Hail Damage Glass

Hail is the reason this trade has a season in Oklahoma. It arrives in spring, it arrives fast, and it usually damages more than the glass.

Why this happens here more than most places

Oklahoma ranks third in the country for hail-related automotive claim frequency, at 18.4 measured across 2008 to 2014. That is not a regional quirk, it is one of the highest rates in the United States.

The season is sharp rather than spread out. In the Tulsa area, April carries a 64 percent monthly chance of hail and May 57 percent, measured across nearly fifty years of records. There have been 169 hail reports within ten miles of Tulsa since 2004.

What that means practically is that this work clusters. A cell tracks across the metro on a Tuesday evening and by Wednesday morning the same three neighbourhoods are all calling. If you are reading this the morning after, you are not alone and the queue is real.

Hail damage to glass is different from a rock chip

A stone off a truck gives you one break in one place. Hail gives you a scatter.

That changes the answer to the repair question. Resin repair works on a single break at a time, and it is genuinely good at it. Once a windshield carries more than roughly three separate pits, repairing each one stops making economic sense and starts producing a windshield with several faint marks in it.

There is a second problem that people underestimate until they drive at night. Pitting scatters light. A windshield with a dozen small hail marks throws halos around oncoming headlights and turns low winter sun into glare. A repair restores strength. It does not restore optical clarity across a pitted face.

So most hail windshields are replacements, and we will tell you which one yours is by looking rather than by guessing from a photo.

Put it on one claim

This is the piece of advice worth the most money on this page.

Glass damage and sheet metal damage both fall under comprehensive coverage. Not collision. That means a hail event that dented your roof and cracked your windshield is one claim, one event and one deductible.

People routinely handle the body damage through insurance and then deal with the windshield separately weeks later, and discover they are into a second deductible for the same storm.

Tell the adjuster about the glass during the first inspection. If the windshield is on the estimate, it is covered by the same deductible you were already paying.

The Oklahoma insurance answer

You will find auto glass sites serving Tulsa claiming that Oklahoma law bans insurers from charging a deductible on glass, usually citing statute 36 O.S. 3636.

That statute is Oklahoma’s uninsured motorist coverage law. Its subject heading is “Uninsured motorist coverage.” It concerns bodily injury limits and stacking. It says nothing about glass, windshields or deductibles.

Oklahoma is not a free-windshield state. A handful are, notably Florida, Kentucky and South Carolina. Here, comprehensive pays and your deductible applies unless you specifically bought a full-glass endorsement.

We would rather you hear that from us before you file than from your carrier after.

Move quickly, for a practical reason

After a significant cell, supply tightens fast in this metro. Glass for common vehicles goes on backorder, body shops book out weeks, and mobile calendars fill.

None of that is dramatic and none of it is a scare tactic. It is just how a regional weather event moves through a supply chain. The people who call in the first few days get seen in the first few days.

If your windshield is cracked rather than only pitted, there is a second reason not to wait. Cracks run when the glass flexes and when temperature swings, and an Oklahoma spring gives you both in the same week.

What it costs

The range on this page is wide, from about $250 to $1,500, because hail does not care what you drive.

A plain windshield on an older vehicle with no camera sits at the bottom. A newer vehicle needing manufacturer glass, a heated wiper park area and both static and dynamic camera recalibration sits at the top. Most 2018-or-newer vehicles land somewhere in the middle, around $450 to $900.

If your car has a forward-facing camera behind the mirror, recalibration is part of the job rather than a second appointment. On a hail claim that matters, because you want the whole number in front of the adjuster once, not in two pieces.

What we will tell you honestly

If it is only a couple of pits and they are outside your sightline, you may not need anything done at all. Small marks low on the passenger side that are not spreading are cosmetic.

If the pits are few and repairable, we would rather do two resin repairs than sell you a windshield.

If your deductible eats the whole thing and nothing else was damaged, do not file. Pay for it or leave it, but do not put a comprehensive claim on your record for no benefit.

What matters for this in Broken Arrow

• Oklahoma ranks third among US states for hail-related automotive claim frequency, at a frequency of 18.4 measured across the period 2008 to 2014.
• Tulsa area hail is concentrated in spring, with a 64 percent monthly chance in April and 57 percent in May measured across 1950 to 1997, and there have been 169 hail reports within ten miles of Tulsa city centre since 2004.
• Glass damage is covered under comprehensive rather than collision, which is the same coverage that pays for hail damage to the roof, hood and panels, so windshield and bodywork usually sit on one claim.
• Oklahoma has no statute requiring insurers to waive a deductible on glass. 36 O.S. 3636, cited by several Tulsa auto glass sites as a free-windshield law, is Oklahoma's uninsured motorist coverage statute and does not mention glass.

Common questions