Insurance, auto body shops rise in business after hailstorm

HAZELWOOD, Mo. – The hailstorms brought by severe weather Monday have led to an influx of business for insurance agents and auto body repair shops.

“I’ve had a large number of calls for hail damage. You can basically follow the path of the storm and that’s where all my calls are coming from, starting in Chesterfield and ending in Illinois. My largest concentration was over in Ferguson,” Paul Manganelli, insurance agent at American Family Insurance, said.

He says several customers were confused about whether they needed to get estimates before calling their insurance company.

“They have a year to turn in their claim and get all the repairs done to be fully paid for their claim minus the deductible,” Manganelli said.

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Several auto body shops are still repairing vehicles from the hailstorm in Wentzville last month. The addition of damaged cars Monday has become overwhelming for some shops.

“We are starting to back up a little bit on hail damages…all three (of our) locations are getting pretty heavily packed with hail damage repairs,” Jason Stump, body shop manager at Complete Auto Body and Repair, said.

As Stump is still working on cars damaged last month, he says several customers can underestimate the time frame for repairs.

“It all depends on if (the car) needs to be conventionally repaired with actual body work or just needs paintless dent removal. Paintless dent removal can be three to five days; conventional repairs could take up to 2 weeks,” he said.

Glass should be the first area of focus for safety measures if the hail on Monday damaged your car. Hail typically does not affect the mechanics of cars.

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