Smashed Windscreen
Discussion
I’m after some advice.
I was driving back home today and over taking a low loader on a dual carriageway. A large chunk of debris flew off, shattered my windscreen and then flew over to the opposite side of the dual carriage way. I was in a 7 series BMW which has really tough glass but the impact was so great it launched shards of glass into the cabin of the car. The noise was tremendous. The screen held together because the impact happened in a corner of the screen where it’s probably strongest.
I called the haulier HQ and he called the driver and support vehicle asking them to pull over.
The driver checked the low loader (carrying a large earth scraper) and there was lots of loose fist sized debris containing large chunks of flint that were dropping out of the tread. The scraper itself was lashed so no metalwork was loose.
Before I go through the process of contacting my insurance, is the haulier liable? The car is so old it might be written off for the sake of a windscreen which I want to avoid. If the debris had hit the side window, a smaller car or motorbike, there could have been a serious accident and the driver had a liability to ensure the load was safe.
Anyone faced this before? Last thing I want or need is any grief with this so looking for suggestions.
I was driving back home today and over taking a low loader on a dual carriageway. A large chunk of debris flew off, shattered my windscreen and then flew over to the opposite side of the dual carriage way. I was in a 7 series BMW which has really tough glass but the impact was so great it launched shards of glass into the cabin of the car. The noise was tremendous. The screen held together because the impact happened in a corner of the screen where it’s probably strongest.
I called the haulier HQ and he called the driver and support vehicle asking them to pull over.
The driver checked the low loader (carrying a large earth scraper) and there was lots of loose fist sized debris containing large chunks of flint that were dropping out of the tread. The scraper itself was lashed so no metalwork was loose.
Before I go through the process of contacting my insurance, is the haulier liable? The car is so old it might be written off for the sake of a windscreen which I want to avoid. If the debris had hit the side window, a smaller car or motorbike, there could have been a serious accident and the driver had a liability to ensure the load was safe.
Anyone faced this before? Last thing I want or need is any grief with this so looking for suggestions.
Thank you, got some pictures of the vehicle and it’s load plus the debris and state of the trailer when we all pulled over. My brother is an HGV driver and has stated the license to move that kit is so pricey they’ll want this to go away (otherwise report them to VOSA).
Contact was mortified over the phone, either I was struck by a random meteorite just as I was over taking the lorry or some of the loose debris fell away from the load and nearly wiped me out.
Had three screen strikes in the past that took a windscreen out over hundreds of thousands of miles and this was in a completely different league. I’ve emailed the haulier asking them the next move. Worst case for me they deny the whole thing (driving me through the insurance and a small payment) and then I’ll report an unsafe load to VOSA with evidence and confirmation they pulled over to assess the damage. Young driver in a corsa or similar would have been shredded if this stuff hit head on. I’ve no way of knowing if they smashed a load of other screens on the way up but they didn’t seem surprised when I called. At first I thought part of the lashing mechanism had hit me it was that loud.
Load should have been cleaner (and safer). Don’t need this hassle but at least no one was injured.
Main concern is insurance kill the car for want of a screen. I’ll let you know if / when I hear back from them.
Contact was mortified over the phone, either I was struck by a random meteorite just as I was over taking the lorry or some of the loose debris fell away from the load and nearly wiped me out.
Had three screen strikes in the past that took a windscreen out over hundreds of thousands of miles and this was in a completely different league. I’ve emailed the haulier asking them the next move. Worst case for me they deny the whole thing (driving me through the insurance and a small payment) and then I’ll report an unsafe load to VOSA with evidence and confirmation they pulled over to assess the damage. Young driver in a corsa or similar would have been shredded if this stuff hit head on. I’ve no way of knowing if they smashed a load of other screens on the way up but they didn’t seem surprised when I called. At first I thought part of the lashing mechanism had hit me it was that loud.
Load should have been cleaner (and safer). Don’t need this hassle but at least no one was injured.
Main concern is insurance kill the car for want of a screen. I’ll let you know if / when I hear back from them.
If you've got dashcam (or similar) evidence of it physically coming off the truck then you've got your proof otherwise it's unlikely you'll get anywhere without a struggle tbh.
I had this happen to me a few years ago when i was driving through Windsor Great Park in my 205 GTI. Sizeable bit of brick / mortar debris came off the back of a demolition haulage liveried tipper i was following and smacked my windscreen leaving a massive crack through it. Pulled over, phoned the demolition company to give them the reg plate of the truck & advise them they had a driver with stuff falling off his truck. Instead of taking any notice of that all i got was a statement to say that unless i had detailed video showing the debris leaving the vehicle & hitting my car they weren't interested.
I knew that would have been the response anyway & rather annoying they didn't even seem bothered about loose debris on one of their vehicles but i'd imagine most of these companies probably get regular scam artists seeing if they can get some £££ for fake damage.
In the end i found a local windscreen place and had the screen replaced myself rather than involving insurance as the cost of a screen + fitting was only £40 more than the insurance excess. Plus the local place did a far better job replacing the screen than the national mobile chain most insurers use would have done.
I had this happen to me a few years ago when i was driving through Windsor Great Park in my 205 GTI. Sizeable bit of brick / mortar debris came off the back of a demolition haulage liveried tipper i was following and smacked my windscreen leaving a massive crack through it. Pulled over, phoned the demolition company to give them the reg plate of the truck & advise them they had a driver with stuff falling off his truck. Instead of taking any notice of that all i got was a statement to say that unless i had detailed video showing the debris leaving the vehicle & hitting my car they weren't interested.
I knew that would have been the response anyway & rather annoying they didn't even seem bothered about loose debris on one of their vehicles but i'd imagine most of these companies probably get regular scam artists seeing if they can get some £££ for fake damage.
In the end i found a local windscreen place and had the screen replaced myself rather than involving insurance as the cost of a screen + fitting was only £40 more than the insurance excess. Plus the local place did a far better job replacing the screen than the national mobile chain most insurers use would have done.
Edited by AlexRS2782 on Wednesday 12th February 00:40
AlexRS2782 said:
If you've got dashcam (or similar) evidence of it physically coming off the truck then you've got your proof otherwise it's unlikely you'll get anywhere without a struggle tbh.
I had this happen to me a few years ago when i was driving through Windsor Great Park in my 205 GTI. Sizeable bit of brick / mortar debris came off the back of a demolition haulage liveried tipper i was following and smacked my windscreen leaving a massive crack through it. Pulled over, phoned the demolition company to give them the reg plate of the truck & advise them they had a driver with stuff falling off his truck. Instead of taking any notice of that all i got was a statement to say that unless i had detailed video showing the debris leaving the vehicle & hitting my car they weren't interested.
I knew that would have been the response anyway & rather annoying they didn't even seem bothered about loose debris on one of their vehicles but i'd imagine most of these companies probably get regular scam artists seeing if they can get some £££ for fake damage.
In the end i found a local windscreen place and had the screen replaced myself rather than involving insurance as the cost of a screen + fitting was only £40 more than the insurance excess. Plus the local place did a far better job replacing the screen than the national mobile chain most insurers use would have done.
Thank you for this information, the operator was immediately more willing to pay upon first telephone contact but I’ll see in the cold light of day whether this has changed now images have been sent. Same situation, they could have killed someone and they damaged my car, no dash footage unfortunately, but I witnessed the debris fall and hit me (wrong place wrong time). Would ideally like to avoid a claim on insurance for any reason (although I don’t believe windscreens affect premiums etc)I had this happen to me a few years ago when i was driving through Windsor Great Park in my 205 GTI. Sizeable bit of brick / mortar debris came off the back of a demolition haulage liveried tipper i was following and smacked my windscreen leaving a massive crack through it. Pulled over, phoned the demolition company to give them the reg plate of the truck & advise them they had a driver with stuff falling off his truck. Instead of taking any notice of that all i got was a statement to say that unless i had detailed video showing the debris leaving the vehicle & hitting my car they weren't interested.
I knew that would have been the response anyway & rather annoying they didn't even seem bothered about loose debris on one of their vehicles but i'd imagine most of these companies probably get regular scam artists seeing if they can get some £££ for fake damage.
In the end i found a local windscreen place and had the screen replaced myself rather than involving insurance as the cost of a screen + fitting was only £40 more than the insurance excess. Plus the local place did a far better job replacing the screen than the national mobile chain most insurers use would have done.
Edited by AlexRS2782 on Wednesday 12th February 00:40
It amazes me how these companies always deny it straight away.
My wife and I got back from our holidays just before Christmas. We use a local executive cab company (always a nice new car, beer, wine etc in the back and a couple of nice guys that own it, sorry I digress).
Anyway we were on our way back from Heathrow in the M1 when a large chunk of wood fell off the back of a low loader attic lorry (looked like it might be used as a chock to keep a load secure only this was empty).
It bounced down the road in front of us and there was nothing the driver could do. Smashed the front left suspension to pieces as he drove over it at 50-60mph. Almighty bang, car swerved in to the central reservation. Luckily a side swipe so no real impact. We ended up on the hard shoulder eventually.
Taxi company were great. Arranged for a local taxi firm (we were near Leicester to pick us up and complete the journey at their expense. Refunded us the return journey we had paid them)
Anyway we got a phone call a couple of days later. Would we fill out witness forms as his dash cam had picked up the entire incident including the ref of the lorry. They were trying to claim there lorry driver drove over it too and it didn’t come of there lorry (despite the dash cam evidence).
Apparently when they received our written statements and the dash cam stuff they folded and agreed to pay for the front end rebuild of a 6 week old E class Merc. Why not just own up once you knew it had come of your lorry. I would hope they know how many chicks were on the back and a quick check when arriving at the lorry depo would reveal one is missing.
My wife and I got back from our holidays just before Christmas. We use a local executive cab company (always a nice new car, beer, wine etc in the back and a couple of nice guys that own it, sorry I digress).
Anyway we were on our way back from Heathrow in the M1 when a large chunk of wood fell off the back of a low loader attic lorry (looked like it might be used as a chock to keep a load secure only this was empty).
It bounced down the road in front of us and there was nothing the driver could do. Smashed the front left suspension to pieces as he drove over it at 50-60mph. Almighty bang, car swerved in to the central reservation. Luckily a side swipe so no real impact. We ended up on the hard shoulder eventually.
Taxi company were great. Arranged for a local taxi firm (we were near Leicester to pick us up and complete the journey at their expense. Refunded us the return journey we had paid them)
Anyway we got a phone call a couple of days later. Would we fill out witness forms as his dash cam had picked up the entire incident including the ref of the lorry. They were trying to claim there lorry driver drove over it too and it didn’t come of there lorry (despite the dash cam evidence).
Apparently when they received our written statements and the dash cam stuff they folded and agreed to pay for the front end rebuild of a 6 week old E class Merc. Why not just own up once you knew it had come of your lorry. I would hope they know how many chicks were on the back and a quick check when arriving at the lorry depo would reveal one is missing.
MB140 said:
I I would hope they know how many chocks were on the back and a quick check when arriving at the lorry depo would reveal one is missing.
You clearly haven't dealt with such peopleThey tend to have no idea what is on their lorry
Nor do they care
Their first response is always that of a child "it wasn't me"
If you were feeling particularly optimistic, consider the fact its 'only' a windscreen as a stroke of good luck I guess - id much rather have to deal with a replacement screen than chipped / scratched / dented paintwork or damaged body panels etc.
Of course we'd obviously rather these things never happened at all though....
I'd be fairly certain your car wont be written off for a replacement screen though, and it shouldnt have any effect on your NCB or premium next year.
Of course we'd obviously rather these things never happened at all though....
I'd be fairly certain your car wont be written off for a replacement screen though, and it shouldnt have any effect on your NCB or premium next year.
Depends on what sort of company. We had stones bounce out of a lorry back and break a screen on one of our cars. We got the driver to pull over took details spoke to the company and they paid up. Also said all their drivers are suposed to sweep the load bed empty after a drop to avoid this happening. However if they had said "nothing to do with us" then without a dash cam ( we didnt have one) I doubt we would have got anywhere.
martinbiz said:
carreauchompeur said:
It is ‘just’ a window claim but I have seen people’s premiums for following years being heftily loaded for this reason...
Really for a glass claim???? I think notIn terms of NCD impact, a few policies will suspend for a period following a windscreen claim. From memory, Swift Cover policies had this (AXA) and I think Hastings too.
As far as premiums going up. Some say theirs has, others insist it's remained the same (or even reduced) after a windscreen claim. This of course doesn't account for any discount they may have accrued or other factors.
996Type said:
They’ve wound back a little and are contacting their insurance but have asked for proof it was them, think now they are safely away it’s playing as stated above, I’m on my own. Will report it today to insurance and give them details of what happened and move on.
Chase your insurer - it's "balance of probability" you can show you passed them and they had a load of loose stuff.The likelihood is, it's their fault.
You may wish to mention if they aren't helpful you'll be reporting them for a dangerous load etc
Forums | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff