Chipped windscreen

[NotAGolf]

I got a chip on my windscreen the other day. I'm insured with esure and I got in contact with them about it. They said to phone Autoglass and get it repaired (if possible) using the gel method (can't remember the proper name!).

Esure said they will cover the cost as part of my cover and it wont affect my no claims bonus.

This sounds good, but I'm concerned that when I come to renew my insurance, don't companies ask if you've made any claims of any type in the last X months? Would this count as a claim, and if so any ideas what kind of affect it would have on the premium?

 

[Dav4]

Yes u have to declare it as a claim for 5yrs the same way u would if it was a crash etc. and come renewal time or with some companies it Will hike your quotes up. I cracked my windscreen a few months back and having asked around paid £100 out my own pocket to get a replacement screen as its not worth having it on your record. The guy who fitted it explained that most people don't realise it can affect your premiums and that most places charge more when people claim off the insurance so your company are going to want there money back one way or another.

 

[Frozennova]

Yes u have to declare it as a claim for 5yrs the same way u would if it was a crash etc. and come renewal time or with some companies it Will hike your quotes up. I cracked my windscreen a few months back and having asked around paid £100 out my own pocket to get a replacement screen as its not worth having it on your record. The guy who fitted it explained that most people don't realise it can affect your premiums and that most places charge more when people claim off the insurance so your company are going to want there money back one way or another.

Glass claims have no bearing or impact on either renewal prices other than for customers of the AXA group who freeze your no claims for a year.

 

[Dav4]

Glass claims have no bearing or impact on either renewal prices other than for customers of the AXA group who freeze your no claims for a year.

Yeh I heard the likes of swift cover etc take your years no claims off u for the windscreen replacement. I'm only going off what I was told by 3 separate windscreen companies one of which is used by a lot of insurers, so I decided to pay myself rather than go through them. I was told especially on compare sites that anything in the claims section can have an effect on the quotes with certain picky insurers.
If I was op I would just get Gavin and his super resin out and pay for it myself.

 

[Frozennova]

Yeh I heard the likes of swift cover etc take your years no claims off u for the windscreen replacement. I'm only going off what I was told by 3 separate windscreen companies one of which is used by a lot of insurers, so I decided to pay myself rather than go through them. I was told especially on compare sites that anything in the claims section can have an effect on the quotes with certain picky insurers.
If I was op I would just get Gavin and his super resin out and pay for it myself.

They don't take no claims off, you just don't accrue another year which for most people won't be an issue.

The smaller companies probably told you that to get the work, they can't compete with insurance on price so they have to beat them another way.

A repair at Autoglass without using insurance is just shy of £80 when there are no insurance companies involved

 

[Phemo]

Or you can get one of the RainX Windscreen Repair kits for £7 or so and have a go at it yourself. I've used these kits to fix lots of chips on numerous cars and it does a surprisingly good job. Most of them you can't see anymore and I've even used it on larger ones - about the size of a £1 coin and it's reduced the appearance dramatically.

 

[NotAGolf]

Glass claims have no bearing or impact on either renewal prices other than for customers of the AXA group who freeze your no claims for a year.

How do they know it's a glass claim? If you answer 'Yes' to the 'Have you made any claims in the last X years', does it ask you to elaborate further and explain it was a chip in your glass?

Knowing insurance companies, I'd assume that if you answer 'yes' to that question, even if it was a small chip, the resulting quote would be higher than if you answered 'no', and that's what I'm worried about.

 

[iaind]

How do they know it's a glass claim? If you answer 'Yes' to the 'Have you made any claims in the last X years', does it ask you to elaborate further and explain it was a chip in your glass?

Knowing insurance companies, I'd assume that if you answer 'yes' to that question, even if it was a small chip, the resulting quote would be higher than if you answered 'no', and that's what I'm worried about.

If you answer yes, you have to provide full details of claims - dates, type of claim, value, fault etc

 

[Frozennova]

If you answer yes, you have to provide full details of claims - dates, type of claim, value, fault etc

To expand on this, for a windscreen claim there is nobody at fault in the typical sense and I'm yet to do an insurance job where the customer knows the actual value of claim as most people actually ask what sort of price it would have been if they hadn't claimed through the insurance compnay

 

[iaind]

To expand on this, for a windscreen claim there is nobody at fault in the typical sense and I'm yet to do an insurance job where the customer knows the actual value of claim as most people actually ask what sort of price it would have been if they hadn't claimed through the insurance compnay

Yeah most times I've done quotes if you select windscreen you just have to add the date. I've never found it makes a difference to the quote either, but you need to declare it

 

[Blackhawk47]

I've had a few windsreen replacements (doubt the repair would affect much). Not really noticed a hike in prices other than the usual insurance premium but it is listed on your insurance docs as a claim of £x amount but hasn't affected my ncb.

Thats with admiral.

 

[mattyfez]

I've never needed to declare windscreen chip repair at renewal, the two times I've done it I've simply contacted auto glass or the likes directly, and after proving my insurance to them they've sorted it out with my insurers directly at no cost to me and my insurers have not listed it as a claim so my NCB is intact.

Windscreen chip repair is one of the few things the insurance industry does well.

OP: don't worry, call autoglass, get it sorted and forget about it.

With windscreen REPLACEMENT there's usually an excess to pay which I would presume would go through the normal claim process, but for a simply chip repair its generally 'free' to you and doesn't affect your NCB.

 

[NotAGolf]

Thanks very much for all the advice guys. Will get in contact with Autoglass ASAP

 

[Iamzod]

With windscreen REPLACEMENT there's usually an excess to pay which I would presume would go through the normal claim process, but for a simply chip repair its generally 'free' to you and doesn't affect your NCB.

Even a replacement shouldn't have much effect with most companies, it just costs a bit more due to the excess usually being about £75, it's still just a windscreen claim.

 

[Antony101]

I just had my windscreen replaced by Autoglass as I had a chip/crack in the top of the glass and it couldn't be repaired.

Got a free upgrade to acoustic glass and a sunstrip along the top too as it's all they had in.

 

[Dav4]

Got a free upgrade to acoustic glass and a sunstrip along the top too as it's all they had in.

Oh that was nice of them gotta love the old "that's all we have in stock" trick works a treat so they can bill your insurers 3x more than the job should have cost all adding to premiums rising.
I paid £100 for my windscreen because I would have had to pay £75 excess anyway but then declare it for the next 5yrs.

 

[Antony101]

Oh that was nice of them gotta love the old "that's all we have in stock" trick works a treat so they can bill your insurers 3x more than the job should have cost.
I paid £100 for my windscreen because I would have had to pay £75 excess anyway but then declare it for the next 5yrs.

I couldn't care less, I get an upgrade, and I'm on fleet insurance so it costs me nothing, and I don't get any NCB anyway. As above, declaring it isn't likely to cost me much more if anything.

 

[Phantom Shadow]

I've had my windscreen repaired and never declared it, even after switching insurer. I did have my new insurer check some discrepancies with a claim for a named driver but they never mentioned windscreen so I can only assume windscreen claims (at least the chip repairs) don't get logged on the database.

 

[Frozennova]

Oh that was nice of them gotta love the old "that's all we have in stock" trick works a treat so they can bill your insurers 3x more than the job should have cost all adding to premiums rising.
I paid £100 for my windscreen because I would have had to pay £75 excess anyway but then declare it for the next 5yrs.

What is your inherent hate for people using insurance for windscreen claims, not everyone is willing to use small one man band type fitters they want a trusted name

Do you also realise that on a lot of models Top tint, acoustic glass is actually cheaper. Look at how many A3s for example have a top tint. You'll see far more with than without.

In the posters situation you quoted it won't be a case of we had the wrong one in stock its a case of the wrong glass was ordered. We can come back another day with the same as what you've got or you can have this one, do you really think fitters turn up in the morning and think to then self "Oh I know I'll load this one up instead so we can charge your insurance company more"

 

[Blackhawk47]

What is 'acoustic' glass?