Do I have to report hail damage to the police?

No. Hail is not a police matter, and asking for a report is the most common wasted trip after a storm. What you need instead is a meteorological confirmation for the date and location, plus a written note from the campsite if the site issues one.

Can I keep using the caravan and drive home?

Usually yes, provided the roof, skylights and vents still close and no water is entering, and provided the glass is intact. Check and photograph exactly those points before setting off. Driving on with a broken roof skin is what turns a hail claim into a moisture claim.

Hail on an Adriatic campsite: the first 24 hours

A hailstorm on the Adriatic lasts minutes and produces a thousand nearly identical claims from one campsite. Yours will be read alongside the others, so the difference is made in the first day — not by acting fast, but by collecting two pieces of paper that stop being obtainable the moment you drive away.

While the site is still wet: photograph

Start before anything is cleaned or moved. Photograph the whole vehicle from four sides, then each horizontal surface separately: roof, bonnet, boot lid, and on a caravan the skylights, vents, air-conditioning housing and awning rail. Hail damage is a pattern, and the pattern is the evidence.

Include the surroundings in at least two frames. A pitch marker, the site name on a board, hailstones on the ground or in a bowl beside the car — these are what tie the damage to a place and a moment.

Do not climb on the roof of a caravan to get a better angle. Most are not designed to carry a person, and what you create up there has to be separated from the hail afterwards. Use a step ladder or the neighbouring pitch.

The same day: two documents

A written note from reception: the date, the time of the storm and the pitches affected. Many Adriatic sites issue one as a matter of course after a storm — ask before the queue forms.
A meteorological confirmation for the location and the date, issued by the national meteorological service. This is the document that turns your account into evidence.

Neither of these is a police matter. Hail is not reported to the police, and asking for a police report instead is the most common wasted trip after a storm.

Note the exact address of the pitch, not just the name of the site. Large campsites cover several kilometres and their weather is not identical from one end to the other.

Then check three things before you drive anywhere

Glass, first. A cracked windscreen in the swept field is a replacement, not a repair, and it decides whether the vehicle should be driven at all.

The roof of a caravan or motorhome, second. If the outer skin is broken, water is already working on the layer beneath, and a temporary seal for the journey home is worth more than any photograph. Document the seal too.

Everything else, third — and almost always it can wait. Dents on painted panels do not get worse on the drive home, which is why an inspection after your return is perfectly sound as long as nothing has been repaired or repainted in the meantime.

What we can tell you the same day

Send the photographs over WhatsApp. The preliminary assessment is free and normally comes back within hours: whether the damage warrants a full report, what is still missing from your documentation, and whether the vehicle is fit for the road home.

If a full inspection is needed while you are still in Croatia, it takes place on the pitch. If it can wait, it happens after your return. MOTOEXPERT documents and values damage; we do not settle the claim with your insurer on your behalf and we do not interpret your policy terms.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to report hail damage to the police?: No. Hail is not a police matter, and asking for a report is the most common wasted trip after a storm. What you need instead is a meteorological confirmation for the date and location, plus a written note from the campsite if the site issues one.
Can I keep using the caravan and drive home?: Usually yes, provided the roof, skylights and vents still close and no water is entering, and provided the glass is intact. Check and photograph exactly those points before setting off. Driving on with a broken roof skin is what turns a hail claim into a moisture claim.
Is it a problem if the inspection happens after I get home?: Not for hail. Dents on painted panels do not change on the journey, so an inspection at home is sound as long as nothing has been repaired or repainted in the meantime. Damage affecting roadworthiness is the exception and should be looked at before you drive.