If you’ve lived in Minnesota long enough, you know hail storms can come out of nowhere. One minute it’s a beautiful August afternoon, and the next you’re watching golf ball-sized ice pelting your car in the driveway. It’s one of the most frustrating things a vehicle owner can experience — and unfortunately, it’s something we see a lot here in the Coon Rapids and Anoka County area every summer.
The good news is that hail damage is very repairable. The key is knowing what to do after the storm passes. Here’s a step-by-step guide from the team at Heritage Auto Body.
Step 1: Wait Until It’s Safe
Once the storm has passed, resist the urge to run outside immediately. Make sure there’s no lightning, downed power lines, or flooding before you head out to check on your vehicle. Safety first — your car can wait a few extra minutes.
Step 2: Assess the Damage in Good Light
Take a walk around your vehicle in natural daylight and look carefully at every panel — hood, roof, trunk, doors, and fenders. Hail dents can be subtle, especially on darker colored vehicles. Look at the car from different angles and pay attention to any areas where the light reflects differently — that’s often where dents are hiding.
Also check for:
- Cracked or shattered glass on windows or sunroofs
- Damaged side mirrors
- Chipped or cracked paint where hail hit at an angle
Step 3: Document Everything Before You Touch It
Before you do anything else, take photos — lots of them. Walk around the entire vehicle and photograph every panel, close up and from a distance. This documentation is critical when filing an insurance claim and helps ensure you’re fairly compensated for all the damage.
Step 4: File Your Insurance Claim Promptly
Hail damage is typically covered under the comprehensive portion of your auto insurance policy — not collision — so it generally won’t affect your rates. Call your insurance company as soon as possible to start the claims process. Most insurers have a window of time in which claims need to be filed, so don’t wait too long.
Not sure how to navigate the claims process? Don’t worry — we handle that for you at Heritage Auto Body. We work directly with all major insurance companies and make sure every dent is documented and accounted for before repairs begin.
Step 5: Choose the Right Repair Shop
Not all shops handle hail damage the same way. Make sure you choose a shop with experience in both Paintless Dent Repair (PDR) and traditional collision repair, since hail jobs often require a combination of both depending on the severity of the damage.
PDR is a technique where skilled technicians use specialized tools to carefully massage dents out from the inside of the panel — no filler, no repainting, and a faster turnaround. It’s often the preferred method for hail damage when the paint hasn’t been broken. For more severe impacts where the paint is chipped or cracked, traditional repair and refinishing may be needed.
At Heritage Auto Body, our technicians are experienced in both methods and will recommend the right approach for your specific damage — always with your best interest in mind.
Step 6: Don’t Wait on Repairs
It’s tempting to put hail repairs off, especially if the dents seem minor. But exposed metal and cracked paint are open invitations for rust — and Minnesota’s humidity in August doesn’t help. The sooner you get the damage addressed, the better protected your vehicle will be heading into fall and winter.
We’re Here to Help
Hail storms are stressful, but the repair process doesn’t have to be. At Heritage Auto Body, we’ve been helping Anoka County drivers recover from storm damage for over 34 years. We’ll inspect your vehicle, work with your insurance company, and get your car looking like the storm never happened — backed by our lifetime warranty.
Call us at (763) 786-7034. We’re open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
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