An air carrier crew encountered hail while deviating to avoid a buildup on an ATL arrival at 13;000 FT and sustained damage to the nose cone; APU inlet and several engine compressor blades.

Narrative

About 50 miles out on arrival [to ATL; we] noticed some buildups on our route. ATL approved left deviation for the weather so we did and still hit some of hail from the buildup for about 30 seconds at 13;000 FT. The plane was damaged by hail mostly on nose area; APU inlet; and some of engine blades. After parking at the gate; our crew left the aircraft knowing another crew was taking over the aircraft without performing post-flight. I; as First Officer; should have done post-flight instead of relying on other crew's doing a pre-flight and notify the company about the damage. Referring to the Flight Operations Manual under Post-Flight Inspection Section it states that 'In an effort to enhance both safety and efficiency; a post-flight inspection is required unless directly handing over the aircraft to the next assigned crew. Either pilot may complete the post-flight inspection.' Even though [I was within] our Company's policy; I still feel that I should have done the post-flight instead of relying on next assigned crew.