Of all parts of a car, the windshield is particularly susceptible to damage and chipping. For example, it can break from a blow during an accident or burst from severe frost. In addition, it can simply be broken by attackers. In this regard, many car owners are faced with a situation where it is necessary to replace a part according to CASCO. This procedure has many nuances, which we will talk about today.
Can I get my windshield replaced with insurance? How is the replacement? What kind of glass will be installed instead of the old one? You will learn about this in this article. In addition, we will tell you about the main conditions for replacing glass with a new one, as well as about the types of restrictions that apply to this category of insurance.
Under what conditions can it be replaced?
The CASCO policy, as a rule, implies a choice for the car owner. Compensation for damage can be in the form of compensation or in the form of repair of the vehicle. When contacting the insurance company, you must specifically indicate the reason why the windshield was broken. So, Insured damage cases include:
- Broken glass and cracks. These are damages that occur as a result of hitting the glass with an object, for example, in a collision with another car;
- Large chips. Such damage should reach a size of 3 mm. Often they arise from a sharp temperature drop;
- Scratches and scuffs. If such damage is found, an examination is necessary. If their size does not interfere with the driver's view, then, unfortunately, it will not be possible to replace the windshield according to CASCO.
In the event that the reason for the repair is a change in temperature, the SC may require an appraisal examination. Its results are drawn up in the form of a conclusion and signed by the employees of the organization. Based on this document, the insurer decides whether to replace the glass or reject your application.
The insurance contract usually stipulates a limited number of replacement parts for the car. So, many insurance organizations are ready to supply you with new glasses for free only a few times in a row. All subsequent replacements will be at your expense.
Replacement procedure
Windshield replacement is one of the most popular reasons drivers call for service. However, this case is not the simplest in insurance practice. The fact is that it is rather difficult to prove the cause of glass damage - this applies, first of all, to expensive cars. For, To repair or replace it under insurance, you must follow the following procedure:
- Familiarize yourself with the terms of the contract;
- Collect the documents necessary for applying to CASCO;
- Submit a written application to the company for insurance compensation;
- In case of failure -;
We recommend that you receive compensation as repair work - this way you do not have to look for a repair organization and buy parts yourself. In addition, the insurer is obliged to compensate for the cost of all materials - the glass itself and the rubber seal. But if you still chose cash, then be prepared for the fact that you will have to report to the insurer. This means that you must show him the repaired car within the period specified in the contract. If this condition is not met, then the insurance company may refuse to compensate you for damages upon re-applying.
If the insurer refuses to fulfill its obligation to replace, you have the right to take legal action. If you win the proceedings, he must not only compensate you for the damage caused, but also pay all legal costs.
To receive the compensation specified in the contract, it is necessary to prepare a whole package of documents. So, In addition to a written application to the UK, you must submit:
- A copy of the CASCO policy;
- Driver's license;
- The passport;
- Vehicle registration certificate or PTS;
- Accident protocol or expert opinion (if necessary).
In the event that you have incomplete insurance, the windshield must be replaced in a simplified manner. This means that you do not have to involve traffic police officers to determine the amount of damage.
What will be put in return?
Replacement should be carried out only on the original glass. Installation of an analogue is also allowed - only if this has been agreed in the contract between the client and the insurer. Moreover, the insurance organization is obliged to pay for the replacement of the elements attached to the glass. Without this condition, the repair work will be considered incomplete. In any case, before applying to the UK, you need to carefully read the insurance contract. Pay special attention to the list of risks - the amount of the company's liability in the form of an insurance amount.
It means theft and damage caused as a result of a traffic accident or other situation as insured events. Quite often there are situations when it becomes necessary to replace the windshield: no injuries, stone hit, and so on.
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In what situations, and under what damages, the glass will be changed at the expense of the insurance company, read on.
Types of damage
Currently, experts distinguish the following types of damage to the windshields of a motor vehicle:
- the battle. The glass is broken as a result of some action. Since recovery in such a situation is not possible, a complete replacement of the element is required. Broken glass is an insured event under any circumstances;
- crack. Damage in the form of a crack can occur for two reasons: external influence and a strong temperature difference. External impact on glass refers to insured events and glass replacement is paid within the framework of the concluded contract;
If a crack has started due to a temperature difference, then some problems may arise with the insurance company, since this situation does not apply to insured events. To establish the cause of glass damage, an examination is carried out, the result of which is the basis for an insurance payment or denial of compensation.
- chipped All chips are divided into large (diameter more than 3 mm) and small. A large chip is the basis for glass replacement at the expense of the insurance company;
A small chip is usually considered minor damage. In this situation, the insurer may refuse to pay or send to the service station to restore the damaged part. Modern tools are able to completely eliminate the damage without replacing the glass itself.
- scratches. The need to replace the windshield in the presence of a scratch is determined by the employees of the expert organization. Some scratches, such as those located outside the driver's field of vision, are not recognized as an insured event, as they are minor damage. Larger scratches that block the driver's view are a good reason to replace the glass;
- abrasions. Damage most often occurs in the area where the wipers work and are classified as non-insurable events, as they occur as a result of natural wear and tear.
How are such damages registered in the policy?
All insured events, as a result of which the insurer is obliged to pay compensation, are provided for by the insurance contract concluded between the company and the car owner.
Glass damage in the document is referred to as the replacement of glass elements and repair (replacement) is carried out in accordance with this paragraph.
By glass elements are meant:
- windshield;
- other glass of the car (rear glass, glass on the doors);
- mirrors (excluding the mirror located inside the passenger compartment);
- headlights;
- parking lights;
- turn signals;
- fog lights, if they are provided with the vehicle, and not installed independently.
Depending on the type of insurance, the following situations may arise:
- the car is insured exclusively against theft, therefore, glass replacement is not an insured event;
- the conditions for replacing a windshield under CASCO provide for a limit on the number of insurance payments. Most often, insurance companies make payments upon the occurrence of the first and second cases. In all other cases, replacement or repair must be carried out at your own expense;
- the insurance contract may provide for a simplified scheme for obtaining insurance payment in case of damage to glass elements. The simplified scheme completely eliminates the need to involve traffic police officers;
- . If the deductible amount is more than the amount of damage received, then it is not advisable to apply for an insurance payment, since the costs of the car owner will be much higher than the amount of damage.
Before applying for an insurance payment, it is recommended to carefully read the terms of the insurance contract and, in the event of an insured event, strictly adhere to the scheme proposed by the company, observing not only all the conditions, but also the deadlines.
Conditions for windshield replacement according to CASCO
To replace damaged glass according to CASCO, you must:
- upon detection of damage, call the traffic police crew to the scene of a traffic accident, if the contract does not provide for the possibility of using a simplified scheme;
- notify the insurance company of the occurrence of an insured event within the established time limits;
- submit a written application for insurance compensation;
- provide a car for inspection and / or an independent examination;
- collect the required documents.
If the insured event was registered in the presence of traffic police officers, then the following must be submitted to the insurance company:
- Incident protocol.
- Decree on determination.
- The decision to refuse to initiate a criminal case if the damage was received as a result of the influence of third parties.
- Original insurance policy.
- Civil passport and driver's license.
If the insurance contract provides for the possibility of simplified execution, then the documents described in paragraphs 1-3 are not required. Document 4 is provided exclusively in the specified case.
Thus, in order to receive an insurance payment, you will need to collect the documents provided for in paragraphs 5-7.
How is it happening
After conducting an examination and making a decision on the insurance payment, the owner of the car has the right to choose the method of receiving compensation.
It could be:
- payment for repairs made at a service station. If the warranty period has not expired on the car, then repairs must be carried out at authorized dealers;
- receiving cash.
When choosing the first method of receiving compensation, the repair organization performs the following list of works paid by the insurance company:
- dismantling of glass that has become unusable;
- installation of new glass.
At the same time, the cost of restoration repairs increases by:
- the cost of the glass itself;
- the cost of rubber seals that need to be installed with a quality repair.
If the policyholder receives a payment in cash, then he is obliged to replace the glass himself and present the repaired car for inspection within the established time limits.
Otherwise, the insurance company has the right to refuse to re-pay when the second time occurs.
This is due to a number of factors:
- the insurance company and the repair organization are interested in carrying out repairs in a short time;
- the obligations of the insurance company are considered fulfilled after the signing by the owner of the car of the act of acceptance of the work performed;
If the car owner is not satisfied with the quality of the repair or other aspects, then he has the right to demand the elimination of defects. Upon receipt of a cash payment, all problems are transferred to the owner, and not to the insurance organization.
- carrying out repairs eliminates the need to personally look for a service station, purchase glasses, and so on, which saves personal time.
If the insurance company refuses to replace the glass, which is contrary to the terms of the concluded contract, the policyholder has the right:
- to carry out an independent assessment of the damage at their own expense and determine the need for replacement;
- sue the insurance company.
If the claim is satisfied, the insurer is obliged not only to compensate for the damage caused, but also to pay the costs associated with the examination.
What kind of glass is installed
The insurance contract provides for the replacement of the windshield under CASCO with the original one. The possibility of installing an analogue should be negotiated separately.
If an agreement is not reached between the owner and the insurance company on the installation of a non-original element, or such installation is not provided for by the insurance contract, then the station must install the original glass.
This is a rather important aspect, since the cost of an original element is much higher than the cost of an analogue, but the quality of analogues can be significantly reduced.
These include:
- the presence of a protective laminated layer;
- heating installation;
- factory tinted (glass - chameleons);
- the presence of light protection and so on.
The insurance company is obliged to repair the insured event in full, that is, to restore not only the glass, but also all the elements provided by the manufacturer.
The windshield and other glass elements in the construction of a motor vehicle are insured under CASCO. An exception is an incomplete insurance contract, in which the insured risks are theft and/or total loss.
Many Russian car owners do not know that the driver can claim damages if, for example, a stone has flown into the windshield.
It turns out that such cases are classified as a traffic accident and you can get a payment for OSAGO.
What to do if a stone hits the glass?
Rockfalls happen not only in the mountains, for example, small pebbles on the road from the car in front.
Flying out from under the wheels, they can seriously damage your car. For example, the windshield. Even the most careful driver is not immune from this annoying nuisance. It's just impossible to react. The foreign object strikes at the speed of a bullet.
And now you are already looking at the world from behind cracks, like a spider. Agree, it's not pleasant. Especially in the evening, when the mini-mesh glare and dazzle the driver. After the “surprise” arrives, you pull over to the side of the road or park up to the curb and you face the question - did a stone hit the windshield, what should I do?
However, few people know that the damage can be compensated.
The fact is that, according to the law, hitting the glass with a stone is considered a traffic accident, which means that there is always a victim and a culprit in it.
The service organizations of the public service are responsible for the condition of the roads in a normal state, they are obliged to monitor not only the absence of holes, but also any foreign objects on the canvas.
Received damage by a cobblestone, you can safely demand repairs from the road builders.
It is necessary to fix the fact that the stone flew out from under the wheel and hit the car. If there is a video recorder, it's pretty good - we have video material, if there is no registrar - testimonies of witnesses.
Call traffic police officers to the scene.
We get a damage report.
With this certificate we go to court.
However, if there is a repair on the road and the corresponding signs signal this, then the road builders have nothing to do with it.
If, as a result of the fact that the place was fenced and there were special signs and the driver should not have entered this zone, in accordance with the traffic rules, and the driver drove into this zone and a stone or other object flew out, then insurance will work in this situation.
This means that the driver of the car, from under the wheels of which the ill-fated stone flew out from under the wheels, is recognized as the culprit of the accident. He did not take into account road conditions and allowed an accident. Broken glass, according to OSAGO rules, is obliged to replace it with an insurance company.
The algorithm of actions is the same as, except for the last paragraph. First, we go to the insurance company with an application for an insurance payment, and only if the insurer refuses to pay, then the road to court.
Experts emphasize that it is impossible to save on this procedure. If the thought flashed to put not the original glass, throw this thought out of your head. This is a technically complex, science-intensive product, analogues, as a rule, consist of low-quality materials, they can distort the picture like a lens.
After breaking the windshield with a stone from the road, you must immediately stop and call the traffic police.
During the operation of the car, many of our motorists had cases when an oncoming pebble fell into the windshield. From this, not only a crack can occur, but the entire windshield can be covered with a dense mesh, after which it will only have to be changed. In this article, we will tell you how it will be possible to receive compensation to the owner of a car for a broken windshield.
Since the insurance company pays compensation for a crack or a broken windshield, after such an event, you must immediately stop the car, turn on the hazard warning lights, install an emergency stop sign and call. This case of an oncoming stone hitting the windshield must be registered as a traffic accident by traffic police inspectors.
We remind you that in the rules of the road a stone hitting a car is considered a traffic accident. Accordingly, in order to recognize this case as insurance, it is necessary to register an accident by the traffic police. Only in this way it will be possible to achieve compensation for the received damage to the car under the CASCO insurance policy. Previously, compensation for a broken windshield could also be obtained under an OSAGO policy. However, recently even the courts refuse to do so, referring to the decision of the Supreme Court of Russia.
Bad windshield break precedent
Recently, the Supreme Court of Russia considered a case in which the windshield of a car was broken by a stone that flew out from under the wheels of a truck. The court's decision was to return the driver's license to the person who drove the car. This was done despite the fact that, according to the traffic police, the person who drove the truck left the scene without waiting for the traffic police. According to the current traffic rules, this case is considered as a traffic accident and requires registration by the traffic police. In this case, the truck driver was charged with leaving the scene of an accident.
And it was like this, on June 29, 2015, in the Kursk region near the village of Dukhovets, a stone flew out from under the wheel of a passing truck and hit the windshield of a passenger car. The impact left a large crack in the windshield. Traffic police officers drew up a protocol on the commission of an accident, in which the driver of the truck was named guilty, a stone flew out from under the wheels and broke the windshield of the passenger car. At the same time, he was charged with leaving the scene of an accident. This protocol was submitted to the court. After that, the court of first instance deprived the truck driver of the rights for one year. The appeal of this decision reached the Supreme Court of Russia, which qualified this situation in a completely different way and returned the driver's license to the truck driver.
A broken windshield is considered an accident.
According to article 2 of the law on road safety and paragraph 1.2 of the traffic rules, according to which a traffic accident is an event that occurred during the movement of a vehicle on the road with its participation and in which people were injured or died, the vehicle was damaged , structures, cargo or any other material damage. According to paragraph 1.2 of the traffic rules, the case cited by us was not a traffic accident, since it occurred due to circumstances beyond the control of the driver. The driver did not perform any actions that could lead to this accident. This is the decision made by the Supreme Court of Russia. According to the Supreme Court of Russia, a truck driver could not foresee that a stone would fly out from under the wheel of his vehicle and hit the windshield of a car following him
As a result, this situation was not interpreted as a traffic accident, the driver's license was returned to the truck driver. Accordingly, any cases when a stone flies out from under the wheels of a passing car and breaks the windshield of the car following it are considered an accident only for the victim. The driver of the first car will not be prosecuted. It turns out that the driver of the first car was not required to stop to draw up a protocol on a traffic accident.
Evidence of the fact of violation when breaking the windshield with a stone
In our country, there may be cases when it will be possible to prove in court that the driver of the first car from under the wheels of which a stone flew out was still guilty. This may be in cases where the driver was driving his car on the side of the road, overtaking you. Such a maneuver is prohibited by the rules of the road. Also, in the case when the driver of the first car overtakes on the repaired section of the road, without reducing the speed as it should, there will be a violation of traffic rules. Such behavior of the driver can be considered recklessness. In addition, the Supreme Court of Russia has recently deprived the driving license of a scorcher who made a dangerous maneuver, after which the second car crashed into a tree. Then the court considered that the reckless driver left the scene of a traffic accident, and deprived him of his driver's license.
According to CASCO, you can achieve compensation for a broken windshield.
How to get CASCO compensation for a broken windshield
It will be possible to receive insurance compensation for a broken windshield on the road only under the CASCO insurance policy. To do this, it will be necessary to call the traffic police and draw up a traffic accident by drawing up a protocol. After that, with all the documents from the traffic police, you will need to contact the insurance company with a statement about the insured event. Depending on the insurance contract, a certificate in form F3 may be required. Do not forget that under a standard CASCO policy, glass body elements can be replaced several times during one period of validity of the insurance contract.
Anything can happen on the road, and anything can happen. In this article, we will analyze the situation, what to do if a stone hits the windshield and everything connected with it. There can be many situations and conditions on this topic, for example, the presence or absence of a CASCO insurance policy.
If a stone hits your windshield while driving:
In this situation, you must remain calm and the first thing to do is to stop on the side of the road, turn on the emergency light alarm, set an emergency stop sign, inform the traffic police about what happened and preferably also inform the insurance company. No matter how ridiculous it may sound, but this must be done, since this incident is a traffic accident. And in case of an accident, the driver is obliged to do the above, unless, of course, you want to repair your car according to CASCO. However, in some insurance companies, windshields are changed without certificates (with “full CASCO” insurance), on the condition that only the windshield is damaged.
Arriving traffic police officers will issue an accident and give you the following documents:
- certificate in form 154;
- protocol;
- determination decision.
After that, you will need to come with a set of documents to the insurance company, and write a statement about the insured event.
If you only have an OSAGO policy, then the insurance company is unlikely to help you, since the culprit most likely fled (or simply didn’t understand that he damaged your car) and you have no evidence of someone’s fault.
If you find damage to the car after a while:
Imagine a situation - you washed your car and found chips or scratches, the origin of which you do not know. In this situation, you need to call the police, as the traffic police will no longer help you (and may even deprive you of your driver's license with reference to that you fled the scene of an accident!). Having beaten on a call, the police officers represented by the district police officer will inspect your car, take from you: a statement, explanations (where, when, and under what circumstances you found damage to the car).
Documents that are required for the insurance company in this case:
- Notice coupon - you need to get it on the day you filed a police report, even if it happened at night (otherwise, if you apply for a coupon the next day, they won’t give it to you, since coupons are issued day to day);
- Help in the form F-3;
- Decision to initiate or refuse to initiate a criminal case.
As a result, after which you will need to come with a set of documents to the insurance company, and write a statement about the insured event.
We wish you good luck on the road!
