If you have a crack on your windshield and you also have comprehensive insurance, there’s no reason why you should live with the damage. Insurance companies usually process windshield cracks very quickly and cheaply.
Any repair items that insurance companies quickly approve, though, are scam magnets for low-quality repair businesses. They often try to make a quick buck by doing shoddy repairs and then submitting high-value bills to insurance companies. The Auto Glass Replacement Safety Standards Council estimates that one out of five cars on the road had improperly installed or repaired windshields.
Scammers are able to pass off their shoddy work because car owners don’t usually think that windshields are important. They wouldn’t be this casual about accepting shoddy brake repairs, for instance. A windshield, though, is more than just a window. It offers a number of vital safety features.
1. Modern windshields are made of super strong glass. In the event of a rollover, the windshield actually acts as loadbearing support for the entire car sitting on it. A poorly made or fitted windshield would shatter and cause the rolled over car to come crashing down on the occupants inside.
2. A good proportion of the injuries that occupants sustain during crashes occur when they are ejected from their vehicle. An intact windshield keeps this from happening. Not only do you need to make sure that you quickly replace a cracked windshield, you need to make sure that the body shop does a professional job.
3. Modern airbag systems depend on strong windshields to work properly, especially on the passenger side. Passenger-side airbags that don’t have the windshield to bounce off can deploy skyward instead of at the passenger. Also, since airbags deploy with extreme force, they can easily dislodge a poorly mounted windscreen and cause additional injuries.
There are more than 10 million windshields replaced in America each year. The fact that insurance companies easily pay for them makes windshield replacement fraud big business.
You can always find shady windshield repairmen and dealers hanging outside gas stations and shopping malls pitching for business. If you see that your windshield is damaged, you should call your insurance company and ask for the name of a good repair shop.
Make sure that you don’t go with businesses that have no physical address (many dealers work out of the van). Also make sure that any business you deal with gives you a written warranty.
Most of the time, car insurance companies don’t raise your rates for making windshield replacement claims. You just need to pay a small deductible (unless your policy provides for a $100 deductible to make the policy cheaper overall). In some states like Florida and South Carolina, the law requires car insurance companies to not charge a deductible for any kind of glass replacement. This is in recognition of how important glass is to driver safety.