Hail damage repair, billed to your claim
Paintless dent repair for hail-damaged vehicles, handled through the comprehensive part of an auto policy. We come to the vehicle and the inspection is free.
Most of it is invisible in daylight
Hail lands hardest on the flat, horizontal panels: hood, roof, trunk lid. Those are also the panels you look at least, and the ones daylight flatters most.
Hail damage shows up under a low, raking light and almost disappears under an overcast sky. That is why owners routinely think they have a handful of dents and turn out to have a hundred, and it is why the inspection happens at the vehicle instead of over photographs.
A phone photo flattens the panel. An estimate built on that photo misses what the photo could not show, which is the single most common reason a hail claim gets settled for less than the damage.
Where hail lands on a car
Hail falls close to vertical, so it collects on the flat panels and mostly misses the doors and the sides. Those three panels are where the damage count is decided.
The dents come out from behind the panel
Paintless dent repair reaches the back of the panel and works the metal out. When a panel qualifies, your original factory paint is never sanded, filled or resprayed.
Not every panel qualifies, and we say so before anything starts. How paintless dent repair works, in detail.
How paintless dent repair actually works
Three stages, seen from the side, through the thickness of a single panel.
Hail lands on the flat panels
Hood, roof and trunk lid take it first. The metal gives, and the paint stretches with it instead of breaking.
The rod works from behind
We reach the back of the panel and push the metal back to where it was, a little at a time.
Nothing is sanded, filled or sprayed
The paint that leaves with you is the paint the factory put on. That is the whole point of the method.
The work is billed to your claim
Hail is handled under the comprehensive part of an auto policy. That part is the same everywhere. What changes is who does the work of it.
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You open the claim. We take it from there.
Only the policyholder can open a claim, and it takes one phone call. After that we document the damage, send the estimate and deal with your adjuster directly.
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If the first estimate misses damage, we file the supplement.
Hail is routinely under-counted on a first look. Documenting what was missed and submitting it for review is part of the job, not an extra.
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A loaner while your car is with us.
We can arrange a vehicle so you are not left without one. Ask at the inspection and we will sort out the details for your situation.
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You hear from us at every step.
Estimate sent. Approval received. Repair started. Ready for delivery. You will not have to chase anyone for an update.
“They worked closely with the insurance and took their time to make sure my vehicles looked as good as new. Once my vehicles were in their care they took care of everything.”
Charlotte Kirven, Google review
Who pays for what
The question everybody asks first, laid out plainly.
The repair is paid through your policy
Hail is handled under the comprehensive part of an auto policy. The number does not come out of a price list we set. It comes out of a damage count that is documented in writing.
Your deductible is set by your policy
Not by us, and not by the shop you pick. Your carrier is the only one who can tell you what yours is, and it is worth asking before you file. We do not give insurance advice.
The inspection costs you nothing
Free, about 30 minutes, and no obligation afterwards. If what we find does not justify a claim, we will tell you that, and you owe us nothing.
Seven steps, and whose clock each one runs on
Two of them are yours. One belongs to your carrier, and it is the reason no honest shop can promise you a finish date on day one. The rest are ours.
- YouOne phone call
You call your insurer and open the claim
Only the policyholder can do this, and it is one phone call. You will be given a claim number, and that number is the thing everybody else refers to from then on.
- CranioAbout 30 minutes
We look at the car in person and write it down
At the vehicle, under proper light. We photograph and count what is there, panel by panel, and build a written estimate from it.
- CranioSame day
The estimate goes to your carrier
We send it and we deal with your adjuster directly. You are kept in the loop rather than put to work.
- Your carrierTheir clock, not ours
The adjuster reviews it, and sometimes disagrees
This is the normal middle of a hail claim, not a sign that something went wrong. It is also the part nobody can put a date on, because the clock belongs to your carrier.
- Cranio
If the first estimate missed damage, we file the supplement
We document what was left out and submit it for review. That is part of the job, not an extra.
- YouYour call
You authorize the work
Nothing starts on your vehicle until you say so. You will know exactly what we found before anything happens to it.
- CranioMost within 5 days of approval
The repair, then delivery
We can arrange a loaner so you are not left without a car. You get the vehicle back, and the written warranty terms come with it.
We go where the storm went
Cranio Hail is a traveling crew. Right now that is Johnson, Miami and Wyandotte counties in Kansas, and the Dallas metro from our base in Lancaster, Texas. See every area we are working.
Let us look at the car.
The inspection is free, takes about 30 minutes, and there is no obligation afterwards.