NORTH HAVEN, CT (WFSB) – Fast-moving storms Monday afternoon brought golf ball-sized hail to parts of Connecticut.
This now means big business for local auto repair shops as they have to deal with all the dents and damage.
North Haven Autobody began receiving calls Tuesday morning, and they aren’t the only ones expecting a response from customers in the coming days.
“The dents are really small, there are about 12 of them on the hood. Unfortunately, you can’t see them on the camera in white because white is the hardest color to see them on,” said Bob McSherry of North Haven Autobody.
He has been doing this for a long time and the damage is not a problem for him.
“We have dents in the fender, one on top of the roof pillar, two on top of the quarter panel and the trunk has about six dents,” he continued.
The damage caused by hail can vary.
“It can be mainly very small dents, or as in the case of golf ball hail, the roof pillars can be damaged, windows can break and in some cases, panel replacement is required. It depends on the size of the hail,” McSherry said.
At TJ’s Autobody up in Wallingford, the situation remained the same.
“I was in my office and heard something hit the roof really loudly. Then suddenly it started to rain down really hard,” said shop owner Thomas Stowik.
He says he knew it was only a matter of time before the calls started pouring in.
“Usually after a storm, they come through a day or two later, after people have checked their cars and heard from their insurance companies. That’s when we start getting business from the insurance companies for hail damage,” he continued.
Back in North Haven: Insurance companies are already awarding compensation claims for some.
“The idea here is to see if anything is accessible to remove paintless dents. That is the repair of choice if possible. If you can leave the factory paint intact, you should try that,” McSherry continued.
He says that depending on the extent of the damage to the cars, it could take a few days or even a few weeks for the work to be completed.
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