have recommended that some of the vehicles be repaired using paintless dent repair, a method that is somewhat less costly, Santo said.

Hyden said his business is also offering customers the choice of a discount or repair work to the vehicle of their choice.

“When it’s not fixed, we pass the insurance on to them by way of discounts,” Hyden said.

A State Farm catastrophe team set up Wednesday near the Carlsbad Mall.

Sharron Neider, team manager, said they have had about 75 customers come for a hail damage estimate.

The claim writers — most from Colorado — spend an average of 200 days a year in small towns around the country after events like hail storms, she said.

Neider said the team expects to spend about two weeks in Carlsbad, working from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.

She said State Farm customers should first contact their agent to file a claim and then set up an appointment through the agent to have their damage inspected. Additionally, Neider said customers can call 1-800-SF-CLAIM.



For more information relating to "Hail Damage ", please visit our Hail Damage page.