Insurance claims for hail damage is on the rise and is especially problematic in states like Texas.
The Lone Star State totaled nearly three times as many hail claims as the second leading state, Colorado, and had 25 percent of all the claims filed last year, according to an National Insurance Crime Bureau analysis of insurance claims from the Insurance Services Office (ISO) ClaimSearch database. A total of 784,814 hail damage claims were filed last year.
The NICB also released a three-year study of hail damage claims for the years 2017-2019. During this time period there were nearly 2,800,000 hail claims. Overall it was good news as claims decreased 31% from 2017 to 2019.
The top five states for hail claims were Texas, Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota and Illinois. These states represented 53% of all hail damage claims. The top city for claims was Omaha, Nebraska and Denver, Colorado was second, when looking at all three years of data.
Texas is a large state that sees lots of hailstorms. It had an average of 195 days of severe hail while Oklahoma was second with an average of 138. The majority of hail claims came during the spring and early summers months, between March and June with May being seeing the highest number of claims.
There are five types of insurance policies that provide coverage for hail damage. Homeowners receives the most claims, with over 1.7 million from 2017-2019 but auto insurance was second with nearly 750,000 claims.
See the amount of hail damage claims in your state by reviewing the following data.
Hail Damage Claims by State, According to the NICB Analysis of ISO Claims:
| State | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 10 | 11 | 8 | 29 |
| Alabama | 16,631 | 15,724 | 3,797 | 36,152 |
| Arkansas | 9,493 | 20,923 | 5,974 | 36,390 |
| Arizona | 3,517 | 11,007 | 5,117 | 19,641 |
| California | 1,555 | 896 | 4,364 | 6,815 |
| Colorado | 118,645 | 191,679 | 69,742 | 380,066 |
| Connecticut | 142 | 2,454 | 188 | 2,784 |
| DC | 69 | 30 | 102 | 201 |
| Delaware | 90 | 277 | 460 | 827 |
| Florida | 5,530 | 19,423 | 17,168 | 42,121 |
| Georgia | 15,275 | 18,635 | 7,261 | 41,171 |
| Hawaii | 13 | 7 | 10 | 30 |
| Iowa | 67,731 | 25,664 | 19,744 | 113,139 |
| Idaho | 337 | 10,950 | 399 | 11,686 |
| Illinois | 68,831 | 33,787 | 47,798 | 150,416 |
| Indiana | 30,636 | 14,852 | 18,404 | 63,892 |
| Kansas | 58,939 | 38,117 | 50,737 | 147,793 |
| Kentucky | 14,063 | 10,715 | 4,450 | 29,228 |
| Louisiana | 11,875 | 16,568 | 11,786 | 40,229 |
| Massachusetts | 479 | 258 | 467 | 1,204 |
| Maryland | 7,689 | 3,131 | 4,694 | 15,514 |
| Maine | 78 | 39 | 120 | 237 |
| Michigan | 1,452 | 1,621 | 7,618 | 10,691 |
| Minnesota | 75,835 | 24,865 | 49,973 | 150,673 |
| Missouri | 71,938 | 27,790 | 33,976 | 133,704 |
| Mississippi | 4,197 | 4,018 | 2,177 | 10,392 |
| Montana | 680 | 5,766 | 18,434 | 24,880 |
| North Carolina | 22,850 | 10,466 | 25,026 | 58,342 |
| North Dakota | 1,796 | 3,380 | 7,255 | 12,431 |
| Nebraska | 81,053 | 23,424 | 56,897 | 161,374 |
| New Hampshire | 95 | 104 | 83 | 282 |
| New Jersey | 413 | 431 | 761 | 1,605 |
| New Mexico | 23,791 | 19,603 | 9,286 | 52,680 |
| Nevada | 237 | 125 | 107 | 469 |
| New York | 3,091 | 1,514 | 1,620 | 6,225 |
| Ohio | 9,952 | 6,059 | 11,577 | 27,588 |
| Oklahoma | 23,787 | 9,227 | 20,621 | 53,635 |
| Oregon | 972 | 184 | 640 | 1,796 |
| Pennsylvania | 15,154 | 7,598 | 31,635 | 54,387 |
| Rhode Island | 28 | 22 | 170 | 220 |
| South Carolina | 24,143 | 9,811 | 4,531 | 38,485 |
| South Dakota | 20,496 | 21,910 | 10,383 | 52,789 |
| Tennessee | 13,105 | 3,716 | 2,602 | 19,423 |
| Texas | 258,319 | 186,670 | 192,988 | 637,977 |
| Utah | 503 | 7,718 | 1,071 | 9,292 |
| Virginia | 25,959 | 6,655 | 6,340 | 38,954 |
| Vermont | 102 | 40 | 14 | 156 |
| Washington | 262 | 195 | 236 | 693 |
| Wisconsin | 22,271 | 14,349 | 4,425 | 41,045 |
| West Virginia | 584 | 2,646 | 2,229 | 5,459 |
| Wyoming | 4,923 | 9,878 | 9,349 | 24,150 |
| Total | 1,139,616 | 844,932 | 784,814 | 2,769,362 |
Hail Damage and Car Insurance
If your vehicle is dinged by ice balls falling from the sky, you can decide to live with the cosmetic damage or you may want to file a hail damage claim to have it repaired. Before you reach for your car insurance card, here are five must-know considerations:
- You must have comprehensive insurance coverage. This protection covers theft, vandalism, water damage and animal strikes.
- You will have to pay your deductible amount. So, it’s prudent to assess the repair costs – if you have just a few dents, the cost to fix your car will not exceed your deductible. Esurance pegs the average cost to repair each dent at $50 to $125. Major hail damage could be several thousand dollars and can total a car, in which case a claim makes sense. For minor damage, you might want to visit a paintless dent repair shop and avoid a claim.
- Your car insurance rates typically won’t increase if you make a hail claim, as generally insurance companies won’t hold you accountable for damage caused by severe weather. If, however, you’ve had other recent claims on your policy, your insurer may hike your rates.
- If you do file a claim, have the insurance adjuster inspect your car in the shade or in a garage, as bright sunlight can obscure dents.
- Once your insurance company completes its estimate of the cost to fix your car, take your vehicle to a repair shop of your choice and get a comparison estimate. Typically, if there’s a big discrepancy, your repair shop can contact your insurer with the information and have your insurer provide a revised estimate or have the insurer approve its estimate.
If you’re in need of adding comprehensive to your vehicle. check with your current car insurance company on the cost, but also shop around. We recommend you comparison shop with at least three reputable auto insurance companies. Review not only who offers the best rates, but check reviews to make sure the one with the cheapest rates has good customer and claims service.
