All forms of precipitation—rain, snow, sleet, and hail—can damage your car. After enduring severe weather conditions and suspecting storms impacted your car, you should assess the damage as soon as you can, take pictures of the car and the area surrounding it, and contact your auto insurance company. Photographic evidence of automobile damage can be especially useful when making a claim to your car insurance company.
Flood Damage
During severe rain showers or more intense weather conditions such as a hurricane, the chances of floods occurring are higher. Drivers may manage a few rain droplets on the inside of the car, but a wholly flooded interior can be more expensive and may require extensive work to fix. In some cases, it can be hard to determine if a vehicle has flood damage because cars don’t always show visible signs of water trauma.
Car owners who suspect their cars may have flood damage should avoid turning the engine on to check. Attempting to start a car you think experienced flood damage without being sure about water trauma inside or problems underneath the hood can cause additional problems.
A water line in the interior is a telltale sign that a car has flood damage. By observing water lines created by dirt and debris, car owners can see how high floodwater rose inside their vehicles. Water lines resting underneath the car doors suggest that significant flood damage isn’t likely. Those that sit above the dashboard or doors, however, may indicate substantial flood damage. An immediate action car owners can take is covering and sealing windows that may have received cracks or gotten knocked out during a storm, to prevent more damage.
Damage Caused by Hail
Hail is precipitation that occurs upon water freezing in storm clouds’ upper regions. The size of hailstones and their style can determine the type of damage resulting from a hail storm. Hail can be as small as five mm, but as large as 150mm.
Recent Australian hail storms have been some of the worst the country experienced. Hail storms can produce hailstones of various shapes and sizes, and such unpredictable conditions make it impossible to know how big the hail can get and what size it has to be to cause extreme damage to a motor vehicle. In general, more massive hailstones indicate higher chances of destruction.
Cars can endure hail damage severe enough to make owners and auto insurance companies declare it a total loss.
Get Car Insurance
Needed repair costs for automobiles can be expensive under any circumstances. Some fixes, however, don’t have to break the bank. Cleaning or repairing damaged headlights, for instance, can be a tall order for most people who aren’t automobile professionals or mechanics. However, with hard work, power tools, and proper headlight restoration kits, car owners can handle headlight repairs. Headlights are vital, enabling drivers to see the road more clearly, which is why car owners should use a robust headlight restorer kit to get the job done. Using the best headlight restoration kit—Clear Lights Tech—and following the directions precisely ensures drivers that their headlights will remain clean and functional.
One difference between handling damage caused by hail compared to destruction resulting from flooding or any other factor is the type of auto insurance policy a car owner in Australia has.
Motor vehicle operators should be aware of what their auto insurance encompasses. Liability insurance, for instance, doesn’t cover damage repairs. Automobile owners who have liability insurance should consider optional coverage, such as comprehensive insurance. Comprehensive insurance policies can cover damages by car accidents, hail, flooding, and natural disasters, and general repairs.
Using an informative, reputable internet source like iSelect allows car owners to learn about insurance companies’ different car insurance policies: liability insurance, comprehensive coverage, collision insurance, and more. Having information regarding comprehensive auto insurance and financial products offered by auto insurers can help drivers make decisions that fit their financial situations and enable them to take care of the automobile repairs they need.
Make sure you have comprehensive car insurance, compare policies at iSelect, and understand the process of making a comprehensive claim. Doing so can help you be safe and prepared should your car sustain damages.