The thought of being without a vehicle, even for a day can hit us hard, especially if our employment depends on it. Lynette MacCormack is a care officer in the disability services. Her 2016 White Mitsubishi ASX SUV was parked in the driveway at home when suddenly the clouds turned dark grey and the air became distinctly chilly. The feeling of helplessness set in as it was too late to move her car out of harm’s way.
“The hailstorm came from nowhere,” Lynette said. “The hailstones were like baseballs. It was incredibly hard to believe it was happening. When the hail came down, it was like rocks hitting the roof of the house, deafening, and the car was pelted. I couldn’t do anything. I thought it was risky to go out, as the hail could have hurt me.”
The body of the car couldn’t escape being dented.
“I live on the Gold Coast, working in Loganlea. To consider even being without my vehicle was a nightmare and sent me into a panic mode of how am I going to get to work?,” Lynette recalled. “As a residential care officer in disability services, my vehicle is crucial to my employment as others rely on me to help get them through their day.”
RACQ vehicle insurance ensured a smooth repairs procedure from start to finish, putting Lynette in contact with Platinum Hail Management Solutions (PHMS) to have a damage assessment carried out.
“I had to take my car to the assessment centre in Loganholme and was given a booking date to return for the damage to be repaired,” she said. “I realised it wasn’t just me as hundreds of cars were damaged in the storm. I thought the process to get so many cars ascertained was impressive.”
Lynette continued, “I returned a month later with my vehicle, leaving it at the assessment centre. I was driven to the Europcar rental service which took away the stress and transportation issues. I did not need to panic. It was a smooth transition from dropping my car off to being delivered to Europcar to collect the rental.”
Lynette’s Mitsubishi ASX needed extensive work to the passenger fender, roof, side panels from front to back, as well as other scattered dents.
PHMS not only impressed Lynette by returning the car looking as good as new again, staff also understood her work situation and kept in contact by phone.
“The quality of the panel work and paint job is fabulous – very pleased, indeed,” she said.
“Arlene (in the office) kept me informed and up to date. I was concerned I would be paying a huge rental car bill which did not happen as PHMS understood the financial hardship it was going to cause. I highly recommend PHMS for all hailstone repairs”.