So, my newest addition to my small fleet of cars (see here) has a badly cracked windshield. Luckily it doesn't interfere with visibility much if at all so I can probably ignore it- but it is something that should be fixed before I run the car around the cones or possibly take it down to the Challenge.
Now, I know that where I live- Kentucky- is somewhat unique in that there are provisions to require for insurance to replace your windshield and waive the deductible. But, I don't know any of the details behind it- what kind of coverage you're required to have, and whether or not the fact that I just bought the car would prevent me from using this (and if so, how long would I have to wait).
Anybody have the inside scoop on this, or at least experience with it? Thanks!
wae
UltraDork
3/4/20 4:16 p.m.
I've made a handful of claims on my insurance for glass. You need to have comprehensive coverage on the vehicle and they won't charge you a deductible. With my company, they have a claims department just for glass claims which is actually outsourced to Safelite. You can use their own provider or get your own.
The problem that you have is that even if you buy comprehensive coverage on the car right now, the breakage didn't happen during the time when the car was covered by that insurance policy. Part of the process is for them to ask you when the loss occurred so the only way to get it covered would be to lie and tell them that the crack happened after you had coverage.
Cooter
UberDork
3/4/20 5:32 p.m.
You can't insure for damage after it has already happened.
I just ran a quote on safelite for a windsheild on a 2001 330ci. $245 for a new replacement with mobile service. Doesn't seem worth risking insurance fraud to avoid that cost.
You don't have to tell them about the crack that happened before insurance. Just tell them the truth about the crack that happened AFTER getting coverage. A big crack.
wae
UltraDork
3/4/20 9:23 p.m.
Yeah... Still insurance fraud.
If you Safelite, or anyone else for that matter, make sure your automatic lights work after they change it.
They messed up mines and they do not work anymore.
And I hate to break it to you but this site is public and very well indexed and ranked on Google.
wae said:
Yeah... Still insurance fraud.
How? I'm honestly telling them that it broke after I got the coverage. The fact it was broken before is irrelevant. If I have a dent in my car, and then I get in a wreck that totals the car they don't deduct from the pay out because there was a dent there. It's insured for what it's worth.
_ said:
wae said:
Yeah... Still insurance fraud.
How? I'm honestly telling them that it broke after I got the coverage. The fact it was broken before is irrelevant. If I have a dent in my car, and then I get in a wreck that totals the car they don't deduct from the pay out because there was a dent there. It's insured for what it's worth.
Actually they do deduct for prior damage. If you get hit in front, and the car is totaled, they will deduct the payout for the dented rear that had nothing to do with the accident.
I have no idea what "honestly telling them it broke after I got the coverage" even means when it was broken before you insured it? That's like trying to buy life insurance after the terminal disease diagnosis, it doesn't work that way. If it did, why buy insurance at all, just call geico after you get into a wreck.
wae
UltraDork
3/5/20 7:58 a.m.
_ said:
wae said:
Yeah... Still insurance fraud.
How? I'm honestly telling them that it broke after I got the coverage. The fact it was broken before is irrelevant. If I have a dent in my car, and then I get in a wreck that totals the car they don't deduct from the pay out because there was a dent there. It's insured for what it's worth.
If the insurance company had knowledge of that pre-existing damage, though, they would pro-rate the value of the car to account for that, would they not? Because it was worth less before the loss because of that dent.
The inferrence I made from your statement is that the general plan wouldn't be to just wait for another un-related crack to happen. If that is not what you implied, my apologies for misconstruing your statement. But to be clear in this case Bob's going to get an insurance policy on the car that includes glass insurance. That policy will not cover any loss (damage) to the vehicle that happened before the effective date/time of that policy. So if he wants to have the insurance company replace the windshield as part of the policy, there are three options:
- Lie to the insurance company about when the damage happened (insurance fraud)
- Puposefully damage the windshield and file a claim (very likely insurance fraud - most policies won't cover intentional damage)
- Drive around with the cracked windshield until another crack appears naturally somewhere else (kind of a grey area)
All that said, you do you but personally, my integrity is worth more then a few hundred bucks.
Slippery said:
If you Safelite, or anyone else for that matter, make sure your automatic lights work after they change it.
They messed up mines and they do not work anymore.
I don't think mine has automatic lights (or if it does, I don't know how they work). When I went through the quote process it asked about auto-sensing wipers (which I don't have) and thermal-tinted glass (again, don't think so) but nothing about automatic lights.
wae largely answered this in the first comment, so I'll just be waiting a bit and paying to have the windshield replaced down the line when I don't also need to get all the parts for the work I need to do on the Infiniti (Safelite sent a coupon after I went through the quote process but didn't pull the trigger, so it would be almost exactly $200- assuming they don't send an even better one while I wait).
There are definitely situations/laws I'm willing to be a bit flexible on (usually involving notarizing signatures when transferring vehicles), but I'm not good with lying to commit fraud (even when it comes to massive corporations whose services I have needed only once that I can think of since I've been on my own- and that wasn't for a car...).
