Does insurance cover old windscreen crack?

cbmaxyz

My car has had a large crack in the corner of the windscreen since before I owned it.  It's been a warning on every MOT since 2018!  I've got windscreen cover included in my insurance and am keen to finally get it repaired - but am I allowed to make a claim for something that happened before the policy started?  And will they look at old MOTs (or consult some other database, perhaps) to find out??

diystarter7

No, you can't.
It's a bit like being a smashed up car, taking out insurance and getting them to pay for it, so its a no, no.

diystarter7

cbmaxyz said:

My car has had a large crack in the corner of the windscreen since before I owned it.  It's been a warning on every MOT since 2018!  I've got windscreen cover included in my insurance and am keen to finally get it repaired - but am I allowed to make a claim for something that happened before the policy started?  And will they look at old MOTs (or consult some other database, perhaps) to find out??

sorry duplicate

Bigphil1474

OP, if the crack has grown such that it could now be an MOT failure, then you could try it, on the basis that yo didn't need to have it repaired before. 

chrisw

Get a price, unless it's an unusual car you might find it's not that much more expensive than your excess.

DullGreyGuy

cbmaxyz said:

My car has had a large crack in the corner of the windscreen since before I owned it.  It's been a warning on every MOT since 2018!  I've got windscreen cover included in my insurance and am keen to finally get it repaired - but am I allowed to make a claim for something that happened before the policy started?  And will they look at old MOTs (or consult some other database, perhaps) to find out??

No, you cannot bet on a race thats already been run. 

The prior owner would be able to claim on the insurance they had on the vehicle at the time the crack occurred but clearly they arent going to do that for you.

The reality of glass claims is that they are all outsourced to the glass companies. In theory the engineer that comes out should look at the state of the windscreen and decide if the damage is consistent with the claimed circumstances. With body damage this is clearly easier as the customer says it happened last week but the edges have started to rust it clearly doesnt add up. How possible it is to judge age on glass I've no idea but clearly if they are able to say its clearly much older damage than you claim you then get into the territory of fraud investigations, policy being voided etc. 

As has been said, get a quote for a replacement windscreen. Depending on the vehicle it may not be massively more than the excess anyway.

diystarter7

Bigphil1474 said:

OP, if the crack has grown such that it could now be an MOT failure, then you could try it, on the basis that yo didn't need to have it repaired before. 

Hello
Please read up any car insurance, windscreen cover and they will clearly tell you, pre-existing faults/damage is not covered
Thanks

Mutton_Geoff

Any claim would be considered insurance fraud.

Grey_Critic

Mutton_Geoff said:

Any claim would be considered insurance fraud.

Particlarly as you say it has been noted as an advisory on MOTs since 2018 - sneaky people are insurance companies they have been known to check DVLA databases

Car_54

Mutton_Geoff said:

Any claim would be considered insurance fraud.

No such crime. It's just plain fraud.

DullGreyGuy

Grey_Critic said:

Mutton_Geoff said:

Any claim would be considered insurance fraud.

Particlarly as you say it has been noted as an advisory on MOTs since 2018 - sneaky people are insurance companies they have been known to check DVLA databases

So the OP is hoping to commit fraud but its the insurance company trying to catch fraudsters that are the sneaky ones?