Cracked windscreen woes - a cautionary tale!

[Rowan Lee]

We suffered a stone chip to our windscreen on the motorway recently. The impact damage was about the size of a small pea, with a 10mm fine line crack each side, 20mm overall max. Both Auto Windscreens and Autoglass said it couldn't be repaired as it was on the driver's side. It was hardly more distracting than a squashed fly. We were even told by our garage that it would probably pass its forthcoming MOT.

 

Our vehicle may look like a standard Fiat Ducato but in fact it has been widened and the screen is non-standard, so I suppose you would call it an A-class. To cut a long story short, a replacement screen from Autoglass was going to cost £7,500, but we are only insured (through Comfort Insurance and therefore Aviva) for £3,000, so we were faced with a bill of £4,500 plus our £75 excess!

 

We contacted Optic-Kleer, a windscreen repair franchise which just happens to be based locally. Their man came out, said no problems, repaired it there and then, and charged us £60. The repair is almost perfect, I defy you to find it if you didn't know exactly where it was. He didn't want to charge us at all, he said he could put it through our insurance, but we had had enough of insurance companies and just wanted it over and done with, so we paid him ourselves.

 

Our insurance is due for renewal next month, so we are going to shop around for alternative quotes and a policy that will give us greater cover for the screen. Alternatively, we could look at standalone windscreen insurance policies, but first glance indicates that they are designed for people who only have third party insurance and are very limited in the amount of cover.

 

Has anyone any experience of this problem? We are afraid to go anywhere now!

[lennyhb]

NFU policies have unlimited windscreen cover but you may find the premium considerably dearer. Normally Autoglass will get a custom screen made that's what they do for A class Motorhomes and it's a lot cheaper than OEM price.

[Petra]

We had the same problem with a small chip in the windscreen and Autoglass wanted to replace the whole screen and would not repair it. As it didn't bother us we decided not to replace it and when we went to Malvern we got Crak Attack to come and have a look at it. He repaired it no problem at all and said that Autoglass do this to most people and then repair the screen and sell it on as new! Whether that is true or not I don't know but it seems suspicious that they only ever want to replace screens rather than repair. We went through the insurance without any problem, we're insured with Caravanguard.

[Guest Had Enough]

Petra - 2014-05-07 4:10 PM

 

We had the same problem with a small chip in the windscreen and Autoglass wanted to replace the whole screen and would not repair it. As it didn't bother us we decided not to replace it and when we went to Malvern we got Crak Attack to come and have a look at it. He repaired it no problem at all and said that Autoglass do this to most people and then repair the screen and sell it on as new! Whether that is true or not I don't know but it seems suspicious that they only ever want to replace screens rather than repair. We went through the insurance without any problem, we're insured with Caravanguard.

 

I'm dithering about buying a new motorhome next Spring and am torn between a Hymer Exsis T coachbuilt and the Exsis i A Class. Both offer superb build quality, a large payload and a narrower width than many similar models.

 

One deciding factor may well be the ease of windscreen replacement on the coachbuilt and the OP's tale makes me worry about the consequences of a damaged screen on an A Class.

 

My first 'van was on a Renault Master. We woke up the morning of a Spring trip to Scotland to find a nasty crack in the corner of the screen. There was no way it could have been repaired so I phoned my insurer who contacted Autoglass. By 1.00 pm a new windscreen had been fitted and cured and we made our first stop at Luss on Loch Lomond by mid-evening.

 

If it had been an A Class we'd probably have had to cancel the holiday.

 

I think that the accusation that Autoglass lies and then sells repaired screens is silly and even libellous. This couldn't be done without the knowledge of staff who could then never be fired, whatever they did, because they'd then leak the story to the media. No firm could trust staff with something so explosive and no reputable company would risk doing something so deleterious to their reputation, especially as employees would have to be party to it.

 

I have used Autoglass several times over many years and they've replaced a screen twice, once as above and once on my private car when it was very badly smashed by a large stone.

 

On every other occasion (at least four) they've repaired the screen and never tried to influence me to go for a replacement screen.

 

If they opt for a replacement when it's a borderline case it's more likely to be to protect themselves against litigation in case the windscreen fails after they've repaired it. If they repaired a screen and later it failed when driving and caused an accident it could cost them dearly.

 

 

 

 

[johnnerontheroad]

When you are getting quotes remember to check the small print as some say unlimited glass cover but if whoever they send to replace the screen cannot because it is non standard, some insurers will only give a contribution towards the cost, the Caravan Club is one (£100).

 

SAGA and the C&CC do unlimited there are others.

 

Dave

 

 

[PJay]

We had a stone chip last year on the way home to the ferry. When we got home phoned insurer (Safeguard) and they arranged for Autoglass to come and fix it. He arrived within 2 hours as prommised.

Was not sure if he could do it . but did manage and a good job well done. We've had car screens done with no problem by Autoglass

PJay

[Brock]

When our A-class screen had a bit of glass gouged out courtesy of a stone lorry, the local windscreen firm were unwilling to fix it for fear of shattering the whole glass. Autoglass came and fixed it, and another small crack, without any problem.

 

Neither damage were in a position to fail the MOT. I had them done because a few weeks ago I had two cracks in hire cars and both spread across the screen during the day because of the changes in temperature [hot days and freezing nights].

[StuartO]

I still have a small chip mark on my windscreen, right in front of the driver's eye line; it's about 4mm in diameter, circular with no sign of cracks developing. It's been stable for some time, perhaps even a couple of years.

 

I rang the insurer and they asked about size etc then said that under 10mm is doesn't need reparing. It has passed it's MOT since then, so presumably they are correct. This was the insurer's claims depaartment rather than a windscreen specialist.

 

I have a feeling that if I had rung Autoscreens instead I would have got a different answer.

[Muswell]

Not necessarily. I called Autoglass and described a small chip with a circular crack around it in a screen which they had replaced the year before . They said because the crack was circular it wouldn't travel and just leave it.

[capcloser]

A certain well known windscreen company quoted us £400 for a windscreen for a small hatch back car,when i commented on the price i was asked if it was insurance or was i paying,said i was paying it was £90 ! Any comments on why insurance is expensive?