It only took 15 minutes of carnage during January's devastating hail storm to damage tens of thousands of cars.
But the mop-up has taken much longer.
According to ACT government figures, the freak storm damaged 44,500 territory-registered vehicles.
More than 7000 of these vehicles were not insured.
Business and Better Regulation Minister Tara Cheyne said the work of the government's hail assistance team, set up to help Canberra drivers impacted by the storm, was now complete.
It provided $507,000 in rebates to Canberrans whose vehicles were caught in the storm.
"The 15-minute hailstorm event caused unparalleled damage and came at a time when Canberrans were already trying to cope with the flow-on effects of the bushfires in the ACT and surrounding NSW," Ms Cheyne said.
The assistance team at Access Canberra processed 7607 rebates through the program, refunding fees and charges for inspecting damaged vehicles and registering replacement vehicles.
"An estimated 7500 vehicles damaged in the storm were not insured, placing huge financial pressure on many families having to replace their vehicles out of their own pocket," Ms Cheyne said.
"These rebates aimed to reduce the extra costs usually associated with purchasing a new car."
The storm placed strain on Access Canberra, with new methods needed to improve transaction processing times after demand for some services increased by 128 per cent.
"Also, due to the workload created by the hailstorm damage, Access Canberra's Vehicle Safety Standards team inspected 1500 vehicles - either affected by the hail damage or replaced due to the hail damage - at the Hume Motor Vehicle Inspection Station," Ms Cheyne said.
"These inspections ensured safe vehicles were returning to our roads."
