8 tips to protect your car from hail

If you’ve ever witnessed a hailstorm, you know how destructive one can be. As hail can range in size from pebble-like to bigger than a baseball, a storm could result in serious damage from dents and scratches to even broken windows or cracked windshields if your car is caught in it. That’s why it’s important for car owners who live in hail-prone areas to have adequate insurance coverage. But even if you have the right car insurance, there are other ways to help protect your car during a hailstorm. Below, we explain how to protect your car from hail damage, including what types of auto insurance will cover you for hail damage.

How to protect your car from hail damage

Severe weather events featuring hail can cause thousands of dollars in damage to your car, especially if you’re not insured. The best thing to do during a hailstorm is to park your car in a garage or under a carport, but what if you don’t have one? Don’t worry; we’ve put together our top tips to help protect your car from hail damage:

1. Find a covered parking spot

If you don’t have a garage or carport, look around for a covered parking spot. This could be under a building’s overhanging roof or even a nearby parking garage. Finding almost any type of covered location can help keep your vehicle safe from hail damage. However, while it may be tempting to park under a bridge or tree while the storm passes, it’s best to avoid doing so, as falling trees, branches, or debris are more likely during a hailstorm and can cause extensive damage to your vehicle.

2. Use a hail car cover or blanket

If you can’t find shelter for your car, the next best thing is to invest in hail car covers or blankets. Actually, these can also be handy for those with garages in case you get caught in a hailstorm while driving, as long as you remember to keep them stored in your trunk!

Hail car covers come in various types, but they all work similarly: they’re either inflatable or made of multi-layered material that you drape over your car. A hail cover can prevent dents, scratches, and even shattered windshields.

The other option is a hail blanket, which is usually less expensive than a car cover because it’s not as thick and offers less protection against hail damage. However, it can still be effective. Just be sure to install the hail blanket correctly by tucking its ends into the doors, under the hood, and inside the trunk lid to secure it.

3. Fold your side mirrors in

If you’re at home and know a storm is coming, go out and fold in your side mirrors (if you have ones that fold). However, if you’re out driving, as soon as you see hail starting to fall, pull over to the side of the road and fold in your side-view mirrors. These flimsy mirrors can easily break during bad weather, such as high winds and hail, and folding them in can help prevent damage.

4. Using moving blankets

Did you happen to move recently? If so, you may still have some moving blankets or furniture pads lying around. Using these to protect your car against hail damage may not be the first thing you think of, but why not? These blankets are designed to absorb shock and cushion impacts during a move, making them a good makeshift option for car covers.

When you know a storm that may bring hail is on the way, layer as many moving blankets as you can over your car and tuck them inside the car doors and the trunk to hold them down safely. Even if you don’t own any yet, these blankets are affordable and can be stored in your car’s trunk, ready to use in case of a hail emergency.

5. Use floor mats

If you don’t have a hail car cover or blanket and need a quick solution, you can use the floor mats or rugs from inside your car. Place them over your windshield, with the soft side touching the glass and the rubber side facing outward. The rubber can absorb the impact of the hailstones, helping to protect your windshield in a pinch.

6. Use towels or cardboard boxes

Another quick fix if you don’t have a hail car cover or blanket is to cover your windshield and rear windows with towels or cardboard boxes. These methods aren’t as effective and don’t offer as much protection as using a proper cover or parking indoors, but they can still help lessen the damage by softening the impact of the hail on your car.

7. Use potting soil

Do you have a green thumb? Potting soil might seem like an unusual choice for protecting your car during a hailstorm, but it can be effective. Bags of potting soil are thick and absorbent and can shield the more delicate parts of your car from hail damage. Place these bags on sensitive areas like the sunroof, windshield, and rear windows. While this method won’t cover your entire car, it does help protect the most vulnerable parts!

8. Buy comprehensive insurance coverage

If you want financial protection against hail damage, the best approach is to include comprehensive coverage in your car insurance policy. Not adding this coverage is a common mistake. Comprehensive coverage is optional and covers damage to your parked car from various incidents, like fire, theft, vandalism, water damage, windstorms, hail, and falling objects. By having comprehensive auto insurance, your insurance company will help pay for repairs or replacement of your vehicle if you submit an insurance claim for hail damage.

How much damage can hail cause to your car?

Hail can cause significant damage to vehicles in regions like southern Ontario and, particularly, Alberta, which experiences some of the most severe hailstorms in Canada.

An example of a severe hailstorm in Canada in terms of insurance claims is one that happened in Calgary, Alberta, on September 7, 1991. This storm lasted just 30 minutes but led to 62,000 claims, adding up to $237 million for property damage, mainly from broken windows, and 54,000 claims worth $105 million for car damages, mostly dented roofs.

On July 8, 2016, a cold front in southern Ontario triggered severe thunderstorms. These storms brought hail, heavy rain, strong wind gusts exceeding 100 km/h, and lightning, which led to over $47 million in insurance claims.

More recently, another major hailstorm in Calgary, Alberta, on June 13, 2020, resulted in over $1.3 billion in insurance claims due to extensive damage to cars and property.

On average, hail damage claims in Canada have reached about $370 million annually for car and home insurance damage, according to the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR).

What to do if hail falls while driving

Hail can happen anywhere and cause significant damage to your vehicle. If you’re caught in a hailstorm, here are some steps to keep both you and your car safe:

Firstly, if you’re driving during a hailstorm, do not leave your vehicle. It’s best to pull over and wait out the storm. While it may be tempting to try to drive home to get out of the storm sooner, this can increase your risk of hail damage to your car. As hailstones already fall very quickly, if your car is also moving fast, this extra speed makes the impact of the hailstones even harder.

Instead, try to pull over safely to the side of the road or find nearby cover. It’s best to angle your car so that the hail hits the front where the windshield is because it’s made of reinforced glass. The side and rear windows are less durable and more prone to breaking.

In a severe storm, protect yourself inside the car by turning your back to the windows, lying down, and covering yourself with a blanket from your emergency kit. This is to protect you in case the windows break. If any windows are damaged, clear away the broken glass right away to prevent injuries.

Once the storm has passed, exit your car and inspect it for any hail damage. If your car was damaged, find a reputable body shop to handle the repairs, and discuss the extent of the damage with both the shop and your insurance company or insurance broker.

Typically, your comprehensive car insurance will cover damages from severe weather, including hail. To prepare your car insurance claim, take photos and videos of the damage. If you don’t have comprehensive coverage, you’ll have to pay for the repairs out of pocket.

How to protect your car from hail damage with comprehensive coverage

Hail can strike suddenly and without warning. Even though there is usually a forecast for hail season, hailstorms can happen too quickly for car owners to take the best steps to protect their vehicles. This is just one of the many reasons why many car owners choose to have comprehensive coverage, especially if they live in a hail-prone area like Alberta or southwestern Ontario.

Comprehensive coverage, also known as parked car insurance, protects your vehicle from damage when it’s parked. This coverage helps pay for repairs if your car is damaged by specific events such as fire, theft, vandalism, objects falling or flying into your car, riots, explosions, and natural disasters, including hail. Essentially, comprehensive coverage protects you from many types of damage that don’t involve your car hitting or being hit by another vehicle.

How much will adding comprehensive coverage increase my car insurance premiums?

Adding comprehensive coverage to your car insurance in Canada will typically increase your yearly costs by a few hundred dollars, which, when broken down into monthly, isn’t too much of an increase. The actual price can vary greatly, depending on factors like the type of car you drive, your driving history, your insurance claims history, where you live, and which insurance company you choose.

Generally, comprehensive coverage is cheaper than collision insurance coverage. When deciding on your insurance, consider how much your car is worth and your financial situation, as these will influence the price you pay. If you’re thinking about updating your insurance to include comprehensive coverage, consider shopping around for car insurance quotes from multiple providers or comparing prices online. This will give you a clearer idea of the cost for your specific situation.

How to file a car insurance claim for hail damage

If your car gets damaged in a hailstorm, you should file an insurance claim quickly. Keep in mind that you can only make this claim if you have comprehensive coverage on your insurance policy.

To file a claim, gather as much information as possible about the damage. Take photos and videos of your car after the storm and note down details like the date, time, and location of the incident.

Submit all this evidence along with your claim. After you file, an insurance adjuster will be assigned to assess your claim. They might visit to inspect the car damage firsthand and will conduct their own research to estimate the repair or replacement costs.

Based on their findings, they will recommend whether to approve or deny your claim and the amount you might receive. Finally, your insurance company will contact you to update you on the claim’s status. If approved, they will tell you how and when you will get your payout once you’ve paid your deductible.

What is hail?

Hail is a type of solid precipitation in which ice pellets, or hailstones, fall from the sky. It most often forms in the middle of a thunderstorm. As warm air rises quickly, called convection currents, water vapour turns into water droplets at cooler, higher altitudes, creating heavy rain. If it’s cold enough, these droplets can freeze around tiny particles like dust, forming ice crystals.

These crystals grow bigger as more water freezes on them. When they get too heavy for the rising air to hold up, they fall as hail. Hailstones can get even bigger and more damaging if they collect more water on their way down.

Hailstones start out small, at least half a centimetre in diameter. Anything smaller than that is considered either snow or ice pellets. Hail can get much larger, up to the size of a grapefruit (over 10 centimetres in diameter). When hail falls, it can reach speeds of 130 kilometres per hour and can cause serious damage to crops, buildings, and vehicles. It can also severely injure people and animals.

Hail storms usually occur during the strong upward air movements needed for thunderstorms, which are more common in warm weather. In Canada, hail season mostly occurs from May to October, and hailstorms are most commonly seen in Alberta, the southern Prairies, and southern Ontario.

What car insurance looks like in Canada

To give you an idea of how car insurance works in Canada and how it can protect you from the risks of the road, including hail damage, we break down the different types of coverage available to drivers. Some of these are mandatory, while others are optional:

Third-party liability coverage

Third-party liability coverage is a type of car insurance that protects you if you cause a car accident.

For example, if you collide with another vehicle and it results in property damage or bodily injury, third-party liability coverage can help pay for the associated costs, such as repair bills, legal fees, or medical expenses.

Accident benefits coverage

Accident benefits coverage will help pay for the cost of medical attention if you are involved in an accident and someone is injured. For instance, if you break your wrist or a passenger gets a concussion, accident benefits coverage can pay for any physical therapy or prescription medications you require. It can also cover funeral fees in the event that someone dies in the accident or for lost income if someone is temporarily unable to due to the accident.

Direct compensation coverage

Direct compensation coverage is a type of insurance that pays for repairs to your vehicle if it’s damaged in an accident and you’re not at fault. This means you can claim expenses for fixing anything from small dents and scratches to major engine repairs, but only if you didn’t cause the accident. With direct compensation, you go directly through your insurer instead of the insurance of the person who caused the accident, making the whole process faster.

Uninsured automobile coverage

Uninsured automobile coverage can pay for the costs of a collision if the accident involved an at-fault driver who is underinsured, uninsured, or anonymous. For instance, if you get into a hit-and-run, uninsured automobile coverage, you can be compensated for the applicable medical fees, repair fees, or legal fees.

Collision coverage

Collision coverage is optional and will pay for your vehicle to be repaired or replaced if you get into an accident that results in extensive damage to your vehicle. It doesn’t matter if you caused the accident or if the accident was with another car, animal, or grounded object on the road.

In other words, collision coverage can protect you against common car accidents, as well as less common types of accidents, such as those involving animals. Please note that as with comprehensive coverage, collision coverage is mandatory in certain situations, such as if you lease or finance your car.

Comprehensive coverage

Comprehensive insurance is another type of optional car insurance coverage designed to protect against non-collision incidents, such as if your parked car is dented or scratched by hail. As mentioned above, comprehensive coverage protects drivers from damage caused by certain perils, ranging from fire and theft to vandalism, falling objects, natural disasters, and weather.

Accident forgiveness coverage

One more type of optional car insurance coverage popular among drivers is accident forgiveness. Accident forgiveness is additional coverage that can be added to your car insurance policy as an endorsement to protect your driving record and help prevent your insurance premium from increasing if you have an at-fault accident claim.

Note: coverage and eligibility may vary by province.

Waiver of depreciation

A waiver of depreciation will pay you to replace your vehicle in the event of a total loss. Unlike other types of coverage that account for depreciation, waiver of depreciation does not. This means that your insurance payout will cover you for the full value of the vehicle without taking into consideration the depreciation after you drove it off the lot.

Loss of use coverage

Loss of use coverage is another type of optional coverage for drivers. Although it will not protect you against hail, it can protect you if your car is damaged due to hail and needs to go into the shop for days or weeks on end. During this time, you would be without your car, which means you would be forced to find other ways to get around. Loss of use coverage can pay for these alternate ways of getting around, including renting a car, taking public transit, or hiring taxis or ride shares.

Keep in mind that the main type of coverage that will protect you against hail damage is comprehensive coverage. That said, the other types of coverage on this list will still benefit you, protecting you from a wide range of other losses, like collisions and bodily injury.

Get in touch with BrokerLink

If you have more questions about how to protect your car from hail or which car insurance options cover hail damage, contact the insurance team at BrokerLink. Our insurance advisors are experts in auto insurance and can provide detailed explanations about how car insurance works and how costs are determined. We can also provide you with a free auto insurance quote, including options with comprehensive coverage, so you can find out how much it would cost to have a policy that covers hail damage.

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FAQs for how to protect your car from hail

Is there a car cover to protect against hail?

Yes, there are car covers specifically designed to protect against hail. These covers are usually padded or inflatable to cushion the impact of hailstones.

What to do with your car during a hailstorm?

During a hailstorm, it’s best to park your car under cover, like in a garage or under a carport. If that’s not an option, you can use padded or specially designed hail covers or blankets to protect it from damage. If you are driving, pull over, angle your car so that the hail hits the front where the windshield is, fold in your side mirrors, and wait out the storm. If the storm is severe, turn your back to the windows, lie down, and cover yourself with a blanket in case the windows shatter.

If you have any questions, contact one of our local branches.