Windscreen REALLY tired.. new one on insurance?
Discussion
Quick question. I know if your screen has cracks or large stone chips, you can get it replaced on your insurance policy (normally) for the £50 excess.
The windscreen on my car doesn't have any large cracks or stonechips, but is the original screen on a 175,000 mile 1995 car. And it really looks it. At night time, the sheer amount of fine scratches and miniscule stonechips across the screen make it *very* hard to see the road properly.
Is this justification enough to warrant a new screen under insurance, or would it need to be damaged in some other way before it could get done?
Cheers.
The windscreen on my car doesn't have any large cracks or stonechips, but is the original screen on a 175,000 mile 1995 car. And it really looks it. At night time, the sheer amount of fine scratches and miniscule stonechips across the screen make it *very* hard to see the road properly.
Is this justification enough to warrant a new screen under insurance, or would it need to be damaged in some other way before it could get done?
Cheers.
Insurance fraud. Excellent Idea.
All my stuff in my house is old, and i fancy a new laptop (mines run out of ram). My home insurance is new for old, so i'll just 'drop' my laptop shall I?
If you want a new screen go to autoglass, £250+ should see you with a nice new screen.
Failing that go to a scrappies, and fit it yourself.
All my stuff in my house is old, and i fancy a new laptop (mines run out of ram). My home insurance is new for old, so i'll just 'drop' my laptop shall I?
If you want a new screen go to autoglass, £250+ should see you with a nice new screen.
Failing that go to a scrappies, and fit it yourself.
I suspect you'd be hard pushed to convince the insurers to replace it for being old & scratched, and they may be suspicious if you ask the question then have the misfortune of a broken screen the following day.
And how on earth do you drive that far on one screen?! I'm on my 3rd or 4th after 130K miles!
ETA Maybe you need to drive through more road works - we've had road works on the M1 around Luton for about 4 years now, which account for a couple of the new screens.
And how on earth do you drive that far on one screen?! I'm on my 3rd or 4th after 130K miles!
ETA Maybe you need to drive through more road works - we've had road works on the M1 around Luton for about 4 years now, which account for a couple of the new screens.
Edited by oldcynic on Thursday 10th February 13:19
I was having the same issue driving from Northampton to Newark on Friday night - had some rather hairy experiences when cars coming in the opposite direction had their dipped beams angled WAY to high (just me or is this becoming rife on new cars?) making the windscreen VERY difficult to see out of - I'm driving a '99 Ford Focus on 107k with the original screen, too.
Thankfully (?) it has a chip up by the rear-view mirror that's starting to 'starburst' out; if I call Admiral and make a claim, will they get Autoglass to inject their special resin into the crack (snigger) or replace the whole thing? I could REALLY do with the latter...
Thankfully (?) it has a chip up by the rear-view mirror that's starting to 'starburst' out; if I call Admiral and make a claim, will they get Autoglass to inject their special resin into the crack (snigger) or replace the whole thing? I could REALLY do with the latter...
Big News said:
Thankfully (?) it has a chip up by the rear-view mirror that's starting to 'starburst' out; if I call Admiral and make a claim, will they get Autoglass to inject their special resin into the crack (snigger) or replace the whole thing? I could REALLY do with the latter...
It might be worth checking the integrity of the chip - a quick thump with the heel of your hand in the area of the chip should prove if it's worth having the resin in it - there is the risk, of course that it might make the starburst worse so it cannot be fixed. Obviously you'll be stuck having to pay the £50 excess for a new screen.Cheers chaps. I have no intention of claiming fraudulently.. but just felt that, as stonechips and cracks are safety concerns, not actually being able to *see* out of the screen might also be considered a safety concern and warrant a replacement. My bad.
I'm not 100% sure it is the original screen - but it is a VW screen (car is a VW) and there is so much damage to the screen (ground in marks from the wiper pattern, millions of tiny stonechips, etc) that I wouldn't be surprised if it was the original.
I'm not 100% sure it is the original screen - but it is a VW screen (car is a VW) and there is so much damage to the screen (ground in marks from the wiper pattern, millions of tiny stonechips, etc) that I wouldn't be surprised if it was the original.
You can get an abrasive that will take the scratches out, it comes with a pad that attaches to a drill and you polish the screen with it. It's time consuming but I did mine and was pleasantly surprised by the results, night driving is no longer like looking through frosted glass! IIRC Frost sell them and you may be able to get them from other motor factors.
jke11y said:
Dont know what kind of car it is for, but I bought a new "pattern" windscreen for an 93 W124 and it cost me £90 fitted - if its an old, popular car, try a few local windscreen fitters for a supply and fit price, you might be surprised.
+1. Had a new screen put in my Impreza P1 by a friend in the trade for £75...Go to a local independent rather than a national company for a good supply & fit price...Chicane-UK said:
I am aware of the kits but not keen on the thought of doing some kind of damage to the screen. I'm googling to try find a company that might do it, but can only find places offering to fill in large chips - not polishing the glass like I'm after. Best keep hunting!
I wouldn't worry about damaging the screen, I was concerned before I started knowing the damage you can do to paintwork with an polisher but you need some serious effort to even start to take the scratches out of the glass, it's pretty tough stuff! Honestly, just get the kit, it's not very expensive and unless you go seriously daft you are pretty unlikely to do any damage, you'll probably just be cursing it takes so long 
It took me most of an afternoon to do one screen but was more than worth it.Jesus, what is everyones problem with this? Replacement windscreen (and other windows) is one of the few perks you actually get from your insurance, without any NCB being affected etc.
Fair enough pay the £250 for the new 'screen as suggested above if you are made of money or have cost your insurance company more than you've put in.
OP, in my opinion: cause a crack to windscreen, doesn't even need to replicate a stone chip, just punch the bugger from the inside, they easily crack that way.
Never had to do this myself but I consider glass replacement (with small excess) a mere perk of the policy, seeing as I haven't claimed anything else in 12 years other than 2 windscreens, 1 drivers window.
Fair enough pay the £250 for the new 'screen as suggested above if you are made of money or have cost your insurance company more than you've put in.
OP, in my opinion: cause a crack to windscreen, doesn't even need to replicate a stone chip, just punch the bugger from the inside, they easily crack that way.
Never had to do this myself but I consider glass replacement (with small excess) a mere perk of the policy, seeing as I haven't claimed anything else in 12 years other than 2 windscreens, 1 drivers window.
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