Claiming for windscreen repair on insurance?

[ZOLLAR]

If you and your mate are with admiral then it won't affect your ncb or your insurance premium, just ring the claims dept adv you need it repaired and they will arrange for it to be repaired or if needs be replaced.

[The Riddler]

Thanks for that, He's just a bit worried as it happened on sunday while out hooning (the stone came from my car) and has MOT retest on Friday, so really needs it sorting asap.

He also could do with it cheap as possible, already had to have 2 new springs and new brakes!

[bigdods]

The Riddler said:

Thanks for that, He's just a bit worried as it happened on sunday while out hooning (the stone came from my car) and has MOT retest on Friday, so really needs it sorting asap.

He also could do with it cheap as possible, already had to have 2 new springs and new brakes!

Time may be an issue here. I had to wait 3 weeks for a slot to have my badly cracked windscreen replaced by the RAC.

[gazchap]

Had my windscreen replaced by Autoglass about a month ago.

Autoglass will deal with your insurers for you, so you don't need to call them up and get charged administration fees and whatnot.

[Glassman]

gazchap said:

so you don't need to call them up and get charged administration fees and whatnot.

Admin fees??

[Deva Link]

grumbledoak said:

Add, potentially, the loss of any no claims bonus you have. And, you will not be able to honestly claim that you've made "no claims" in the last year(s).

I asked Admiral about mentioning a windscreen claim and they laughed.

[gazchap]

Glassman said:

Admin fees??

There's a lot of people in here saying that they get charged £18.50 (or around that figure) administration fees every time they do something with their insurance policy.

[Snoop Bagg]

Windscreen on the Mini was over £120 so worth doing via the insurance, dosn't affect NCB!

[Glassman]

gazchap said:

Glassman said:

Admin fees??

There's a lot of people in here saying that they get charged £18.50 (or around that figure) administration fees every time they do something with their insurance policy.

In my experience, not heard of this. I invoice many insurance companies directly (and indirectly via their designated claims handling agencies). There are times when the policyholder pays and reclaims (usually when the nominated supplier cannot respond in a timely fashion, or that the work is a bit more specialist) but I have never heard nor seen any admin fees in these circumstances.

[ZOLLAR]

Glassman said:

gazchap said:

Glassman said:

Admin fees??

There's a lot of people in here saying that they get charged £18.50 (or around that figure) administration fees every time they do something with their insurance policy.

In my experience, not heard of this. I invoice many insurance companies directly (and indirectly via their designated claims handling agencies). There are times when the policyholder pays and reclaims (usually when the nominated supplier cannot respond in a timely fashion, or that the work is a bit more specialist) but I have never heard nor seen any admin fees in these circumstances.

I've not heard of admin fees either, usually the insurance company would just take your details and contact their windscreen repair's or vice versa policyholder goes to a repairer and then invoice the insurer's no admin cost at all.

[Ed.]

Deva Link said:

grumbledoak said:

Add, potentially, the loss of any no claims bonus you have. And, you will not be able to honestly claim that you've made "no claims" in the last year(s).

I asked Admiral about mentioning a windscreen claim and they laughed.

Does anyone else find this attitude strange?

Helpful member of society walking down the street with a brick, he decides to throw it at your car. If it hits the windscreen you get a new windscreen for a small excess and no effect to your premium. If it hits the bonnet you lose NCB and premiums increase. Are bonnets that much more than windscreens?

[Deva Link]

Ed. said:

Deva Link said:

grumbledoak said:

Add, potentially, the loss of any no claims bonus you have. And, you will not be able to honestly claim that you've made "no claims" in the last year(s).

I asked Admiral about mentioning a windscreen claim and they laughed.

Does anyone else find this attitude strange?

Helpful member of society walking down the street with a brick, he decides to throw it at your car. If it hits the windscreen you get a new windscreen for a small excess and no effect to your premium. If it hits the bonnet you lose NCB and premiums increase. Are bonnets that much more than windscreens?

The number smashed on purpose vs accidentally must be so tiny as to be immeasurable so it's not worth differentiating. People would just lie about the cause anyway.

Screens for popular cars are around £150. A fitted, painted, bonnet would be easily £500, plus time off the road.

[Glassman]

Deva Link said:

Screens for popular cars are around £150.00

Ford Focus: one of the most popular cars produced, ever. Most of them are fitted with heated screens and the newer gen screens also feature rain sensors and solar reflective coatings.

You can't buy half of one for £150.00 and that's for trade.

Most BMW 5 E60 series windscreens will set you back well over 300 quid, fitted (depending on the spec).

[Deva Link]

Glassman said:

Deva Link said:

Screens for popular cars are around £150.00

Ford Focus: one of the most popular cars produced, ever. Most of them are fitted with heated screens and the newer gen screens also feature rain sensors and solar reflective coatings.

You can't buy half of one for £150.00 and that's for trade.

Most BMW 5 E60 series windscreens will set you back well over 300 quid, fitted (depending on the spec).

Fair enough. Are those the non-OEM prices, though - ie the for the screens made by the windscreen repalcement companies?

And how much is a non-heated screen for an ordinary car? I forget the model now, but I saw someone comment elsewhere that a new screen for his car was £120.

[Glassman]

Deva Link said:

Glassman said:

Deva Link said:

Screens for popular cars are around £150.00

Ford Focus: one of the most popular cars produced, ever. Most of them are fitted with heated screens and the newer gen screens also feature rain sensors and solar reflective coatings.

You can't buy half of one for £150.00 and that's for trade.

Most BMW 5 E60 series windscreens will set you back well over 300 quid, fitted (depending on the spec).

Fair enough. Are those the non-OEM prices, though - ie the for the screens made by the windscreen repalcement companies?

And how much is a non-heated screen for an ordinary car? I forget the model now, but I saw someone comment elsewhere that a new screen for his car was £120.

OEM considerably higher for a lot of brands.

There are many Fred-in-a-shed-with-a-bag-of-tools type outfits that will do stuff for what equates to about £20-30 profit per screen. You gets what you pay for but at these lower prices, something has to give and it is usually the workmanship, cheap and nasty adhesives etc. Having said this, there are large orgs that operate nationally who are charging similar prices. They can do this because a lot of their glass comes direct from China, India etc., they buy st loads (price comes down) and they work on volume: Transit windscreens fitted at £65 a pop. A lot of running very fast to stand still imho. I see the kind of work these people do on a daily basis and it's shocking.

The average punter sees their car fitted with a shiny new piece of glass and it all looks great. They have absolutely no idea what's gone on / going on underneath.

It's quite laughable how these companies advertise and market themselves with so much emphasis placed on safety and structural rigidity, blah blah, blah when many of their blokes are not even getting the very basics right.

Sorry, getting a bit O/T with a rant.

[hardcorehobbit]

Admiral for me yes. I phoned their Glass Helpline, and I was booked in to RAC Autowindscreens within 2 days. I was told they were in the process of approving Autoglass, so they should be using them now too.

The phone number should be on one of your documents.

[The Riddler]

Well he's having it repaired tomorrow, no loss of NCB or excess to pay.

Cheers to all who advised.

[Glassman]

Glassman said:

The Riddler said:

Is this a wise thing to do?

Excess is £70.

Repair is £72.50+vat.

If insurance decide to bump the renewal because of this, you'd already be down some cash. Its only a small chip, and seems to fit in the bracket of 'repairable.'

If it's a repair, the excess of £70 should not apply. This is only for replacement of glass.

Most FC policies cover for free glass repair, although some are inviting a policyholder contribution of between £10-20.

[LocoBlade]

Glassman said:

There are many Fred-in-a-shed-with-a-bag-of-tools type outfits that will do stuff for what equates to about £20-30 profit per screen. You gets what you pay for but at these lower prices, something has to give and it is usually the workmanship, cheap and nasty adhesives etc. Having said this, there are large orgs that operate nationally who are charging similar prices. They can do this because a lot of their glass comes direct from China, India etc., they buy st loads (price comes down) and they work on volume: Transit windscreens fitted at £65 a pop. A lot of running very fast to stand still imho. I see the kind of work these people do on a daily basis and it's shocking.

The average punter sees their car fitted with a shiny new piece of glass and it all looks great. They have absolutely no idea what's gone on / going on underneath.

It's quite laughable how these companies advertise and market themselves with so much emphasis placed on safety and structural rigidity, blah blah, blah when many of their blokes are not even getting the very basics right.

Sorry, getting a bit O/T with a rant.

Considering how the big companies rely on turnover of work rather than large margins on each job to make screen fitting pay, its amazing they haven't yet worked out how to fit glass when there's a hint of rain in the air! I was waiting 3 weeks for Autoglass to come out on Monday to replace my cracked screen (which they cracked with a botched chip repair), only to be told when the chap arrived that as it was spitting with rain and there was no cover, they would have to re-book me, which means another 3 week wait! Obviously you can't risk getting the inside of the car wet and I assume the adhesive needs dry surfaces, but an EZ-Up style gazebo would surely be sufficient? No wonder there's a 3+ week wait, they must only work half days most of the winter!

[Glassman]

Gazebos etc are a nice idea if they were large enough to cover the largest vehicle. The sides would need to be curtained to protect from crosswinds blowing in rain. There also needs to be enough room to prepare the new screen under cover.

Oh and enough room to open both front doors.

It also needs to be high enough to allow the bonnet to open and also for the screen to be lowered down (from above) onto the car.

Many people don't realise that although most polyurethanes rely on moisture in the air to aid curing, having both contact surfaces bone dry after preparation but before the PU is applied, is crucial for the adhesive system to work.