Company processing hundreds of hail insurance claims

One Canadian insurance company says it could be dealing with up to 1,500 vehicle insurance claims in Ottawa after hail pelted the region during last week's powerful thunderstorms.

Lorne Firman of Aviva Canada, normally based in Toronto, said a crew of about four people will be set up in Ottawa for two weeks to deal with the claims — on average, about 15 to 20 vehicles per day.

So far the average cost of the claims in Ottawa works out to about $5,500, the "moderate" middle of the damage spectrum, Firman said.

In western Canada, Firman said, damage from hail is often more severe. During one storm in Fort McMurray, for example, Firman said softball-sized hail fell throughout the town, tearing siding off homes. Every vehicle he looked at was a write-off, Firman said.

"In general this is a pretty typical hail storm from what we see," Firman said. "Ottawa doesn't normally get hail, this is the first time for me in this area to do hail."

Aviva works with Dent Wizard, a company based in the U.S. that provides paintless dent repair.

"Business has been booming," said Mark Brown, an employee from New Hampshire who travelled to Ottawa to help Aviva process claims after last week's storms.

"All over the country, all over the world, there's been a giant amount of hail storms this year, and we're one of the largest vendors for paintless dent repair in the world," Brown said.

Repairs generally cost anywhere from $500 to $8,000, Brown said, adding that a few vehicles in Ottawa sustained $12,000 to $14,000 in damage.

Brown said storm seasons are becoming more and more intense.

"The climate appears to be changing, it appears that it's becoming more severe every year. It's better for business, but we don't like to see the cars damaged as badly as they are," Brown said. "It's disheartening to see a beautiful vehicle like this with all of this damage on it. The Porsche Audi dealership in downtown, every one of his vehicles got damaged, and it's just sad to see that kind of damage on beautiful, brand-new cars."

Firman said Aviva is covering the entire cost of hail damage to vehicles in Ottawa, as long as it's repairable.