Hail Claim Deadlines in Alberta

An Alberta hail claim runs on clocks set by the Insurance Act. Tell your insurer promptly and in writing, deliver your proof of loss within 90 days of the storm, and expect payment within 60 days after the insurer receives that proof. You have 2 years from the loss to sue if it ever comes to that. Until the insurer can inspect, make no repairs beyond protecting the car.

Every deadline in an Alberta hail claim

All of these come from the statutory conditions and related sections of Alberta's Insurance Act. Some bind you, some bind the insurer.

Your clocks:

• Written notice of the loss: promptly. No number of days, just "promptly", with the fullest information you have.
• Protect the car: right away, at the insurer's expense.
• Repairs: wait. Nothing beyond protective repairs until the insurer has had a reasonable chance to inspect, or consents in writing.
• Proof of loss: within 90 days after the date of the loss.
• Lawsuit: within 2 years after the loss, if it ever gets that far.

The insurer's clocks:

• Proof of loss forms: immediately when you ask, and no later than 60 days after it receives your notice.
• Choosing to repair or replace instead of paying: written notice within 7 days after it receives your proof of loss.
• Payment: within 60 days after it receives your proof of loss, or within 15 days after a dispute resolution decision.

Those dates are the whole skeleton of a claim. The sections below explain what starts each one and where people slip.

Notice: "promptly" means now

The first condition is the vaguest: give written notice of the loss promptly, with the fullest information available. There is no grace period written in days, which is exactly why you should not treat it like one.

In practice, report the claim as soon as you can after the storm, and put it in writing even if you also phone. An email that confirms the call is enough to give you a dated record. Include the storm date, where the car was parked, and the damage you can see.

Photos help. Low-angle shots with light running across the panels show dents a straight-on photo hides. Our checklist for the first 48 hours after a Calgary hailstorm covers what to capture.

Once the insurer knows, the next rule is about what you do with the car.

Protect the car, and hold off on dent repairs

Two conditions pull in different directions, and both matter.

• Protect the car from further loss. The statutory conditions say you must, at the insurer's expense. Further loss caused by failing to protect it is not recoverable. Cover a broken window. Keep the car out of the next storm if you can. Keep the receipts.
• Do not repair beyond that. No repairs other than those immediately necessary for protection, and no removing physical evidence, until the insurer has consented in writing or had a reasonable chance to inspect.

An estimate is not a repair. You can, and should, get the damage counted and priced while you wait. Just do not let anyone start working the panels before the insurer has had its look.

Then the paperwork clock starts to matter.

Proof of loss: the 90-day clock

The proof of loss is a statutory declaration, a sworn statement of your claim. You must deliver it within 90 days after the date of the loss.

The insurer has to give you the forms immediately when you ask, and no later than 60 days after it receives your notice. Here is the trap in those two numbers: if you report on storm day and wait for the form to arrive on its own, it can show up on day 60, with two-thirds of your 90 days gone.

So ask for the proof of loss form when you report the claim. Fill it in carefully. Keep a copy. The insurer's clocks run from the date it receives your proof of loss, so use a delivery method that shows when it arrived, or ask the insurer to confirm the receipt date.

The insurer's clocks: 7 days and 60 days

Once your proof of loss is in, two things run in parallel:

• 7 days to choose repair or replacement. The insurer may repair, rebuild or replace the car instead of paying, but only if it gives you written notice of that within 7 days after receiving your proof of loss.
• 60 days to pay. The insurer must pay within 60 days after receiving your proof of loss. If the amount went through dispute resolution, it must pay within 15 days after the decision.

You cannot sue until you have complied with the relevant statutory conditions (notice and proof of loss among them) and the amount of the loss has been worked out. That is one more reason the proof of loss is the most important date in the file.

If you disagree: dispute resolution has clocks too

If you and the insurer disagree about the extent of the repairs, whether they are adequate, or the amount of the loss, the Insurance Act sends it to a dispute resolution process. It is only available after you have made a written demand and delivered your proof of loss.

The timeline is short: within 7 days of the demand, each side appoints a representative, and within 15 days after that, the two representatives appoint an umpire. A written decision agreed by any two of the three settles it. The full step-by-step, including costs and when it is worth it, is in our guide to pushing back on a hail write-off.

For complaints about how a claim was handled, the route runs through your insurer's final position, then the General Insurance OmbudService (GIO), which mediates but does not formally settle claims.

The outer limit: 2 years

Under section 558 of the Insurance Act, an action against an insurer for loss of or damage to a car must be started no later than 2 years after the loss.

If you find an older copy of Alberta's standard auto policy online that says one year, it is out of date. The current Act says two. That said, a claim that is anywhere near this deadline has usually gone wrong much earlier. The clocks above are the ones that decide most claims.

A calendar to keep

Write these on one page and keep it with your claim number:

1. Storm day: photos, protect the car, written notice. Ask for the proof of loss form.
2. Before any dent repair: the insurer inspects, or consents in writing.
3. By day 90 from the storm: proof of loss delivered. Get the date the insurer received it.
4. Within 7 days of receipt: any written notice that the insurer will repair or replace instead of paying.
5. Within 60 days of receipt: payment.
6. 2 years from the storm: the outer limit to sue.

How each step of the claim itself works is in our guide to how an Alberta hail insurance claim works.

Your next step: get the damage counted while the clocks run

Waiting on the insurer is the right time to get your own count of the damage, because an estimate is not a repair. Book a free 30-minute scan at the shop, Unit 5, 5915 40 St SE, Calgary, or send a few photos taken at a low angle with light running across the panels. You will have a panel-by-panel picture of the damage before the adjuster's number lands.