Hail damage on your garage door: repair, replace or claim

A shallow hail dent on a garage door that still runs smoothly is usually a simpler fix than creased panels, bent tracks or a door that jams, and either way you should photograph the damage, leave the door alone and contact your insurer as soon as possible.

A hail dent on a garage door can be two very different problems. If the door still opens and closes smoothly, a shallow dent is usually the simpler fix. If a panel is creased or cracked, a track is bent or the door jams, the job is bigger. AAMI notes that structural damage may require replacing entire sections, panels, or even the whole door. Either way, the first three moves are the same: photograph the damage, don't force the door, and contact your insurer as soon as possible to lodge a claim.

The season is also young. In NSW, storm season falls between September and April, and the Bureau of Meteorology says most severe thunderstorms happen between September and March. Lay the two side by side and, by our count, seven of the season's eight months are peak months for severe storms. From where we sit in October, the rest of this month and all of November to March are still ahead.

How much of storm season is still ahead?

The season opened loudly. In its 3 October operational update, the NSW SES said it had received more than 100 calls for assistance on Saturday, and it warned that storms could bring "large hail". Those warnings named Greater Sydney, the Central Tablelands, the South Coast and the Central West, not Lake Macquarie. The SES is clear, though, that major storms can happen at any time of the year.

Before a storm, the SES says to shelter vehicles under cover. For a lot of homes that means the garage, so a door that sticks is a problem on exactly the day you need it. Our storm season checks take about ten minutes.

What to do first after hail

1. Safety first. In a life-threatening emergency, call Triple Zero (000), and for storm help call the NSW SES on 132 500.
2. Record everything before anything moves. Take photos and video of the panels from close and from the street, then the frame, the tracks, the opener and the inside of the garage. If you can, photograph a hailstone beside a tape measure before it melts.
3. Don't force the door. A bent track or creased panel can make a door unsafe to run. An opener straining against a jammed door can make the damage worse. If it won't move freely, leave it where it is. Our guide on what's safe to DIY explains why.
4. Call your insurer. The SES advice is to contact your insurer as soon as possible. Ask what it needs from you before any repair starts.
5. Keep receipts. That includes a tarp, a temporary fix or anything else you pay for.

While you're outside, walk the rest of the garage. The SES recovery advice is to check for damage to windows, walls and roof and to be especially cautious of potential contaminants including asbestos. For wider recovery help, Service NSW is on 13 77 88.

What size hail does damage?

The Bureau has firm lines here. A thunderstorm counts as severe if it produces large hail (2 cm or more in diameter), damaging gusts of 90 km/h or more, tornadoes, or heavy rain that may cause flash flooding.

Hailstones themselves range from 5 mm to more than 100 mm, and most are smaller than 25 mm. The Bureau says damage from hailstones larger than 20 mm may include vehicle damage, and giant hail, over 50 mm, causes widespread damage.

Our rule of thumb: if the hail was big enough to mark a car, walk out and look at the door too.

Repair or replace a dented garage door?

1. Panels, outside face
2. Frame and jambs
3. Vertical and horizontal tracks
4. Rollers and hinges at the panel joints
5. Opener and rail, inside
6. Inside face of the panels

AAMI puts it plainly: "Minor issues, such as small dents, are usually simpler to fix." Serious problems are another matter. Structural damage may require replacing entire sections, panels, or even the whole door.

At Garage Doors Lake Macquarie we'd judge the door by how it moves, not how it looks. A shallow dent on a door that runs quietly and seals at the bottom is mostly a cosmetic question, and a claim decision. A crease, a crack, a bowed joint, a kinked track or a door that binds is a working problem, and it needs a technician's eyes. A dent that looks harmless from the driveway can sit in front of a bent strut or track you can only see from inside.

If your door was already on its last legs, read fix or replace an old tilt door. If a new door is on the cards, see new garage doors, and for everything short of that, garage door repairs.

Does home insurance cover garage door hail damage?

It depends on your policy, and only your PDS and your insurer can answer it for your door. One insurer's page shows how cover is commonly framed. AAMI says garages and garage doors are covered for loss or damage from insured events, including storms (including hail), with exclusions and limits, and the specifics depend on the policy and the cause of damage.

The key distinction is storm versus age. AAMI says "Sudden damage caused by insured events, including weather events and impact, isn't considered wear, tear and deterioration." The same page lists rust, weathering and worn springs as usually excluded. If your door was already showing salt-air rust, the insurer may look at which damage came from the storm and which was there before. Our guide to salt, humidity and door lifespan covers that slow kind of damage.

Timing matters on new policies too. AAMI doesn't insure storm damage in the first 72 hours of a new policy, with very limited exceptions. Other insurers set their own terms, which is why the PDS comes first.

Whether a purely cosmetic dent is covered is a question for your insurer. Ask it directly, and ask what it needs before repairs start.

Who should repair it after a storm?

After natural disasters, Service NSW warns that fraudsters may pose as tradespeople. Before you engage anyone, its advice is to check their licence, ask for references and examples of previous work, read the contract for what is and isn't included, and confirm whether subcontractors will be involved.

A storm doesn't relax the rules: NSW Government says there are no exemptions from the licensing provisions for emergency work.

These are the general NSW rules for residential building work, from the same NSW Government page:

• A licence or authority is needed for residential building work above a value threshold set under the Home Building Act, counting labour and materials.
• Specialist work, such as electrical, needs a licence regardless of value. New wiring for an opener is electrical work.
• A written contract is normally required above that same threshold, though a genuine emergency can excuse it temporarily.
• A deposit can't exceed 10% of the contract price.
• Home building compensation cover is needed above a higher threshold, so larger jobs carry it.

Anyone pushing for more, or pressing you to sign on the spot, is a reason to slow down.

How do you stay safe around a storm-damaged door?

A garage door is a heavy object held in balance by springs under tension. When hail or wind knocks it out of true, that balance can go. Stand clear of a door hanging crooked, keep fingers out of panel joints, and never try to adjust or release springs yourself.

Storms can also cut the power. If your opener is dead, our guide to openers in power outages explains the manual release and when not to use it.

If a line is down in the street or over the driveway, the SES rule is simple: always assume fallen powerlines are live and stay at least 8 metres (2 car lengths) away.

Which storm numbers matter for your garage door?

Seven figures cover most of what you need after a hail storm. The first three describe the weather: large hail is 2 cm or more, giant hail is 5 cm or more, and damaging gusts are 90 km/h or more. One keeps you safe: 8 metres from fallen powerlines. The last three protect you when you hire someone: the licence and contract threshold, the 10% deposit cap and the home building compensation threshold.

Getting a hail-hit door checked

If hail has marked your door, or it hasn't run right since the storm, the next step is to get it looked at before anyone starts pulling panels off. Tell Garage Doors Lake Macquarie what happened through our enquiry page, and add your clearest photo and a line on how the door is behaving. If your door came through untouched, use the quiet weeks to run our storm season checks before the next warning.