Hail claims, explained plainly.

Comprehensive is the part of an auto policy that pays for damage you did not crash into: hail, wind, flood, fire, falling branches, theft and vandalism. It is optional on a car you own outright, and almost always required while you are financing or leasing.

It is worth checking your declarations page before anything else. That single page lists whether comprehensive is on the policy and whether you carry anything extra such as rental reimbursement. If comprehensive is not listed, hail damage is generally not something the policy responds to, and no amount of paperwork changes that. Your carrier or agent can confirm what you actually hold.

Collision coverage responds when your vehicle hits something or something hits it in a traffic sense. Hail is weather, so it falls to comprehensive.

The distinction matters in practice. Most insurers treat weather claims differently from at-fault claims when they look at your history, because nobody chose to park under a storm. How your own carrier weighs that is their decision and their published rules, so ask them directly rather than taking a repair company's word for it.

Shoot in flat daylight, early morning or late afternoon, and never in direct midday sun. Hail dents are shallow, so they disappear in overhead light and appear when light rakes across a panel at a low angle.

Cover the horizontal surfaces first, because that is where hail lands: roof, hood, trunk lid, and the tops of both quarter panels. Then take the sides, mirrors, and any cracked glass or broken lamp lenses. Get a wide shot of the whole car so the panels can be placed, then close shots of a few individual dents with something for scale beside them. Photograph the odometer and the VIN plate too. If you know when the storm hit, note the date; carriers ask for it, and a date of loss that matches a real weather event makes the file straightforward.

Photograph in flat morning light. Hail hides at noon and shows itself at a low angle.

An adjuster is confirming three things: that the damage is hail, that it happened when you say it did, and how many dents there are on each panel.

Dent count and dent size drive the estimate more than anything else, because paintless dent repair is priced by panel and by density. They will also look for damage that predates the storm, for previous repairs, and for anything the storm cannot explain. This is not adversarial by default. It is easier for everyone when the documentation is clean, the vehicle is clean, and someone is present who can walk the panels and point out what the light board found.

A supplement is an addition to an approved estimate, filed when work uncovers damage that could not be seen from outside.

Hail hides. Once headliners drop and trim comes off, dents show up along roof rails, in the channels above the doors and on panel edges that read as flat under a light board. Cracked windscreen mouldings, damaged antenna bases and bent sunroof frames all turn up this way. None of that is a problem in itself; it is normal and carriers expect it. It becomes a problem when nobody files it and the vehicle goes back with damage still in it. If it happens on your car, the supplement is filed with your insurer, and you will be told what changed and why before the work continues.

A low first estimate is common and it is usually a starting point rather than a verdict.

First estimates are frequently written from photos or from a fast walk-around, and they miss dent density on large panels, aluminium panels that take longer, and anything that needs the trim off. The route forward is documentation: a detailed teardown estimate from the repairer, matching photographs, and a written explanation of each line. Most differences get resolved that way. If they do not, your policy sets out what you can do next, including an appraisal process in many cases, and your carrier is obliged to explain it. That is the paperwork we handle for you.

Most of that calendar belongs to your insurer rather than to the repair.

After a large storm the whole region files at once and adjuster availability stretches. Filing early in that cycle helps. Parts backorders and supplements add time as well. A timeline for the repair itself comes from the repair partner once the vehicle has been inspected and the scope is known.

In Texas the choice of who repairs your vehicle is generally yours; your insurer can recommend a shop, but it does not get to require one.

Carriers keep networks of preferred shops, and using one can be convenient. It is not an obligation, and choosing outside the network does not void the claim. What the carrier does control is what it will pay, so an estimate outside the network still has to be justified line by line. If you are leasing, check your lease terms too, since some agreements set expectations about repair standards and returning the vehicle. Read your own policy language or ask your carrier to point to it in writing.

In Texas, the choice of who repairs your vehicle is generally yours.

Start with what your policy actually covers and what the damage actually is, then look at the vehicle itself.

Is the damage visible enough to affect how the car looks, or how it appraises at trade-in? Is the roof or hood dented enough that a buyer would knock the price down? How long do you plan to keep the vehicle? A free inspection answers most of that in twenty minutes, and if the vehicle is not a fit for the work, you hear that before anything is filed.

Everything here is general. Policies differ line by line, and only your carrier can tell you what yours covers, what it will approve, or what it will pay. Read your declarations page, ask your agent direct questions, and get the answers in writing where it matters.