Claiming on home insurance for smashed window

rangor gubbins

rangor gubbins

rangor gubbins

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Joined
5 Aug 2006
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1,080
Location
Kent, UK
Hi all,
Anyone got any thoughts or experience with claiming on their home insurance for smashed windows and impact on premiums in subsequent years?
The other weekend I was strimming and a stone flicked up and shattered the outer sheet of a double glazing pane.
I'm thinking to claim on our home insurance to get it fixed. We have another pane in the conservatory with the same problem that a friend of mine did a couple years ago, so was planning to get both done at the same time.
We're with direct line. If we claim will they just put our premiums up next year? I'm not sure if it's worth it for the cost of replacing a couple of panes.
 
Do a quote online but state no claim free period and see how much extra it comes out as.

The annoying thing with making a claim is that you have to keep the details and declare every time you change the company for the next 3 - 5 years.
 
Good points. I'll check the excess.
And do a new quote without the excess to see the difference from what we pay now.

@Haze its not a matter of "how hard up" or not we are, but rather what's most cost effective. Where we live finding someone to do the repair will be hard enough and likely cost way more than it should.
 
yep i did the exact same thing a few years ago, strimming and stone flicked up and did in 2 windows

i think my excess was about 200ish quid, it would have been getting on for a grand if i'd paid myself so i went through insurance, their guy was really good and took all kinds of measurements and readings from the existing glass so it matched perfectly.

I didn't notice any change to my premium the next year, it's always been around the £150-180quid mark for my insurance every year including accidental damage.

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Blimey, that's a beautiful view.
Thanks for the info. I had a figure in mind that it be £500-800 for two windows. One of them has got wooden beading internally and externally (country Cottage style) plus metal framing between the glass sheets so will inevitably be more expensive than normal panes - what a pain :)
 
sovietspybob said:
yep i did the exact same thing a few years ago, strimming and stone flicked up and did in 2 windows

i think my excess was about 200ish quid, it would have been getting on for a grand if i'd paid myself so i went through insurance, their guy was really good and took all kinds of measurements and readings from the existing glass so it matched perfectly.

I didn't notice any change to my premium the next year, it's always been around the £150-180quid mark for my insurance every year including accidental damage.

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Click to expand...

OK moonman. Put those lovely pics away!
 
I might be cautious on making new quotes, whilst you are deciding on whether to claim for damage - recorded info via cookies/IP addresses - paranoid ?
(is there any distinction on it's classification as an accident, versus, say a frozen pipe subsequently causing a flood, or lightening strike)

e:
rangor gubbins said:
so was planning to get both done at the same time.
Click to expand...
insurance company would presumably just want a bill exclusively for pane you claimed on
 
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rangor gubbins said:
£180 per year for your home insurance!?
Who are you with? That's seems like an absolute bargain.
Click to expand...

Morethan, been with them since we moved in here 8 years ago. They're so cheap there's no reason to even shop around, that's buildings, contents with accidental damage on both. We do live out in the sticks though so i imagine the premiums will be lower than more built up areas?
 
Consider replacing it yourself? Probably cheaper than the excess. If its a upvc unit then they are super easy, you just take out the beading, pop the window out and put the new one in. I had a crack in a kitchen window and got a replacement for £36 (90cm high, 51cm wide) from a local glazing company made. You just send them the dimensions of the window and thickness.

Typically thickness will fall into the below categories, with numbers in brackets meaning (Glass - Gap - Glass)
  • 14mm (4-6-4)
  • 16mm (4-8-4)
  • 18mm (4-10-4)
  • 20mm (4-12-4)
  • 22mm (4-14-4)
  • 24mm (4-16-4)
  • 28mm (4-20-4)
 
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Gammawolf said:
Consider replacing it yourself? Probably cheaper than the excess. If its a upvc unit then they are super easy, you just take out the beading, pop the window out and put the new one in. I had a crack in a kitchen window and got a replacement for £36 (90cm high, 51cm wide) from a local glazing company made. You just send them the dimensions of the window and thickness.

Typically thickness will fall into the below categories, with numbers in brackets meaning (Glass - Gap - Glass)
  • 14mm (4-6-4)
  • 16mm (4-8-4)
  • 18mm (4-10-4)
  • 20mm (4-12-4)
  • 22mm (4-14-4)
  • 24mm (4-16-4)
  • 28mm (4-20-4)
Click to expand...
That's good to know, thanks. The conservatory window is pvc but the other window with the glazing bars is wooden
 
If it were a grand, I'd claim. Rare that we actually get any of our money's worth out of insurance for anything. 500-700 and I would have to weigh it up. Under 500 and I would just pay because my excess is about £300 ish and renewals will go up for sure.
 
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As @Gammawolf says, it's probably worth at least checking if it's a standard size and you can get an easy replacement to fit yourself - they are surprisingly cheap.

We had a stone put through our front window a few years ago on Halloween by some of the local "yoof" (guessing they thought it would be funny to scare the cat sleeping on the windowsill :mad: ).

Smashed the outer pane, but the inner was fine. Unfortunately ours was a huge bay window (~1m high x ~2m wide) with leading on the outside, and not a standard size, so it had to be made up - iirc the claim was about £800, with a £50 excess and it put our premiums up by a whole £1 :p
 
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