Car bought with a windscreen chip

TornSoldier

Hello,
Prior to the recent lockdown, I had went a car dealer, test driven a car, and agreed on sale on an agreed date. On the agreed date (I had already done away with my old one), the seller told me everything is good and car has also passed MOT despite a chip because it is not in driver's viewing area. I did not recall seeing the chip during test drive and the dealer himself mentioned he was not aware of it until the MOT. However, after knowing where it is, I now know where it is. It is not big and dealer had repaired it from the outside.
After I raised my concern, the dealer is now willing to pay excess for a windscreen replacement via my insurance. I wanted to know if that is a good outcome or it should be done by dealer on his insurance? Is it detrimental to me in some way if I go via the proposed route - via my insurance and recharging the excess to the dealer.
Cheers
T

Were_Doomed

Age of the vehicle, and mileage? If the chip isn't even noticeable then you're probably getting your knickers in a twist over nothing. How about the dealer gives you a discount of the amount of your excess for a windscreen replacement instead? That way you can go ahead in future if the chip becomes a problem and subsequently requires replacing the windscreen.

The only downside is whether a windscreen replacement claim would affect your No Claims Discount. The chances of the dealer agreeing to replace to current windscreen are slim-to-none given that it has passed an MOT.

AdrianC

You viewed the car, agreed a deal, and didn't notice the chip.
The time to negotiate a full replacement was as part of the purchase.

The vendor brought it to your attention, and is offering to cover the excess. Perfectly decent, if a tad fraudulent, as it's pre-existing damage that the insurer is not obliged to cover. His trade insurance won't cover it - so the cost to him for organising it is a chunk higher.
Glass claims rarely affect future premiums.

How expensive was the car?

foxy-stoat

If you can tell him what the excess is and get him to ping you the money over without needing a receipt then do that, and replace when it needs replacing.   It has never effected me and my premiums or NCD, I even put in for a CUE request after a year of 3 windscreen claims and they didn't even show on it.  That was 5 years ago so it may of changed since then.

Sandtree

Windscreen chip predates you owning the vehicle or the insurance being in force so cannot be claimed on your insurance.

If its just a chip and out of the sight of the driver it is likely to be just repaired for which, if you want to commit insurance fraud, there is often no excess. Local windscreen places often will do a fix for a tiny fee anyway and that avoids your need to commit fraud

Were_Doomed

OP confirms that the chip has already been repaired. (Unless I'm misreading it).

TornSoldier

1) Car is 11k, 2016 make
2) Insurance windscreen excess for replacement is around 110. Would the insurer replace the windscreen on my call or would they push to repair it? Although the dealer has repaired it to pass MOT ?

TornSoldier

foxy-stoat said:

If you can tell him what the excess is and get him to ping you the money over without needing a receipt then do that, and replace when it needs replacing.   It has never effected me and my premiums or NCD, I even put in for a CUE request after a year of 3 windscreen claims and they didn't even show on it.  That was 5 years ago so it may of changed since then.

I will try that and see what he says? In a nutshell, I think its a fair deal i guess. 

Sandtree

Were_Doomed said:

OP confirms that the chip has already been repaired. (Unless I'm misreading it).

Yes, assumed it hadnt been repaired by the talk of the excess being payable but it seems the OP wants to go from repair to replacement...

So, still dont have a valid claim on insurance as its a pre-existing damage and secondly if you were to attempt to fraudulently  claim it would be at the insurer’s decision on if to repair or replace and sounds like its a repair only job in which case the claim is repudiated on the basis the repairs already been done by someone else at no cost to the OP.

foxy-stoat

Sandtree said:

Were_Doomed said:

OP confirms that the chip has already been repaired. (Unless I'm misreading it).

Yes, assumed it hadnt been repaired by the talk of the excess being payable but it seems the OP wants to go from repair to replacement...

So, still dont have a valid claim on insurance as its a pre-existing damage and secondly if you were to attempt to fraudulently  claim it would be at the insurer’s decision on if to repair or replace and sounds like its a repair only job in which case the claim is repudiated on the basis the repairs already been done by someone else at no cost to the OP.

Come on, no insurance company in the land will request the windscreen fitter exam the screen for pre-existing repairs and even if they found one would be on the phone the insurers says they wont replace the screen as the client has repaired it previously.

For piece of mind wait for another stone chip to appear.

AdrianC

TornSoldier said:

Although the dealer has repaired it to pass MOT ?

Where on the screen is it, and how big is it?

Zone A is:

• in the swept area of the windscreen
• 290mm wide
• centred on the steering wheel
  

10mm max in Zone A, 40mm max in the rest of the wiper swept area. Outside the wiper swept area, not testable.
"Repaired windscreens must be judged solely on whether the repair interferes with vision. An ‘invisible’ or barely detectable repair, finished flush with the surrounding glass, does not count as damage."
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/3-visibility#section-3-2