Hail damage

[Bacho]

Had a hail storm come through this week. It dropped the largest hail that I’ve ever seen in person. My truck, shops, roof, and the 172 all sustained hail damage.

The damage to the 172 is on top of the wings and stab, didn’t see anything in the fuselage itself. It’s not as bad as other airplanes I’ve seen. I’m not concerned about it as an airworthiness issue, although it is cosmetic damage that has decreased the value of the airplane. How much I have no idea.

I feel that I should file a claim, as this is what I pay insurance for. I know that it’s not worth fixing for what my hull coverage is. Totaling the airplane is not desirable option. In hindsight, I probably should’ve increased my hull coverage on the last renewal. I would have a hard time replacing it today.

Anybody been here with some lessons learned?

 

[Pinecone]

If it not worth fixing, don't file a claim. If you file a claim and the damage is high enough, they will total your plane, write you a check for the hull coverage amount, and where does that put you?

 

[Bell206]

I’m not concerned about it as an airworthiness issue,

Look for some input from someone who has experience in repairing this. In some cases depending on the level of damage there are "tricks" to fix this type of damage without it turning into a goat rope. Regardless, I would be hesitant to file a claim until you have more information on your specific aircraft. Wish I could offer more.

 

[geezer]

Your hull insurance, versus the actual market value of YOUR plane, right now, is the real issue.

More than 20 years ago, our 172 was tied down outside in Nebraska, and a tornado passed close by, turning over empty tractor trailers, and blowing down Macdonald interstate signs. The hail was up to golf ball size, and plenty of it. We could not put our hand on any horizontal surface without covering at least one dent, and the pilots side had about half that density. The performance of the plane seemed unchanged, and we debated for more than a hundred flight hours before committing to repairs. A new paint job for half price was the final deciding factor.

It is important to understand that we had the adjuster examine the plane soon after the damage, to clearly document when and where the storm occurred.

Our insurance adjuster looked the plane over, and advised us we were fortunate that we had upped our hull coverage, with last years value, they would have totaled it, written us a check, and auctioned it as is, probably at a profit.

Will your hull insurance buy a similar condition plane today? If not, just fly it as is, and feel fortunate you still have it. That is just the price you pay for sharing the insurance risk with the company. We checked the market, and reset our coverage annually, if the market changed more than 5%.

Fortunately, we had the extra thick windshield, and it was undamaged. If that had been cracked, we would have completed our trip to the Air Force Academy, and back to Maryland in a rental car.