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Most viewed
Insurance: Is fixing the windscreen crack really free?
By John Grant Have you seen the TV ad that suggests repairs to your vehicle windscreen could be 'free"? Every time I hear this ad I cringe knowing that, 'nothing in this world is free'. 
I know it's a play on words and means that you don't actually have to pay them for the repair, and they will bill your insurance company directly - so it's definitely not free.
Damage to your windscreen is normally a claim on your policy and this is provided you have cover in place.
According to Smith and Smith Glass, the cost of repairing a chip on a windscreen will be in the order of $99 to $120 incl. GST.
In most cases, insurers treat car windscreens as 'special cover'. Some provide it with no loss of no-claim-bonuses, some without applying the policy excess, and some charge an additional premium.
When you ask for a quote, AA Insurance and AMI almost always include cover for windscreens in their price, although if you request they will give you a lower price without windscreen cover. In our comparisons we have identified BNZ (via IAG), NZI, Tower and Westpac as the only companies that provide the cover fully built-in to the policy premium - with these four companies, you can't opt-out.
Headlamps and mirrors
In most cases headlights and mirrors are excluded from the windscreen or glass cover, and this means that they are still insured by the policy but are subject to the excess deduction and loss of the no-claim-bonus. BNZ and NZI do include headlight cover in the windscreen cover - and Vero offers it as an option.
Claim frequency
Related Topics
AA Insurance say that one in ten policyholders claim every year on their windscreen extension cover and claims for windscreen repairs are up 26% in the last 2 years. If you want to check which insurance companies provide this cover then have a look at our comparison pages here.
The prices quoted on this page have windscreen cover included, to allow equivalent comparison.
8 Comments
The reason for the high
The reason for the high number of windscreen claims is our third world road surfaces (coarse chip seal). To make matters worse, when they lay new seal they don't sweep off the loose stones, they just leave them there. If our highways were made from quality materials like they are in most western countries, broken windscreens or stone chips would be a rare occurence.
Note to the Web Master
Note to the Web Master (is that still the term?).
Normally, when I click on a 'blog' entry on the Interest site, I have an option at the top of the page 'Blog' to click to go back to the main blog page.
There is no such option on this page, and I therefore have to go through more steps to find my way back to where I came from.
This is an inconsistency in user interface which is annoying.
I realise I can click 'Back' through the browser toolbar, but I like to click 'Blog' as it means I am taken to a refreshed blog page.
Roads are made on the
Roads are made on the cheap, I use the word made as built would imply some engineering and longevity was part of the process.
"AA Insurance say that one
"AA Insurance say that one in ten policyholders claim every year on their windscreen extension cover and claims for windscreen repairs are up 26% in the last 2 years."
That is very hard to believe..even with the dram increase in revamping our roading infrastructure since 2007
"The reason for the high number of windscreen claims is our third world road surfaces (coarse chip seal)."
No thats rubbish....the reason is because of radial ply tyres....Hence why when the transition from cross ply to radial the side design of cars was changed from a curve under to flat...
I think you will also find that it is stones flicked up from on coming cars now more than following cars....where the offending driver is travelling in excess of recommended speeds..including road works.
and the huge load some of our roads have to take...unlike most other countries most of our roads are built over old peat and unstable limestone land, which is not as stable as in say Europe or US.
Sam_M We're hearing you. We're
Sam_M
We're hearing you.
We're working on a complete redesign of the site that will use all the usual conventions.
What we have here is a bit of a collection of technologies. Not ideal.
Hang in there. We're working to improve things
cheers
Bernard
Sam_M instead of using 1
Sam_M
instead of using 1 instance of your browser, right clk the link and open in new tab
this way the original page is left open and the other pages can be read without going back and forth
I can have 10 to 20 tabs open...I can get thru a lot of routine places very quickly.
And yes BH it is important that certain links open in a new page or tab...but select them carefully from the end user point of view.
Doesnt worry me thu....because I use "new tab " anyway.
I'll tell you what is
I'll tell you what is annoying. Those little cracks on the car's windshields. And whats more annoying is the trucks that causes these. Fortunately, there are cheaper alternatives than having to replace the entire windshield.
I am suprised the it
I am suprised the it is only 10% of windscreens that get replaced each year. I find that 40,000 ks is the life of a windscreen, currently tht is one every 3 years, previously it was an annual replacement. Not having the windscreen extension on a policy in this country is madness.