Is hail damage covered by collision or comprehensive coverage?

Comprehensive coverage, not collision. Collision only applies when your car strikes or is struck by another vehicle or object; hail is a weather event and falls under comprehensive, sometimes called other-than-collision coverage.

What if I only carry liability insurance?

Hail damage is not covered. Liability only pays for harm you cause to others. Without comprehensive coverage added to your policy, hail repair comes entirely out of pocket.

Will a hail claim raise my rates?

It can affect your renewal, but insurers generally view weather-related comprehensive claims differently from at-fault collision claims, since you had no control over the event. A pattern of frequent claims of any type is what tends to draw scrutiny at renewal.

What happens if the hail damage is severe?

If the estimated repair cost approaches or exceeds your car's value, the insurer may total the vehicle and pay its actual cash value rather than repair it, the same as with any other total-loss claim.

Does car insurance cover hail damage?

Updated 2026-08-19 · This article is for general educational information only and is not insurance advice.

A hailstorm can leave a car covered in dozens of small dents in a matter of minutes, and the damage is entirely outside your control. That matters for insurance purposes, because how a loss happens determines which part of your policy responds — and hail falls squarely into one category.

Which coverage pays

Hail damage is paid under comprehensive coverage, sometimes called "other than collision" coverage. Comprehensive is the part of your policy built for damage that happens to your car when you are not driving it into something, and weather events are the textbook example. Liability coverage does not apply at all, since it only pays for damage you cause to other people or their property. Collision coverage does not apply either, because nothing struck your car and your car struck nothing.

This distinction is not academic. Comprehensive is optional coverage that you add to a policy, usually alongside collision, and it is not required by any state's minimum liability law. If you carry only the state-minimum liability limits, a hailstorm that dents your hood and roof is not covered at all. Comprehensive is typically required by an auto lender or lease, so most financed cars carry it, but a car you own outright may not.

How the claim is priced

Comprehensive claims are subject to your comprehensive deductible, which is a separate number from your collision deductible and is chosen when you set up the policy. If your repair estimate is $1,800 and your comprehensive deductible is $500, the insurer pays $1,300 and you pay the rest.

Hail repair is usually done through paintless dent repair, which pushes dents out from behind the panel without repainting, and it is often cheaper and faster than a conventional body shop repair. In a major hailstorm, expect a backlog — insurers in affected regions often see a surge of claims at once, and repair shops can be booked out for weeks.

If the damage is severe enough that repair costs approach or exceed your car's value, the insurer may declare the car a total loss and pay you its actual cash value instead of repairing it. That is the same standard applied to any other total-loss claim, and it is worth reading our guide on what happens when a car is totaled if you are in that situation.

Should you file the claim?

Cosmetic hail damage does not affect drivability, so filing is a judgment call. If the repair estimate is close to or below your deductible, there may be nothing to collect after the deductible is subtracted, and filing accomplishes little beyond creating a claim record. If the estimate clearly exceeds your deductible, filing generally makes sense, since comprehensive claims are typically weather-related and not attributed to at-fault driving — insurers usually treat them more leniently for rating purposes than an at-fault collision, though a pattern of frequent claims of any kind can still affect your renewal.

Documenting the damage

Photograph the car from multiple angles as soon as possible, including close-ups of individual panels.
Note the date and approximate time of the storm; insurers can often corroborate this against weather records.
Get an estimate from a body shop experienced in hail and paintless dent repair before assuming the damage is minor.
Check your declarations page for your comprehensive deductible before deciding whether to file.

If you are shopping for a policy in a hail-prone region — much of the central United States sees regular hail activity — comprehensive coverage with a manageable deductible is worth prioritizing. You can get a free quote and compare comprehensive deductible options side by side rather than guessing at what a single insurer offers.

The bottom line

Hail damage is a comprehensive claim, it is subject to your comprehensive deductible, and it is not covered at all if you carry only liability coverage. Whether filing makes sense depends entirely on how the repair estimate compares to your deductible.