Last night my car was struck by almost golf ball sized hailstones during a thunderstorm. The roof has dozens of dents all over it and a fair few on the bonnet too. Anyone know how much a body shop would charge to repair these? Wondering if I'm best off calling the insurers as the car is only 15 months old.
Roof and bonnet battered by giant hailstones
- Thread starter Migwire
- Start date
Force Majeure
In insurance terms, Force Majeure refers to an extraordinary or unforeseeable event (e.g. earthquake, war, riot) that causes damage and is therefore nobody’s fault. See also Act of God.
You may or maynot be covered - the devil is in the detail.
If you think about flooding, that is undeniably Force Majeure, but house insurance companies will pay out for for flooding.
In insurance terms, Force Majeure refers to an extraordinary or unforeseeable event (e.g. earthquake, war, riot) that causes damage and is therefore nobody’s fault. See also Act of God.
You may or maynot be covered - the devil is in the detail.
If you think about flooding, that is undeniably Force Majeure, but house insurance companies will pay out for for flooding.
Scottyg
Registered User
It's really hard to get a photo of them due to the reflection on the roof. There's over 50 of them all over the roof. Not really pronounced but being almost eye level they're unbelievably noticeable. Tried uploading a photo though and it's saying too large for server to handle.
Scottyg
Registered User
Get a photobucket account and upload using IMG code.
Is the paint broken in any of the dents? If not it should be a straightforward panel beating job. Cost wise, I have know idea.
Is the paint broken in any of the dents? If not it should be a straightforward panel beating job. Cost wise, I have know idea.
No, no broken paint. I'm just debating whether or not it'll cost significantly more than my £300 excess to repair. If so then I'll try the insurance route first.
I'm actually a bit peeved that my flimsy Audi seems to have faired worse than most cars in the street.
I'll try and get a decent photo.
If nothing else at least it might be a bit more aerodynamic
Scottyg
Registered User
By going down the insurance route you'll have a flag on your policy even if you don't go down that route.
I don't think it'll cost that much. Try and get a Dentsaway quote and work from there.
I don't think it'll cost that much. Try and get a Dentsaway quote and work from there.
Scottyg
Registered User
Insurance may well pay out. A colleague of mine had much the same thing happen in Germany a couple of years ago, he was convinced the insurance would just write the car off (Ageing Volvo 850 T5 with intergalactic mileage) but they repaired it at a cost of several thousand Euros, far in excess of the car's market value.
RichardT
Registered User
You don't need to use Photobucket. Just reduce the size of the image using Photoshop or Paint etc.
Then you can just upload straight to the forum. I find that much easier.
Scottyg
Registered User
I've always used Photobucket for posting photos on forums. Didn't even realise you could do it that way. Cheers
JordanQuattro
I like the tuna here
My thoughts exactly. I find it amusing, a company having a religious belief!! I wonder what their rebuttal would be if you said 'well I'm an atheist so I don't believe in God; now what?'
JordanQuattro
I like the tuna here
With regards to repair, it depends where the dents are. If they're mostly in the middle of the roof then they should pop out (mostly) with a dent man. Dents near the door shuts are really difficult, most of the time they require sanding the paint down and using a slide hammer to pull them out then repaint. Same goes for the bonnet, most will be repairable by a dent man. Biggest cost factor would be if they've broken the paint.
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I used to run a dent company and would've quoted you a lot more than your excess. I'd definitely go through insurance and get it done properly. Good luck with it as I know how frustrated I would be if this happened to mine.
Have you registered with Audi Ensurance. This is free and they will help you get the work done by an approved Audi repairer. They will also negotiate with your insurance company if they insist that you use one of they repairers.
This is their website: https://audi-ensurance.co.uk/getcover
Yeah that was my first port of call. They said they don't cover things like this though. Looks like it's only non fault accidents or vandalism they cover.
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Audi Ensurance are only of any real use if there is a 3rd party to claim against. When I contacted them about my vandalism claim (kids throwing stones off a bridge) they weren't really interested.
If your insurance approved repairer isn't Audi approved you may get some help but don't expect great things. There is an ensurance experience thread on here but can't link it from my phone - poor signal area.
Edit: Some people found it ok but balanced views here:
http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/thread...stions-on-the-8v-chassis.198794/#post-2286171
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RichardT
Registered User
Seeing this "act of god" nonsense all over the place in the last couple of days as obviously many have been hit with this issue.
It's rubbish - you're covered, end of. They can only use such clauses for truly extraordinary events, like something from a disaster movie. Large hail, even big enough to damage bodywork, is not unheard of and they can't wriggle out of it.
I'm actually interested to hear how the bonnet fared compared to the roof - as the bonnet and front wings are aluminium, I'd have thought they'd be more susceptible to damage but perhaps not?
It's rubbish - you're covered, end of. They can only use such clauses for truly extraordinary events, like something from a disaster movie. Large hail, even big enough to damage bodywork, is not unheard of and they can't wriggle out of it.
I'm actually interested to hear how the bonnet fared compared to the roof - as the bonnet and front wings are aluminium, I'd have thought they'd be more susceptible to damage but perhaps not?
Getting a photo to show the true extent of the dents is quite tricky as the roof is so reflective. I'll try again when I go back out.
The dents in the bonnet appear to be a bit deeper than the roof. Noticed last night that there's also dents in the rear quarter panel/ c pillar area.
Noticed earlier that someone across the road has a Passat and the bonnet on that looks worse than mine.
If I get a quote off of an Audi approved centre and one from somewhere else which is likely to be cheaper, is it a case of the insurers will choose the cheaper option?
The dents in the bonnet appear to be a bit deeper than the roof. Noticed last night that there's also dents in the rear quarter panel/ c pillar area.
Noticed earlier that someone across the road has a Passat and the bonnet on that looks worse than mine.
If I get a quote off of an Audi approved centre and one from somewhere else which is likely to be cheaper, is it a case of the insurers will choose the cheaper option?
I've just washed it. 
There's far more than first thought. Well in excess of 100. The tailgate, door edges, roof edges, in fact there's not a panel on the car bar the bumpers that doesn't have a dent. They'r only slight in places but as you walk towards the car they clearly show up because of the refracted reflections. Getting a decent photo however isn't easy. Took a couple and it still isn't letting me upload from my phone however.
There's far more than first thought. Well in excess of 100. The tailgate, door edges, roof edges, in fact there's not a panel on the car bar the bumpers that doesn't have a dent. They'r only slight in places but as you walk towards the car they clearly show up because of the refracted reflections. Getting a decent photo however isn't easy. Took a couple and it still isn't letting me upload from my phone however.
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This happened down in Leicestershire a few years back, I was collecting my rs6 from the Audi garage and when they collected me from the rail way station he was showing me pictures and said a lot of cars are ruined but mine is fine as it was inside thank god. Got to the dealer and it wasn't a good site, having worked. It far the car park at work was hit, for the next 6 months plus it was just insurance assessors going around as loads where company cars, going through the insurance is the best way, you ain't going to get a quote of around £300 odd, listening to people at work they where going into thousands to sort it.
Happened to hundreds of Mk4 Mondeo's once outside the Genk factory whilst awaiting shipment, never found out if they were repaired or written off...
I've just washed it.
There's far more than first thought. Well in excess of 100. The tailgate, door edges, roof edges, in fact there's not a panel on the car bar the bumpers that doesn't have a dent. They'r only slight in places but as you walk towards the car they clearly show up because of the refracted reflections. Getting a decent photo however isn't easy. Took a couple and it still isn't letting me upload from my phone however.
That sounds terrible mate, hope you get it sorted. Don't let the insurance companies use that ol' 'Act of God' trick. They are religiously indifferent and cannot hide behind that.
I feel for you man! I just checked with the dealer where mine is, Emden still, thank god!
Tony1982
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I hate to tell you this but we've had some horrendous thunderstorms with huge hail here in Germany over the last week!
