Thief broke quarter window glass: Road-worthiness and Insurance

Ermia

iwb100 said:

2) Normally a glass claim doesn’t touch your no claims bonus. You need to check your policy to see if you are covered and the excess. I suspect your repair might not cost much more than the excess anyway. Possibly less.

I called my insurer: there is a £115 excess and it doesn't affect NCD, though it will obviously be put in the records if I claim.

Alternatively, the cheapest local guy I found on Google Map gave me a quote of £180.

So, for the option of using my insurance for the repair:

Cons:

• Possible increase of premium (perhaps could be > saving from using insurance) ?
• Maybe AutoGlass could extend this to non-glass repair and affect NCD and premium in the next 3-5 years (?)

Pros:

• A reliable company will fix (AutoGlass), rather than someone I found on Google Maps that I don't know.
  
• slightly cheaper ( excess < repair cost)
• The insurance says I have to report the incident even if I don't claim, so perhaps the premium will go up anyways (correct?)

How shall I choose? There is huge uncertainty regarding whether to
1) claim and use insurance (cost-effective?), or
2) only report the incident to insurance (really necessary?) and pay for the repair myself

Grumpy_chap

Whenever I've needed glass, I've always done it through the insurance - quick and simple with only a low excess and never seems to affect future premiums.  Often, it is not even a question asked at renewal.

The thing is, will the insurer definitely log this as a glass claim, or will they consider it vandalism claim?

Ermia

Grumpy_chap said:

Whenever I've needed glass, I've always done it through the insurance - quick and simple with only a low excess and never seems to affect future premiums.  Often, it is not even a question asked at renewal.

The thing is, will the insurer definitely log this as a glass claim, or will they consider it vandalism claim?

Good point. What would be the cost/consequences if the claim is considered a vandalism claim? NCD / premium increase?

Obviously, I don't know what happened exactly. I found the car in a condition where the glass was broken but nothing was stolen. 

DB1904

Ermia said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Whenever I've needed glass, I've always done it through the insurance - quick and simple with only a low excess and never seems to affect future premiums.  Often, it is not even a question asked at renewal.

The thing is, will the insurer definitely log this as a glass claim, or will they consider it vandalism claim?

Good point. What would be the cost/consequences if the claim is considered a vandalism claim? NCD / premium increase?

Obviously, I don't know what happened exactly. I found the car in a condition where the glass was broken but nothing was stolen. 

Then don't use the word thief.

molerat

Ibrahim5 said:

There was a time when almost every advert on prime time TV was for car glass repairs. I just wondered how all this glass got broken.

Maybe something to do with the crap state of the roads nowdays.

I suppose that is down to the windscreen fitters digging potholes ?

Ectophile

Most policies treat window claims separately from other types.  You don't lose your NCD, but your premium might still go up.  But you've already told them about the window anyway now.

But check what your policy says.  Some insurers have different rules to others.

ontheroad1970

It could have been an attempted theft, said miscreant found nothing to steal.

Carrot007

Ermia said:

How shall I choose? There is huge uncertainty regarding whether to
1) claim and use insurance (cost-effective?), or
2) only report the incident to insurance (really necessary?) and pay for the repair myself

You have already told the insurer it will be on file and need to be said in future insuraces so the answer is easy. Making a cliam will not effect it more than it has already.

Ermia

Carrot007 said:

Ermia said:

How shall I choose? There is huge uncertainty regarding whether to
1) claim and use insurance (cost-effective?), or
2) only report the incident to insurance (really necessary?) and pay for the repair myself

You have already told the insurer it will be on file and need to be said in future insuraces so the answer is easy. Making a cliam will not effect it more than it has already.

I tried not to tell them 😅. When I called the insurer, I said, "I have a question about my policy and the fees." My insurer told me that I have to report the incident even if I don't claim. However, I made it clear that I am calling to learn more about the policy, not to report anything...
Obviously, it might be obvious to the customer service that my glass is already broken (otherwise why would I call them to know more about the policy?)... 

How likely is it that the agent has already entered something on my record after the phone call? Is the insurance company going to use this call for further investigation or to increase premiums?

On a separate note, since I have already reported the case to the police, would the police inform my insurer? 

chrisw

You should have asked the hypothetical question without giving your policy number or name and address!

If the incident is already out there in the public domain with police and insurance possibly aware, you really have no choice but to declare it.

You are probably overthinking it and worrying unnecessarily. As others have said, any future premium increase is likely to be minimal and can usually be offset by shopping around anyway. 

Just declare it and don't worry about it.