Does insurance cover old windscreen crack?

cbmaxyz

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. 

Thanks - it's not an MOT failure yet, but I guess the principle is if it gets worse then I can validly try to claim (informing the insurer it was already damaged, of course).

Typhoon2000

May be if your unlucky a stone could be thrown up by a truck in front and cause an new crack, then you would be covered.

Ebe_Scrooge

Aside from the argument about whether you can or can't claim from your insurance ......

If the outcome is that you can't claim, get some quotes from a couple of local companies if possible.  Several years ago my son needed a new windscreen on his old Yaris, he didn't have windscreen cover.  Phoned Autoglass, they quoted almost £400.  Found a local "one-man-band" who quoted £140.  He came out to our house to replace the screen and did a perfect job.  I was particularly impressed because when I gave him the registration number over the phone he immediately said "I'll have to check which screen it is, because that was the year when they switched production from Japan to France, and they're slightly different" - he knew that off the top of his head, so he obviously knew his trade

I appreciate that different cars may cost quite a bit more, but it's definitely worth finding a local independent company for a quote if possible.

MalMonroe

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??

Hi, yes insurance companies can look at many databases and they do because they are used to people trying to fool them. And no, you can't claim for damage caused before you even took out a policy - any policy.

I have to say that if I bought a car with a large crack in the corner of the windscreen (never going to happen) I would expect the price to be lowered significantly. Hope that happened with you.

However, given that you did buy it, it would have been wise (in my opinion, I've been driving (oh lordy!) for almost half a century now (yes, I'm old - but wise  .  . ) to have had it repaired immediately.

I think you're very lucky that the crack hasn't spread yet - what would you do if you were on a motorway and something did hit the windscreen and made it so that you couldn't see? Or if it just spontaneously spread, these things do sometimes happen when you're travelling at speed.

I'd get it sorted now, obviously do a bit of research to find a reasonable price but it's going to be worth it, to feel safe in your car.

cbmaxyz

MalMonroe said:

I have to say that if I bought a car with a large crack in the corner of the windscreen (never going to happen) I would expect the price to be lowered significantly. Hope that happened with you.

Oh certainly yes, it was £750