Storm damaged car: claim it, repair it or sell it?

Chicago-area storms damage cars in three main ways: something falls on them, hail dents them, or water gets into them. Each one sends you down a slightly different path, but the order of the first steps is the same, and getting the order wrong can cost you on the insurance side. If the car turns out to be beyond saving, this connects to our wider guide on the ways to get rid of a junk car.

The first hours after the storm

1. Photograph everything before anything is moved: the car from all sides, the tree or debris on it, the water line if it was flooded, and the street around it.
2. Don’t start a car that sat in floodwater. Water can damage the engine, the electrics, brakes and airbag sensors, and the damage doesn’t always show straight away. NHTSA’s page on flood-damaged vehicles covers the risks.
3. Call your insurer and open a claim before arranging repairs or a sale.
4. Protect the car from more damage if you safely can, for example by covering a broken window.

A tree or limb on the car

This is the one with the most questions. According to the Insurance Information Institute, comprehensive coverage pays for damage from things other than a collision, and it lists falling objects, windstorm, hail and flood among them. If you carry comprehensive, a tree on the car is usually a claim on your own policy.

Whose insurance pays when it’s a neighbour’s tree, or a parkway tree, depends on the policies involved and the circumstances. We’re not insurers or lawyers, so ask your agent rather than relying on a rule of thumb.

Don’t try to cut the tree off the car yourself if it’s heavy or tangled in wires. Call the utility if lines are involved.

Hail

Hail damage is often cosmetic: dents across the roof, hood and trunk, sometimes cracked glass. Comprehensive coverage generally covers it too. On a newer car, repair is usually the sensible route. On an older car with low value, an insurer may decide repairs cost more than the car is worth and treat it as a total loss.

Flooded underpasses and low streets

Viaducts and underpasses fill quickly in heavy rain, and in some suburbs the low spots are well known. In Park Forest, for example, the Orchard Drive underpass beneath the railroad floods and becomes impassable, as our Park Forest page notes. A car that stalls in water like that is in a different category from a dented one. Water in the engine, the transmission or the wiring can lead to problems that appear weeks later.

Claim, repair or sell

Situation	What usually happens
Damage is cosmetic and the car is worth fixing	Claim and repair
Insurer declares a total loss and pays out	The insurer generally takes the car; ask about keeping it if you want to
You keep a totaled car, or the damage is under your deductible	Repair it yourself, or sell it as it is
The car was flooded	Get it inspected before deciding; flood damage can surface later
You carry liability only	No payout for your own car; repair or sell

Storms have hit our area hard before. In June 2021 an EF-3 tornado damaged 225 homes in Woodridge and the suburbs around it. Woodridge’s own rules on where a damaged car may sit are on our Woodridge page.

Selling a storm-damaged car

If repairing doesn’t make sense, selling the car as it is ends the problem. We buy storm-damaged cars in any condition: crushed roofs, broken glass, flooded interiors, cars that won’t start. We tow it at no charge and pay you when it’s loaded.

Sort out the claim first, so it’s clear who owns the car. Then tell us which papers you hold; our guide to selling without a title helps if the title went missing in the chaos. Ask for an offer here. Wondering what becomes of the car afterwards? See which car parts get recycled. Junk My Car Inc buys from Oak Park to Park Forest.