Hail damage

[jstubbs]

Hey guys, anyone know how insurance in Alberta typically handles hail damage claims? Long story short, grandfather is out camping with his 5th wheel around Bashaw. I called him today, mid phone call he suddenly says he has to go and hangs up. Calls me back an hour and some later saying an insane hail storm blew in out of nowhere, and their truck and trailer both suffered a fair amount of hail damage. Thankfully, no one was injured in the slightest, everything is insured and my grandfather was planning on selling his trailer after this summer anyhow, so they aren't too terribly upset.

My question now is their truck they were using to tow the trailer with was my old 2006 Duramax I had sold them after their truck was written off. I absolutely loved that truck, it was without question the best truck I have ever owned, and optioned exactly how I wanted it, and with lower KMs to boot. Extremely hard to replace truck. I had arranged with my grandfather to purchase it back off of him when he was ready to sell it.

Now I am wondering how insurance claims work for vehicles with hail damage? Again I am not sure of the extent of the damage, but sounds quite bad from what I hear. Are vehicles with fairly decent hail damage always written off? Looking at comparable on Kijiji, it's probably worth around $21,000~, give or take, and I know most insurance companies write vehicles off if the damage repair bill roughly exceed 75%, so I'd guess it'd need $15k worth of repairs to have it be a write off (although insurance may value it way differently I have no idea).

If it is written off, can it become a "rebuilt" title vehicle if it passes a salvage inspection? If so, lets say the truck is mechanically perfect, would it fail salvage inspection with just hail dents? I personally don't care if the truck looks ugly long as it'll pull and haul.

Anyway, thanks to anyone who can shed some light on this. I would normally just wait to see what insurance tells him, but with the way insurance claims work I'm sure it'll be a month and change before anything is heard.

[Trochu]

Hail claims are the same as any other claim. They'll assess it, determine if it's cheaper to fix or write off based on comparibles, and go from there. If cheaper to fix, they'll fix, if not, write it off, and I believe give you the option to purchase (this may depend on his insurance company). I can't provide any insight on salvage title, sorry.

[Blastoff]

Good luck with insurance companies they look out for themselves. If they fix it go with paintless dent repair don't do the normal body shop routine. Hail is cosmetic and isn't flagged as it if it were hit in an accident.

[bloopbloob]

Just had hail damage repaired on my truck 2 months ago. Bill was just under $5000. Every single panel on my truck had to be done, with PDR. I didn't even file the claim until 8 months after it happened. Apparently my company gives you 3 years to file a claim like that? Was a fairly hassle free process. Didn't have to do much. The appraiser actually came to my house at 8pm at night. PDR guys came to my work in the morning to pick up the truck, and dropped it off by the time I was done work

[jstubbs]

Originally Posted by bloopbloob

Just had hail damage repaired on my truck 2 months ago. Bill was just under $5000. Every single panel on my truck had to be done, with PDR. I didn't even file the claim until 8 months after it happened. Apparently my company gives you 3 years to file a claim like that? Was a fairly hassle free process. Didn't have to do much. The appraiser actually came to my house at 8pm at night. PDR guys came to my work in the morning to pick up the truck, and dropped it off by the time I was done work

Cool. An old family friend is a great PDR guy and I’ve seen the magic they’re able to work. Neat.

[TROLLER]

As long as he had comprehensive on the policy no problem. As to the trailer again it depends on what insurance he had . After a real bad storm in Airdrie a lot of guys took their trucks to Airdrie truck acc. and had the whole thing coated in box liner. No hail or rust will ever get to them again. LOL

[bloopbloob]

To add to my story..

Only reason I filed my claim is because I felt jilted by insurance. My truck got a bunch of dings from a hail storm last fall. Not enough for me to want to pay the deductible. The more I kept seeing the dings, the more they bothered me. I moved literally 2-3 blocks from my old address, called to inform them. Insurance company jacked my insurance up by $20 a month for my address change. So I inquired about the hail damage, and went forward with the claim. Greasy buggers. Might as well get something from the tens of thousands i've paid already. Accident free my whole life.

[Sooner]

Basic info on hail.

70 % of the vehicles value will be a rough guide to how much they will fix before the consider it a write off. Each Ins Co has a slightly different rate.

Hail should not lead to a vehicle being flagged as a write off, in most cases anyway. He can keep the truck and take a settlement on the damages, a cash settlement, which is a reduced number, not the full estimate. Then they deduct deductible from that.

He won't be able to have hail coverage again until he can prove the hail was repaired. When I was a body man, PDR was in it's infant stage and not very good. It is the go to repair for hail theses days and I am amazed at what the good ones can do with a hail riddled vehicle.

[mulecrazy]

Had 9k hail damage on my 2010 GMC half ton last year. Looking at the amount of damage and current state of the truck(fender and tailgate rust) we talked to the body shop about how much extra we would have to pay to repair the rust as well. We then talked to a couple dealerships about trading the truck in as is. Right now, a lot of dealers are selling their trade ins to wholesalers in the states. Both dealerships were able to give me a trade in value roughly 4-5k under what the truck would be valued with the hail damage repaired. that difference sold me on trading in for a new pickup and saying goodbye to dealing with the repairs. We still got the full 9k payout so in essence, it was like we were gifted an extra 5k.

[jstubbs]

UPDATE: I need your guys assistance on this now.

Adjuster wrote the truck off. Understandable. HOWEVER: the adjuster called my grandfather today and they are only offering $15,400 for the truck, and the buy back price is $9,300. How is the truck worth $15k in great body condition and $9k written off? What the **** sense does that make?

Beyond that, that is not a fair offer for the truck either. It is a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 LT 4wd Extended Cab Short Bed with the 6.6L Duramax Diesel engine and 6 speed Allison transmission. Truck only had 221,000 km and was pretty much mint before being written off, no damage or paint issues. Looking at Kijiji the 06 & 07 classic models that are comparable are going for anywhere between $18,000 and $28,000.

I then went to Canadian Black Book and used their “What is my car worth?” tool, and it said the average asking price is $15,700, which is where I am thinking insurance is getting their number from. HOWEVER, CBB does not ask whether it is a diesel or a gasoline, nor did it ask mileage. The price difference between a 6.0L Vortec truck and 6.6L Duramax appears to be around a $10,000 difference, which is hugely significant in value.

That all being said, the adjuster says $15,400 is their “final offer”. Does anyone have any advice for dealing with getting actual fair value out of the truck? It’s ridiculous that they are low balling him like that and sickens me that they’re trying to take advantage of an older gentleman like this.

[Bushrat]

Originally Posted by jstubbs

UPDATE: I need your guys assistance on this now.

Adjuster wrote the truck off. Understandable. HOWEVER: the adjuster called my grandfather today and they are only offering $15,400 for the truck, and the buy back price is $9,300. How is the truck worth $15k in great body condition and $9k written off? What the **** sense does that make?

It means they will give you 15,400 (what they are considering the truck was worth before the hail damage) for the truck and will let you buy it back for 9,300 which is probably what they expect to get for it when they auction it off to an auto wrecker or salvage yard. They will only sell it back to you for the same amount they can get for it at auction.

I wouldn't accept the first offer, I don't know what your truck is worth but never accept the first offer. Gather whatever information you can find on what a vehicle with comparable options, condition and mileage are selling for on the retail market and counter offer with that dollar value plus a few thousand more added to that figure as they will try to haggle you down from there.

[Sask Bearman]

Try to find some exact models that are for sale as a comparison and present that to them. They may move a bit but not likely to the $ 28k range based on their offer.

[jstubbs]

Originally Posted by Sask Bearman

Try to find some exact models that are for sale as a comparison and present that to them. They may move a bit but not likely to the $ 28k range based on their offer.

Yeah I don't expect $28k by any stretch of the imagination (that was for loaded leather/sunroof crew cabs with around 160k km) but I do think $19-21k is fair based upon everything I have seen on Kijiji.

[jstubbs]

Originally Posted by Bushrat

It means they will give you 15,400 (what they are considering the truck was worth before the hail damage) for the truck and will let you buy it back for 9,300 which is probably what they expect to get for it when they auction it off to an auto wrecker or salvage yard. They will only sell it back to you for the same amount they can get for it at auction.

I wouldn't accept the first offer, I don't know what your truck is worth but never accept the first offer. Gather whatever information you can find on what a vehicle with comparable options, condition and mileage are selling for on the retail market and counter offer with that dollar value plus a few thousand more added to that figure as they will try to haggle you down from there.

I understand that however my point being either they're trying to screw my grandfather on the valuation, or the buyback price, or both, because it seems absolutely insane that a truck can be worth over 60% of its value at a salvage auction than it can be worth in great overall aesthetic and mechanical condition. Just the rebuilt title alone devalues a vehicle (according to Kelley Blue Book) by 20-40%, and that is before a guy puts it through a salvage inspection to even get it to the point of being a rebuilt title truck, so why would anyone buy it for $9,300 at an insurance auction when according to his insurance company, you can buy a mint shape one for less than 40% more? Seems like complete BS to me.

The second part is good advice, thank you. That is what I am trying to do.

[Cement Bench]

Originally Posted by jstubbs

UPDATE: I need your guys assistance on this now.

Adjuster wrote the truck off. Understandable. HOWEVER: the adjuster called my grandfather today and they are only offering $15,400 for the truck, and the buy back price is $9,300. How is the truck worth $15k in great body condition and $9k written off? What the **** sense does that make?

Beyond that, that is not a fair offer for the truck either. It is a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 LT 4wd Extended Cab Short Bed with the 6.6L Duramax Diesel engine and 6 speed Allison transmission. Truck only had 221,000 km and was pretty much mint before being written off, no damage or paint issues. Looking at Kijiji the 06 & 07 classic models that are comparable are going for anywhere between $18,000 and $28,000.

I then went to Canadian Black Book and used their “What is my car worth?” tool, and it said the average asking price is $15,700, which is where I am thinking insurance is getting their number from. HOWEVER, CBB does not ask whether it is a diesel or a gasoline, nor did it ask mileage. The price difference between a 6.0L Vortec truck and 6.6L Duramax appears to be around a $10,000 difference, which is hugely significant in value.

That all being said, the adjuster says $15,400 is their “final offer”. Does anyone have any advice for dealing with getting actual fair value out of the truck? It’s ridiculous that they are low balling him like that and sickens me that they’re trying to take advantage of an older gentleman like this.

how can your truck be worth over 20 it is old Cement Bench

[gmcmax05]

Originally Posted by Cement Bench

how can your truck be worth over 20 it is old Cement Bench

You obviously have no idea what pre emission clean duramax's are worth.

[jstubbs]

Originally Posted by gmcmax05

You obviously have no idea what pre emission clean duramax's are worth.

I was going to say. Personally I think it is ridiculous how much diesels hold their value but I get why. When a new one is $80,000+ and is stuffed full of emission junk that kills mileage, reliability and longevity (not to mention increased repair costs) then a guy starts to understand why buying an older one makes a lot of sense.

[Bushrat]

Originally Posted by jstubbs

I understand that however my point being either they're trying to screw my grandfather on the valuation, or the buyback price, or both, because it seems absolutely insane that a truck can be worth over 60% of its value at a salvage auction than it can be worth in great overall aesthetic and mechanical condition. Just the rebuilt title alone devalues a vehicle (according to Kelley Blue Book) by 20-40%, and that is before a guy puts it through a salvage inspection to even get it to the point of being a rebuilt title truck, so why would anyone buy it for $9,300 at an insurance auction when according to his insurance company, you can buy a mint shape one for less than 40% more? Seems like complete BS to me.

The second part is good advice, thank you. That is what I am trying to do.

I understand your feelings. It comes down to the vehicle, especially certain diesel trucks are worth far more broken down and sold as individual used parts than whole. Thats how auto wreckers make money. That engine could bring $5000 all by itself sold as used parts, then there is the tranny, rear ends, front end, transfer case will sell seperately for more big dollars, then they still have used body parts, interior parts, side windows, grilles, lights, electrical, etc, etc to sell. Auto wrecking is very lucrative. In fact people are taking apart similar perfectly good undamaged road worthy vehicles like your dads apart and selling them as parts, making far more money than selling it as a used truck. Its also why so many trucks especially diesels are stolen and broken down into parts and sold. The sum value of the vehicle parts sold seperately are worth much more than the whole vehicle as it would sell for on a used car lot.

[Dick284]

It’s like a bubba’d .303 Lee Enfield.

The open market might fetch you $150 for the complete rifle.

Where if you take it into pieces, you might fetch $200-$250.

Heck the magazine can fetch almost $75 in some places.

[Dave P]

Personally I would go to your broker and have them negotiate for you. They will have more pull. And its there job to work for you.

If you dont have a broker (and are with a dirty direct writer ) I would try to negotiate with them based on comparables you have found. If they still will not play ball, mention you need a bit of time to review there offer and discuss with the Insurance Ombudsman. They love that sort of attention.

https://www.ombudsman.ab.ca/

But if you do that option, make sure you have ever detail documented and more than enough comparables to back your complaint.

[jstubbs]

Originally Posted by Dave P

Personally I would go to your broker and have them negotiate for you. They will have more pull. And its there job to work for you.

If you dont have a broker (and are with a dirty direct writer ) I would try to negotiate with them based on comparables you have found. If they still will not play ball, mention you need a bit of time to review there offer and discuss with the Insurance Ombudsman. They love that sort of attention.

https://www.ombudsman.ab.ca/

But if you do that option, make sure you have ever detail documented and more than enough comparables to back your complaint.

Fantastic info thank you so much!! Again just want to remind everyone this is not my truck (it only used to be) and I am helping my grandfather deal with them.