Hail damage: making a claim

Your property has been damaged by hail - what should you do first? Clean up the mess? Take photos? Call your insurer? First, find out the basics about making a hail damage claim here.

Claiming for hail damage

This will differ across insurers but the easiest way is to call your insurer’s claims line (which should be provided on your policy). To make accessing details easier, have your policy number ready when you call, and be prepared to give details of the damage and its severity. It is highly likely that you will need to submit a claim form afterwards. As an added precaution, take photos of the damage as soon as possible to support your claim. Insurance companies have a legal right to investigate all claims and they may wish to send an assessor to review the damage.

When making a claim, waiting periods are common. Emergency claims are likely to be processed immediately but this depends on volume of claims at the time (for example, if a whole town is affected, waiting time will increase). Claims can take anything from one to ninety days in the first instance, and sometimes even longer in the event of extraordinary complications.

How the provider decides to categorise the damage will also determine the length of your wait: if they do not wish to replace damaged items, they may wish to repair. If your insurer chooses to pay repair costs, repairs will be your responsibility. You may need to provide quotes to your insurance company or they may refer you to their preferred repairer. If damaged items require replacement, insurers will generally compensate the claimant for an item’s current market value.

In the case of crops damaged or lost in a hail storm, growers are usually only able to claim a percentage of the crop’s value. Ask your broker about specialised insurance for the agriculture and viticulture industries.

Which policy covers hail damage?

The type of policy that covers hail damage will generally depend on what has been damaged. If your house has been damaged you will need to refer to your home insurance policy. Damaged contents may also be covered if this is specified in the policy; otherwise they will need to be covered by a separate home contents insurance policy. In the same way, outdoor furnishings will generally only be covered if this is explicitly referred to in your policy.

Damage to cars will usually need to be safeguarded by an independent insurance policy, unless your home and car are combined under the same plan. If a vehicle is used for work, claims may be eligible under a business policy. Likewise, claim for any business-related items should be made under your business plan.

Things that may affect a claim

Insurers will typically take the following into account:

• Intensity of the hail storm     
• Frequency of hail storms in your area
• Exposure of buildings to the hail storm
• Exposure of vehicles to the hail storm
• Crop exposure
• Size of hail stones  
• Wind speed (as this can increase speed of hail stones)