What to Do After Hail Damage in Calgary
Reese Calder · Service Writer, Ultimate Car Care Group · July 13, 2026 · 6 min read
Calgary sees more hail claims than any other city in Canada, and the worst storms usually land in July. A single cell can cross the city in ten minutes and leave every car on the block dimpled. What you do over the next two days shapes how the repair and the claim go. Here is the order our estimators recommend, and how to tell early whether your car needs paintless dent repair or full bodywork.
What hail actually does to your panels
Hail hits the flat surfaces hardest: the hood, the roof, the trunk lid and the tops of the fenders. The stone is round and it lands close to straight down, so the metal stretches into a shallow dimple while the paint stretches with it and survives. That is why most hail damage is a dent problem rather than a paint problem. Larger stones, older brittle paint and sharp creases are what push a panel into bodywork.
The first 48 hours after the storm
Work through these in order:
- Photograph the car in daylight before you wash it. Shoot every panel straight on, then again at a low angle so the dimples catch the light, plus one wide shot of the whole vehicle.
- Check the glass and the sunroof first. A cracked windshield or a broken sunroof lets water into the cabin, and water damage gets expensive faster than dents do. That part is a glass job, not a dent job.
- Find your comprehensive deductible before you decide anything. It is on your policy page, and it is the number the whole claim decision turns on.
- Call your insurer and open a comprehensive claim, or call us first and we will walk you through what to tell them.
- Book the estimate early. After a city-wide storm every shop in Calgary fills within days, and the queue only gets longer.
A claim is not automatic
If the damage is light and your comprehensive deductible is $1,000, the repair may not land far above it. Get the written estimate first, then decide whether to open a claim at all. Estimates are free at all three shops and you do not need a claim number to get one.
Is hail covered by insurance in Alberta?
Hail falls under comprehensive coverage, which most Alberta policies include. You pay your deductible and the insurer covers the rest of the approved repair. You also choose the shop. Your insurer can recommend one, but the decision is yours, and we go through that in our explainer on shop choice. Check your own policy for the deductible amount and any limits, or ask your adjuster directly.
Paintless dent repair or conventional bodywork?
What our estimators look at on a hail-damaged panel
| What we check | Points to paintless dent repair | Points to conventional repair |
|---|---|---|
| The paint at each impact | Intact, no cracking or chipping | Cracked or chipped, even at one dent |
| The shape of the dent | Round and shallow | Sharp, creased or stretched metal |
| Access behind the panel | Reachable once trim or liners come out | Sealed, bonded or heavily braced |
| Dent count on one panel | Countable under the light board | So dense the panel is cheaper to replace |
| What shows up later | No paintwork, so nothing to declare at resale | A repainted panel is declarable |
Most Calgary hail lands on the paintless side of that table, which is the cheaper and faster outcome. We walk through the full decision in our comparison of the two methods, and the real numbers sit in our hail repair cost guide. You can see how the work is done on our Calgary paintless dent repair page.
How long does hail repair take?
Light damage on a clean car is often a one-day visit. Moderate damage typically runs 3 to 7 working days. Heavy damage takes longer, especially after a storm that fills every shop in the city at once. One Range Rover that came to our Foothills shop covered in dents took our team three weeks, and that was the honest timeline the owner got on day one rather than a number we hoped to hit.
Did my Range Rover hail fixed from this shop. It was a huge project.
Should I wash my car before the hail estimate?
Take your photos first, then a gentle wash is fine. Clean paint makes dents easier to count under the light board, so a washed car usually gets a more accurate estimate. Keep a pressure wand away from cracked paint, broken glass or a damaged sunroof seal.
Will a hail claim raise my premium in Alberta?
Comprehensive claims are treated differently from at-fault collision claims, so one hail claim is unlikely to move your rate. Several comprehensive claims in a short span can flag the file. Your insurer is the only one who can tell you for certain, so ask before you file.
How long after the storm do I have to file?
Most policies want notice within a reasonable time, often 30 days. File sooner anyway. The earlier you are in the queue, the more repair capacity is still open across the city, and the sooner you get a real date for the work.
Can hail dents be fixed on an older car?
Usually yes, as long as the paint is sound. Older paint is harder and more brittle, so it cracks more easily at an impact and resists the massage. Our techs work a test dent first before committing a whole panel to paintless repair.
Storm dimpled your hood?
Book a free hail estimate at any of the three Calgary shops and we will tell you what the repair takes and how long we need the car.
Book a Hail Estimate RC
About the author
Reese Calder · Service Writer, Ultimate Car Care Group
Reese is the service writer for Ultimate Car Care Group and writes the blog from inside the three Calgary shops, translating what the estimators, body techs, glass installers, and detailers see every day into plain answers for drivers.
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