Hail-damaged car: claim, repair or sell it as-is?

Yes, you can sell or trade in a hail-damaged car without claiming or repairing it first, but expect any buyer to take the repair, and the risk of damage they can’t see, off the price. Whether to claim first comes down to three numbers: your excess, what your insurer will repair or pay, and a genuine offer for the car as it sits today.

If your car was repaired after a collision rather than a storm, our guide to accident history and car value is the better fit.

How bad is the hail damage on your car?

Hail dents are easy to miss on a dirty car in flat midday light, so wash it first. Then look along each panel at a low angle, late in the day or under fluorescent lights, and watch for reflections that bend over a dent.

Work around the car panel by panel:

• Roof, bonnet and boot lid. The flat, horizontal panels take most of the hits. Count the dents on each, or at least note “a few”, “dozens” or “too many to count”.
• Size and depth. Note whether the dents are shallow dimples or sharp and deep, and whether the paint has cracked or chipped at any of them.
• Roof rails, pillars and door tops. Dents on edges and frames can be harder to repair than dents in the middle of a panel.
• Glass. Check the windscreen, rear window and any sunroof for chips and cracks.
• Plastics and lights. Look at mirror caps, headlight and tail-light lenses, aerials and window mouldings.

Photograph everything in daylight: a wide shot of each panel, then close-ups of the worst dents. Write down the date of the storm. Those photos support an insurance claim, and they let a buyer price the damage before they see the car.

Should you claim on your insurance before you sell?

Start with your policy. Comprehensive cover usually includes storm and hail damage, but read the exclusions and check your excess before you lodge anything. Moneysmart’s guide to claiming on your car insurance walks through the steps, including what to do if you disagree with the insurer’s decision.

The right answer also depends on whether you’re keeping the car. Use this decision guide as a starting point:

If you’ve already decided to sell, say so when you lodge the claim. Ask how a sale affects each option, and, if you still owe money on the car, whether your lender would be paid before you.

Repair or cash settlement: which suits a car you’re selling?

Depending on your policy and the damage, an insurer will usually authorise a repair, offer a cash settlement instead, or declare the car a total loss. The first two are where you may get a choice.

A repair fixes the car and keeps things simple. Shallow dents where the paint hasn’t cracked are often fixed with paintless dent repair (PDR), where a technician works each dent out from behind the panel and the factory paint stays in place. Deeper dents, cracked paint or a badly damaged roof may need conventional panel work and paint, or a replacement panel. Ask which method will be used, and keep the itemised invoice, because buyers will ask for it.

A cash settlement pays you instead of fixing the car. It can suit a car you’re about to sell, because you don’t wait for a repair booking and the buyer prices the damage. Before you accept one, ask the insurer:

• Is the excess taken out of the settlement?
• Will the unrepaired damage be excluded from future claims while you own the car?
• If the car is later written off, will the settlement be deducted from that payout?
• What happens to the settlement if you sell before it’s paid?

A worked example (all figures made up). Jess’s SUV has about 30 shallow dents across the roof and bonnet, and her excess is $800. Her insurer approves a $5,000 PDR repair, or offers $4,200 in cash after the excess. A dealer offers $26,500 for the car unrepaired, and says it would offer $31,000 once it’s repaired with an invoice.

Here, not claiming costs Jess the most, and the other two paths are close enough that timing could decide. Your numbers will differ, so swap in your own.

What happens if your insurer writes the car off for hail?

Hail can write off a car on its own. WA’s Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure lists hail, floods and fires among the natural disasters that lead to write-offs. It says a repairable write-off is usually a total loss because repairs would cost more than the car’s market value.

A written-off car is recorded in one of two categories:

• Statutory write-off. Damaged so severely it can never be made safe or roadworthy. It can never be registered again.
• Repairable write-off. A total loss that may be repaired and registered again if it meets the state’s inspection and repair requirements.

Ask your insurer which category applies, and get the answer in writing. Then check how the payout is calculated. Moneysmart explains that agreed value is a fixed amount set by you and your insurer, while market value is what the car would have sold for at the time, as decided by the insurer. Ask, too, whether the excess comes off, whether a lender is paid first, and whether you can keep the car.

The record follows the car. Written-off status can show on a PPSR search where the national data is available, so any future buyer can find it. Our guide to what a PPSR search shows covers the rest of the certificate. In South Australia, the notice of disposal for a written-off or wrecked car can’t be lodged online, so you’d use the paper form.

Can you keep a hail write-off in NSW?

Yes, if hail was the only damage and you’re the registered operator who keeps it. Transport for NSW says light vehicles written off solely because of hail and kept by the registered operator are treated differently from other write-offs. The registration stays active with no restrictions, but the certificate of registration shows the car was previously written off.

Here’s how the NSW outcomes compare:

Re-registration needs a car with no damage from the statutory write-off criteria. The applicant must also have inherited the car, or have been its registered operator for more than 28 days before the damage. The page also lists the same registered operator with hail-only damage, where the hail rule above doesn’t apply.

One gap: the NSW pages don’t say what changes when a kept hail write-off is later sold. If you plan to sell, ask Service NSW on 13 22 13 before you decide. The same number gives free written-off checks using the plate number.

Rules differ in other states, so check with your state transport authority before you agree to keep a written-off car. Our guide to selling a repairable write-off compares NSW, Queensland, WA and Victoria.

What does a buyer check on a hail-damaged car?

Repaired or not, expect a careful look. A dealer or a private buyer’s mechanic usually checks:

• The roof, bonnet and boot lid under angled light, counting dents
• Colour or texture differences that show a panel was repainted
• Signs that a roof was replaced, such as new sealer lines or a headlining that’s been taken down
• Small high spots or ripples left behind by paintless dent repair
• Cracked mirror caps, lenses, aerials and window mouldings
• Chips in the windscreen or sunroof, and any sign of water getting in
• The insurer’s assessment, the repair invoice and the claim number
• A PPSR search for a write-off record

Anything on that list you haven’t mentioned gives the buyer a reason to change the price at the inspection, as our guide to why offers drop after inspection explains.

A dealer found hail damage after the deposit. What now?

This happens in two ways, and the answer depends on when the hail hit.

You’ve paid a deposit on a new car, and the dealer rechecks your trade-in. If the storm came after the appraisal, the damage happened while the car was still yours. That’s usually a matter for your insurer rather than the dealer. Read your contract for what it says about the trade-in’s condition at delivery, and remember a revised trade-in figure is a new offer you can compare.

A buyer paid you a deposit, and their inspection found hail you didn’t mention. A revision covering the damage they weren’t told about is usually fair. A cut for dents you disclosed with photos isn’t.

Either way, you can decline a revised figure, but read your agreement first, because it decides what happens to any deposit. Keep the car insured until it has been handed over.

What must you tell a buyer about hail damage?

Tell them all of it, in writing, before they make an offer. The NSW Government says a motor dealer must disclose any information that might affect a buyer’s decision or the price they’d pay. The dealer notice on the car has to include past flood, hail or water damage, and whether the car has been written off. A dealer buying your car will ask, and check, because it has to pass that history on.

Private sales sit mostly outside consumer law. WA Consumer Protection says the Australian Consumer Law doesn’t apply to private car sales, but warns that a private seller may be held liable for a known serious defect they didn’t disclose. Hail is easy to spot anyway, so hiding it rarely works.

A clear description covers the date, the panels, the dent count, the paint, the glass and where any claim is up to. For example (made up): “Hail damage, March 2026. About 30 shallow dents on the roof and bonnet, paint not cracked, glass undamaged. Not claimed. Photos attached.” Put it in a message, so there’s a record of what the buyer knew.

Claim, repair or sell: making the call

If you’re keeping the car, a claim and a repair usually make sense. If you’re selling soon, get the three numbers first. If the insurer is heading towards a write-off, ask your questions before you accept, because the record stays with the car.

At Sell Your Car Australia, a valuer who has priced cars since 1992 makes you a genuine offer by phone from a licensed dealer, not an online estimate. We buy cars, utes, SUVs and 4WDs 2021 or newer with 100,000 km or less. Tell us about the hail on the call, send a few photos, and mention any claim or write-off up front. We’ll tell you straight away if we can help.

If you accept an offer, a deposit is often paid the same day, and the inspection happens at a time and place that suits you. The balance goes into your bank account, and the car is collected only after you confirm the funds have cleared. We arrange collection anywhere in Australia, from Brisbane to Perth. Start with a free, no-obligation valuation or call 1800 73 55 73.