Windscreen Replacement - Is It Worth Claiming?

gazfocus

Had a bit of an accident over the weekend...moving house, dining table in the van, had to brake hard and table flew straight into the windscreen and cracked it on the passenger side.

I've had a look online and it's looking like £350 to get it replaced but I've noticed I have windscreen cover on my insurance with a £100 excess. 

I've never had to claim for anything like this previously so I just wondered is there any downside to claiming? Will it go down as a claim on my policy and therefore affect my no claims bonus (my no claims is apparently not protected)? Will I have to declare the claim in future and therefore risk the chance of higher insurance?

Sandtree

Glass claims typically dont reduce NCD however for some insurers they wont award you an extra year NCD for a year you have a glass claim.

It is a claim and so will have to be declared going forward. Many insurers dont care, some insurers will increase the price, some may quote without glass cover (more common if you've had multiple glass claims)

Stubod

..as above, I got a cracked windscreen (stone chip) and just used Autoglass....great service and I didn't even need to contact my insurnce company, (all done through Autoglass), and it should not effect your premium.

Bigwheels1111

You have to declare it now when getting quotes.
I would ring a few independents if I was you.

Car_54

Bigwheels1111 said:

You have to declare it now when getting quotes.
I would ring a few independents if I was you.

Why would he ring "independents" ?

His insurers will pay, apart from the excess. The effect on future premiums will be negligible, if any.

Manxman_in_exile

Sandtree said:

Glass claims typically dont reduce NCD however for some insurers they wont award you an extra year NCD for a year you have a glass claim.

It is a claim and so will have to be declared going forward. Many insurers dont care, some insurers will increase the price, some may quote without glass cover (more common if you've had multiple glass claims)

Don't forget this!

We had a windscreen claim (no excess) and changed insurers the following year.  We forgot about it - until the new insurers told us they wanted details about the claim otherwise they would cancel our insurance...

marlot

If it is a common car, try ringing some independent windscreen fitters.  I had one fitted to a Yaris for less than my excess.  The fitter used to run the local autoglass depot.  He earned more running his own business, despite charging much less.

diystarter7

marlot said:

If it is a common car, try ringing some independent windscreen fitters.  I had one fitted to a Yaris for less than my excess.  The fitter used to run the local autoglass depot.  He earned more running his own business, despite charging much less.

Great but the OP's excess is 100 quid and I doubt you get anything for less that 200.

Anyway, well done to you.

xzibit

How old is the car? Is it under manufacturer's warranty? Does it have cameras/sensors?
Just be aware that Autoglass fit similar, but not exactly the same windscreens. Once they've changed the screen and the camera module your manufacturer won't cover anything to do with the sensors/camera (including safety features) under warranty and this will now fall to your insurance company or Autoglass to cover (good luck).
Also, watch out for how they install the windscreen, if they are not careful and scratch the paint under the screen surround then in a year or so you might find rust appearing from underneath the screen. 
Using a reputable installer to fit a genuine screen on a newish car is a good idea, however depending on who you're insured with they may not cover this. I once had to pay about £700 to have a genuine screen installed as the insurance company insisted on Autoglasses version that seemed to have optical issues.
On older cars it may not be so much of an issue.

Ebe_Scrooge

diystarter7 said:

marlot said:

If it is a common car, try ringing some independent windscreen fitters.  I had one fitted to a Yaris for less than my excess.  The fitter used to run the local autoglass depot.  He earned more running his own business, despite charging much less.

Great but the OP's excess is 100 quid and I doubt you get anything for less that 200.

My lad needed to replace the windscreen on his Yaris a few years back.  We found a local guy who came to our house and fitted a new one for £150 all in, can't complain at that (Autoglass quoted me more than double that amount!).  Yes, I'm guessing that's probably one of the cheaper cars to fix, and I can well imagine that many windscreens, particularly modern ones, would cost several hundred.

OP said :

gazfocus said:

I've had a look online and it's looking like £350 to get it replaced

If that's a quote they've had from Autoglass or another well-know outfit, it's quite possible that a good independent guy could do it for not much more than their excess - in which case it may be worth considering.

ilikewatch2

When I needed to replace the screen on our Yaris if I went through the insurance I had to use Autoglass and there was a 2-3 week wait, a local independent did it the next day for £150.