Hail Causing Headaches For Car Insurance Companies
The weather can be something that can cause drivers to have to file car insurance claims. In 2011, car insurance companies saw that drivers are filing even more weather related claims especially for damage caused by hail. Hail related insurance claims cost car insurance companies almost $800 million dollars last year alone. However, in 2010, this figure was at $536 million dollars. In 2008, this figure was at $471 million dollars. This is a huge increase and will undoubtedly impact car insurance
Many drivers do not take the weather seriously and do not protect their cars from hail. Hail pellets can be the size of a baseball and they can hit a car with a lot of force. This can create dents, shatter windshields, and even destroys car windows and interiors.
Many states such as Texas, Louisiana, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia have to deal with excessive hail storms every year.
One major hail storm caused 6,000 insurance claims to be filed. This cost insurance companies $18 million dollars. This is why it is crucial for drivers to buy comprehensive car insurance coverage. Liability coverage alone will not cover the necessary repairs that cars need after they have been damaged in a hail storm. One way to save yourself more than 15 percent off of your premiums is to have a deducible of at least $500. Living in an area that is prone to this type of weather is dangerous so having the extra insurance coverage is important.
For example, if a driver has hail pellets blow out all of their car windows then they would have to pay more than $750 dollars to have the windows repaired. This is because many of the windows that are installed in vehicles today are power windows. These windows are much more expensive to replace so having liability insurance coverage alone could be a huge financial mistake. The savings for having this type of coverage would evaporate quickly when having to pay to have all new windows installed.
Weather patterns change every year and as we can see, hail can play a huge role in the number of insurance claims that are filed every year. It is important for all drivers to take this weather event seriously. If you have a garage, then you should park the car inside of it to protect the car from being damaged by falling hail.
