The NYT Is Right: Hail Is Becoming More Expensive. But They're Missing the Most Important Question.

When The New York Times recently highlighted the soaring cost of hail damage across the United States, it confirmed what insurers, property owners, and many businesses have been experiencing firsthand: hail is no longer an occasional inconvenience. It has become one of the fastest-growing drivers of insured losses. (Source: New York Times)

The article explores why hailstorms are becoming more costly—from larger hailstones to increased development and higher property values. Those are important trends, and they deserve attention.

But there's another question that deserves equal attention:

What should businesses do about it?

For many organizations, hail is still treated as an unavoidable act of nature—something to insure against and recover from after the storm passes. Increasingly, that's an outdated way of thinking.

Today's businesses should be asking a different question:

How do we reduce our hail risk before the next storm arrives?

Hail Has Become a Business Risk—Not Just a Weather Event

Most organizations have comprehensive plans for risks such as:

• Fire
• Cybersecurity
• Workplace safety
• Flooding
• Supply chain disruptions

These aren't simply insured—they're actively managed. Hail often isn't. Instead, many companies rely almost entirely on insurance and hope they aren't in the path of the next severe storm.

That strategy made sense when hail losses were relatively infrequent and inexpensive. Today's environment looks very different. Severe convective storms—including hail—have generated more than $50 billion in insured losses for three consecutive years (2022-2025), making them the costliest category of natural catastrophe losses in the United States. (Source: Insurance Information Institute)

At the same time, NOAA reports that the number of billion-dollar weather disasters has accelerated dramatically, rising from an average of 9 events per year over the long term to 23 per year over the past five years. As losses continue to climb, insurers are placing greater emphasis on catastrophe exposure and proactive risk management during the underwriting process.

The Hidden Costs Hail Insurance Doesn't Eliminate

When people hear that a business suffered a $2 million hail loss, it's easy to assume insurance makes the company whole.

In reality, the insured loss is often only part of the financial impact.

Businesses may also face:

• Large deductibles
• Increased insurance premiums at renewal
• Operational downtime
• Delayed customer deliveries
• Employee overtime
• Administrative time managing claims
• Inventory disruption
• Reduced resale value of damaged assets
• Financing costs while waiting for repairs

For many organizations, these indirect costs can rival—or even exceed—the physical damage itself.

That changes the financial conversation.

The question is no longer:

"Will insurance cover us?"

Instead it becomes:

"What is the total cost of experiencing a hail event?"

Why Hail Losses Keep Rising

The increase in hail losses isn't driven by just one factor.

It's the combination of several long-term trends.

We Have More Valuable Assets Outdoors

• Auto dealerships.
• Fleet operators.
• Manufacturing facilities.
• Distribution centers.
• Solar farms.
• Equipment yards.
• Construction sites.

Businesses today simply have more high-value assets exposed to the elements than ever before.

Those Assets Are More Expensive to Repair

Modern vehicles aren't just sheet metal.

They're packed with:

• Cameras
• Sensors
• ADAS systems
• Panoramic glass
• Advanced electronics

A storm that once produced cosmetic dents can now result in significantly higher repair costs. The same trend extends across commercial equipment and industrial facilities.

Insurance Is Changing

As losses increase, insurers are responding.

Businesses across many industries are seeing:

• Higher deductibles
• More restrictive coverage
• Increased underwriting scrutiny
• Greater emphasis on loss prevention
• Larger premium increases following claims

One dealer that recently spoke with Hail No saw their open lot insurance coverage increase 32% from 2025 to 2026. It’s not just the premium that is increasing, the deductibles are escalating as well. Many dealers now have $2,500 or more per vehicle deductibles for each occurrence. With inventories nearing pre-pandemic levels, that could mean hundreds of thousands of out of pocket expenses before insurance kicks in. 

Insurance remains an essential financial tool—but it is increasingly rewarding businesses that actively reduce their exposure.

The New Way to Think About Hail Risk

Historically, businesses thought about hail like this:

Likelihood × Damage

Today, the equation is more complex.

Likelihood × Damage × Business Interruption × Insurance Consequences = Total Risk

That broader view helps explain why two companies with identical physical damage may experience dramatically different financial outcomes.

Questions Every Business Should Be Asking

Whether you manage a dealership, fleet, manufacturing campus, or commercial property portfolio, these are conversations worth having before storm season:

• How much inventory is exposed outdoors?
• What would one significant hailstorm cost beyond insurance?
• How would a major claim affect next year's renewal?
• How quickly could damaged assets be repaired or replaced?
• What is our maximum one-day exposure?
• Which assets are most critical to protect?
• Have we evaluated the return on investing in mitigation versus paying repeated losses?

For many businesses, these questions reveal opportunities that hadn't previously been considered.

Prevention Is Becoming a Financial Decision

Historically, companies viewed hail protection as a facilities project. Increasingly, it's becoming a financial decision.

When organizations evaluate:

• Total cost of ownership
• Insurance economics
• Business continuity
• Operational resilience

the conversation shifts from recovering after storms to reducing the likelihood and impact of losses in the first place.

That's the same evolution we've seen with cybersecurity, fire suppression, and flood mitigation over the past two decades.Hail is beginning to follow the same path.

What We're Seeing at Hail No

Every storm tells the same story. Businesses aren't just repairing damage—they're asking how to avoid going through the process again.

One of our clients was able to renegotiate their premiums and save nearly 30% after they installed a Hail No protection system. 

Typical reductions are between 20%-40% for our clients. We encourage you to start a conversation with your insurance carrier to see what they may offer. Just like you, they are trying to mitigate the risks of increasingly destructive storms. 

These experiences reinforce a simple idea:

Protecting assets before a storm is often less expensive than repeatedly recovering after one.

Looking Ahead

The New York Times is right to call attention to the growing financial impact of hail. The next conversation, however, shouldn't just be about why losses are increasing. It should be about how businesses adapt.

The organizations that treat hail as a manageable business risk—not simply an unpredictable weather event—will be better positioned to reduce losses, stabilize insurance costs, and keep operations running when severe weather strikes.

The weather may be outside your control. Your exposure doesn't have to be.

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If you're evaluating your organization's hail exposure, these resources may also be helpful:

• Commercial Hail Protection ROI Calculator
• Case Study: How One Dealership Reduced Long-Term Hail Risk