'We copped it': motorists, home owners count the cost of wild hailstorm in Canberra

Panel beaters, windscreen repairers and insurers have been inundated with inquiries from motorists and home owners seeking help with smashed windscreens and windows, broken tiles and badly damaged roofs and bonnets.

Laurie Barrett of Barrett Brothers Smash Repairs said his phone "hasn't stopped ringing" since the storm hit.

"We had a hailstorm a couple of years ago but I've never seen one this bad," Mr Barrett said. "I've got cars here with broken windows, bonnets, roofs."

Among those badly hit have been car yards.

Chris Clearihan of Braddon Auto Mart said they have experienced hailstorms before, but nothing like Monday's deluge.

Mr Clearihan said all 30 vehicles in the outside lot had been damaged, including broken windows and battered bonnets.

"We copped it. I haven't seen it this bad," he said.

"I'm a pilot and I was watching it on the radar and I didn't think it would be that severe or come on so fast. There is a lot of devastation."

Insurers are fielding dozens of calls, and expect the damage bill to rapidly mount as people get a chance to assess the damage.

Insurance Council of Australia spokeswoman Lisa Kable said 3000 claims have already been lodged from the hailstorm that struck Melbourne on Sunday, and insurers were bracing for a large number of claims from Canberra.

Ms Kable said hailstorms could be extraordinarily destructive.

The storm that hit Sydney in December 2018 generated 143,000 claims worth $1.357 billion, and 90,000 of those claims were for cars alone, she said.

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Ms Kable said priority would be given to those making claims for broken windscreens and other repairs necessary to make vehicles roadworthy.

Mr Barrett warned car owners that some repairs could take months.

He said stocks of spare parts like bonnets will be quickly depleted and people will have to wait until new orders are filled by manufacturers.

Ms Kable said people in Sydney were still lodging claims from the December 2018 storm up to 10 months later.