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windscreen chips


ProfGlenn
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Hi.  I have noticed a tiny windscreen chip tonight.  Yesterday I was inspecting another suspected chip and it turned out to be tree sap.  But this one isn't.

I scratched my fingernail against this thinking it would also be tree sap and small amounts of debris came away and I am wondering if i made the chip any worse.  It is way down at the bottom of the screen near the windscreen wipers and it about 2mm in diameter (if that) and not deep.....there seems to be conflicting advice on this online.  Here is a photo with the chip in the centre of the photo. I realise I haven't drawn a scale but it's no more than a couple of mm.  

Does it need repairing and if I use a "free service" will it affect my no claims?? 

Thanks

Glenn

BfJdCQ1.jpg

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My car insurance company, LV, has a scheme where a claim, even for a new screen does not affect no claim. For £20 I can have the screen repaired, or for £100 I can have a new screen. 

It happened in my Prius, just after I got it, I contacted LV windscreen people (a big national company), was requested to send photo and a sketch of where it was, a technician came out, I chose a repair, all done in about 45 minutes. I didnt chose a new windscreen because it was only a small chip, but more because the Prius windscreen has a camera and other bits, some need re calibrating after new windscreen fitted. I can see the chip because I know where it is, but others cant. Have a look at your policy carefully.  Even phone your insurer and ask questions if you not sure.

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4 minutes ago, Catlover said:

My car insurance company, LV, has a scheme where a claim, even for a new screen does not affect no claim. For £20 I can have the screen repaired, or for £100 I can have a new screen. 

It happened in my Prius, just after I got it, I contacted LV windscreen people (a big national company), was requested to send photo and a sketch of where it was, a technician came out, I chose a repair, all done in about 45 minutes. I didnt chose a new windscreen because it was only a small chip, but more because the Prius windscreen has a camera and other bits, some need re calibrating after new windscreen fitted. I can see the chip because I know where it is, but others cant. Have a look at your policy carefully.  Even phone your insurer and ask questions if you not sure.

Thanks very much.  The schedule says £25 excess and £15 if I use their repairer.....but I don’t know if I ask them they will force me to do it....and it’s so tiny!

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Hi Glenn.

As a rule as I understand it apart from your initial excess to get the chip repaired by say Autoglass, just phone them and they do all the insurance bit as you insurance company would prefer to pay a small amount for a resin chip repair rather than a more expensive complete windscreen job a a later date.

I know from experience a tiny chip now at this time of year when it gets cold, snowy and the heater blower goes on the tiny chip can easily develop into a crack which will expand into a much larger as you go over pot holes/speed bumps.

So to save themselves money they'd rather pay for a resin repair now than a total winscreen in say 6 months done.

If I were you i'd get it done now and pay your small excess and save yourself and often they will come to your house or even your place of work to do the chip.

Good Luck. Mike.

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9 hours ago, ProfGlenn said:

Thanks very much.  The schedule says £25 excess and £15 if I use their repairer.....but I don’t know if I ask them they will force me to do it....and it’s so tiny!

What is your concern in having it chip repaired?  

It is not self healing. Mike169 is spot on when he says the potential is there for that chip to all of a sudden one day expand into a crack(s). What you going to do then when you miles away from anywhere, it could cost your insurance company many hundreds of pounds, or more, which they would not be happy with and even possibly try to avoid paying on the basis a chip is one thing but for you to ignore it is self inflicted wounds which you could be liable for. Apart from that, all the aggro you will have being stuck, can’t move, who pays for being taken away for repair, no windscreen in stock, waiting for couple days, accommodation etc.

Think it through. For £15 you got peace of mind your windscreen is in a safe secure condition.

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IIRC there are rules about what can be repaired with such as resin, also dependent upon whereabouts the damage is located, and it's severity.  There's certainly an area of windscreen in front of the driver where there are restrictions on repair, but the OPs description suggests this won't apply in his case.  There was a small filled repair on a 3 year old car I bought, still there causing no trouble when car was scrapped 17-18 years later.

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2 hours ago, Catlover said:

What is your concern in having it chip repaired?  

It is not self healing. Mike169 is spot on when he says the potential is there for that chip to all of a sudden one day expand into a crack(s). What you going to do then when you miles away from anywhere, it could cost your insurance company many hundreds of pounds, or more, which they would not be happy with and even possibly try to avoid paying on the basis a chip is one thing but for you to ignore it is self inflicted wounds which you could be liable for. Apart from that, all the aggro you will have being stuck, can’t move, who pays for being taken away for repair, no windscreen in stock, waiting for couple days, accommodation etc.

Think it through. For £15 you got peace of mind your windscreen is in a safe secure condition.

i guess it seems over the top for what it is - most cars must have tiny chips like this- no?  I guess I am minded to try and wait until something actually needs doing?  But sounds like you think all chips should be fixed, no matter how small?

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I rang the insurer who put mw through to Authoglass who took all the details and once they found out the chip was smaller than 3mm, they said they wouldn't repair it.

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I have a spider web crack, i think 7mm, got it as a gift in february, fixed next day, was a bit afraid to turn on heating full blast during cold weather, because it's low and close to the defrosting part, but did not spread, and i wont be changing the windshield because of it.

If you are irritated by it, there are numerous topics of people who had windshields replaced badly, so they had internal water leaks, or fixed it, only to get another chip in 2 weeks.

I fixed it locally for 15 GBP, done in 60 minutes.

Your chip looks to be on the outside layer only, so you should be safe. They can put resin on it, and make it look pretty, but a power wash can dislodge it (happened to me, but it was tiny spec, like 1mm).

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Be aware that while most policies don't hit the NCD for windscreen repair/replacement, they can affect the renewal premium (but not normally too much) and you are required to inform other companies of the repair/replacement if you get a quote.

If they will do it, it's worth getting the chip repair done (IMHO) because it reduces (but does not eliminate) the chance of it turning into a larger crack, but also in the event the crack spreads after the repair, some companies (like Autoglass) vow to do the replacement free of charge.

I had a small star shaped crack on my last car (a Gen 4 Prius) and my Insurer (Direct Line) preferred Autoglass.  They repaired it for £10 excess and said the repair was guaranteed as long as I owned the car, and if a larger crack emanated from the same place, they would replace to screen FOC.  If they'd replaced the screen first time, the excess would have been £75.

A few months later the crack grew until it covered over half the width of the screen.  I was worried about the extra work around the safety sensors, but I elected to give them a try as:

  1. it was free! (under their crack repair warranty)
  2. my dealer said with the extra work around the sensors (including a new housing for them) their total cost would be around £600 (if I used a company other than my insurer's recommended one, they would only pay up to £150).

I needn't have worried.  Autoglass used a genuine Toyota windscreen, calibration of the car's camera and sensors was a piece of cake, all done in their workshop in one 2-hour visit (if it hadn't needed the safety system work they could have fitted the screen at home).  Their technician was very impressive and polite (and he was quite knowledgeable about the features of the latest Prius!).

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If you don't have it repaired it can be a fail on Mot. Autoglass are great. There's a size limit for a repair in the driver's view of something like 10mm beyond which they won't repair it, but however small it is, it's worth getting it done

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