Thread: hail damage

There was a huge hailstorm here in Perth about 18 - 20 months ago which I missed as we were camping down Esperance way.
But my daughter wasn't so lucky as she'd gone to our place to check it over for damage by the next door neighbour (long story) and her car got badly trashed by the hail.
She didn't bother trying to get anything other than the windscreen repaired, along with many others as the payout for her car would have been far lower than replacement cost.
The arsehole that lives next door has just recently been paid over 100 grand by his insurance company for damage supposedly sustained by his house during the same storm!
How did he manage that? Gawd knows but he did, although it's plainly obvious that the state of the outside of his place is due to neglect only, not hail damage.
Not sure what went on inside but he spent a lot of hours in there at night with no lights on as we could see him turn up on our seccuirty system.
There's going to be a lot of subcontractors not getting paid now that the bastard has got his hands on the money to do what he wants with. He's got a reputation for nonpayment for work done.
Most I've heard of anyone else nearby getting was 5K because they had roof damage and water entry.
No wonder premiums keep increasing if loss adjusters are so blind these days.
AlanH.

Lyle,

A few years back we had a bad hail storm in Sydney and my 2 cars got done over. The D2 was able to be repaired by the paintless dent removal process and came up very well. The 1994 Commodore which was parked beside it was insured for $6k but they (AAMI) reckoned on repairs at $5.2k so said they would write it off and I could put in an offer to buy it. The assessor suggested a figure of $800 would be a good offer. So we still have that car, albiet with a dimpled roof still.

So in your case, the numbers are : replacement value by assessor is $15,500 less cost of repairs of $12,000 gives a value of the vehicle in its present condition of $3,500. This is what the insurance co will expect to recover at auction because that is what a panel beater would pay. So why not make an offer around this price. After all, they will still need to pay transport, auctioneer's fees etc which will all come out of their auction price.

So a sensible approach would be for them to save the time and effort and do a deal with you.

The only catch to be wary of is if there has been recent legislation in respect to "repairable write offs ".

If you work it right, you could have a very cheap vehicle.

Good luck.

I have never owned a car worth insuring, so forgive the stupid questions, please.

If they value of the repairs at 12,000 should they give you the 12k?

And if they write it off, what will they give you? MV-15k?

Sorry to hear Lyle. Good luck with it all. Sounds pretty raw.

Originally Posted by jimb

I have never owned a car worth insuring, so forgive the stupid questions, please.

If they value of the repairs at 12,000 should they give you the 12k?

And if they write it off, what will they give you? MV-15k?

Sorry to hear Lyle. Good luck with it all. Sounds pretty raw.

Yes, 12k to fix and 15k payout is correct. After the payout the car belongs to the insurance company. If you make a deal you could get 15k less what they value the wreck at in hand and the vehicle.

Originally Posted by Lyle

Just got back from the RACV assesment centre. My 2001 defender can't have paintless dent repair which is all they were really looking at doing. I now have to get a quote from a traditional panel beaters. The assesor on site though told me that my car was worth $15500 market value and thats all I'd get. He guesstimated that it'd cost $12000 to fix the damage to my car so it will be written off. I then asked if he could go and buy me three or four defenders the same as mine for $15k as I think I'd be able to move them for a tidy profit. He didn't seem to impressed by this and said that I could buy it back at auction. When I then said "So I'm going to have to pay probably $15k to $18k to buy back my own car at auction? You really need to look at what these things are worth. Get on cars guide right now" "His answer yeah I know what its worth $15k"
Not happy, I don't really want to lose my car and am now starting to think that 17 years of insurance with the one company and no claims has been a total waste and my best bet is to just walk away from it and keep my car as is...
Crappy hail...

It is a business. Loyalty is worth about 10% of the premium cost and they may give that to you as a discount when you pay for the premium, they feel they don't owe you anything.

For us LR owners the insurance game can be a bit emotional as we tend to put a lot into the vehicles.

You can not blame the insure co for paying what your policy stipulates...Market value.

Defenders etc are overpriced on the 2nd hand market as they are 'prized' by owners...

If you have something you want to be able to step into another the same.. Then you need to go agreed value..

There is no choosing...

Same as if you want all the 'good gear' off the wreck... Then you need to consider covering it too... Because once the insurance company is involved they legally own the vehicle, accessories AND contents...

racv phoned today on hail damage on the defender, they valued the car at $22k guess what the quote is $21.5k said to them that i want it fix explain to them that i don't want the whole car fixed and a total respray , only wanted the panel and roof repaired , going to another panel shop for another quote , interesting that the price to repair the car was from a specialized audi dealer ,, the saga continues

I've just managed to have mine quoted, no panel beaters want to touch it as they need an "aluminium spot welder" to repair the roof had to drive to malvern for a quote, now the waiting game begins again.