Video shows freak hailstorm battering cars in Romania
Is it covered by insurance?
MOTORISTS in Fagaras, Romania had to watch as their cars received a battering from hailstones yesterday (Monday, May 14).
The video captured by eyewitness Neag Adrian shows the freak hailstorm pounding a residential road in the city.
Romania’s Observator.tv described streets “turning to ice” as “nature exploded”, creating “apocalyptic scenes” with lumps of ice the size of “pigeons’ eggs” (UK media often prefer to go with the “golf ball” analogy).
It said the hail destroyed cars, broke trees, and damaged the roofs of the houses. Meteorologists issued a weather warning for the area.
Watch the original video in full here:
Will insurance companies pay out if a car is damaged by hailstones?
Damage to cars from hailstone can lead to the vehicles being written off by insurers.
In 2012, the AA said it received 29 claims for damage to cars within half an hour of a freak hailstorm in Leicestershire that lasted just five to 10 minutes. Cars were dented and windows smashed.
Adrian Webb, a spokesman for esure, told The Guardian at the time: “We have had people calling saying ‘my car bonnet looks like a golf ball – it is covered in dents’.”
Webb said his underwriters ha never seen anything quite like it before, but confirmed that policyholders would receive payouts for damage resulting from the storm.
Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, said: “If your car is comprehensively insured, damage of this sort is covered by your policy, while damage to property should also be covered by buildings insurance.”
However, in what will be alarming news for anyone who sees their car as their pride and joy, rather than just a means of transport, the AA said that if all the panels of a car had been peppered by hail, it might be cheaper to replace the entire car than try to smooth out the dents – a process that could distort the roof.
Another reason to keep your prized motor garaged.
Video credit: Neag Adrian via Storyful
