Summer not only brings barbecues and picnics but unpredictable weather in many parts of the country, including hailstorms. Hail can cause severe damage to vehicles if they’re left unattended during a storm.
Ensure that your car is adequately protected during a hailstorm with our simple but effective preparation tips.
Seek Shelter
You should seek shelter immediately if a hailstorm is forecasted for your area. If you’re on the road and too far from home to make it back in time, look around for a covered garage or shelter you can use.
The last thing you should do is keep driving through hail—pull over immediately and lay down on the floor with your head covered to shield yourself from debris. A tree may seem a worthy covering, but its branches can break and fall on your car, causing more damage than the hail.
Pro Tip: Bridges and underpasses are useful protection in a pinch, but they can become crowded with cars seeking refuge, so they should be a last resort.
Cover Your Car
For those at home when hail is approaching, you’ll want to bring your car into the garage or carport, if you have one. If you don’t have a garage or covered space large enough for your vehicle, you should get your car covered immediately.
You might have to improvise if you don’t have a car cover—consider weighing down or tying blankets to the top of your car or even using your floor mats if you have no other options. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but some protection is always better than nothing!
Pro Tip: If your car is outside during a hailstorm, angle the front of your vehicle towards the storm. The windshield is reinforced, but the side and rear windows are not.
What To Do After a Hailstorm
When the storm abates and the skies clear, you’ll want to assess the damage immediately. Evaluate and document any damage your car sustained from hail as soon as possible so you can start the process of filing an auto hail damage claim.
The sooner you begin doing so, the faster your claim is processed and the quicker you get reimbursed for the damage.
We hope our tips will help if you ever need to prepare your car for a hailstorm. Hopefully, you’ll never have to use them! But, if the worst should arrive, you know how to mitigate—if not completely prevent—damage to your vehicle.
