Enigmasdream
New Member
Woke up to find some wasak has decided to smash one of the rear barn door windows. Now im in a quandry...how much to replace..can i trust the windoew to stay intact when driving. Who can replace it asap. Any ideas please
The little s****s smashed my window
- Thread starter Enigmasdream
- Start date
Inform your insurer and make a glass claim. If they ask, it happened whilst driving and just went spang (don't mention vandalism/attempted theft) - hopefully you won't lose your NCB. They'll put you in touch with their preferred glass replacement company and you can take advice from them.
That doesn't look like vandalism to me. More likely the window glass has failed around the edge, maybe caused by temperature, pressure or stress. I've seen similar before. If it was vandalism I'd expect it to have been put through more in the centre of the window with an inward depression or, if fully broken, glass fragments in the inside of the van.
Even better - a genuine glass claim.
I’d be careful slamming a door let alone driving it. If its been tinted with film thats probably holding it together.
If you need to use it I’d be inclined to open the door. Mask / sheet down the inside and out and knock it all out. Gaffa tape / plastic the hole and speak to your insurers.
A few years ago I saw a car parked up on a newly gritted road (tar/surface dressing) with the rear window smashed. Simply a flicked up stone.
You can also get inclusions in the glass, a tiny fault, that can suddenly cause the window to shatter.
If you need to use it I’d be inclined to open the door. Mask / sheet down the inside and out and knock it all out. Gaffa tape / plastic the hole and speak to your insurers.
A few years ago I saw a car parked up on a newly gritted road (tar/surface dressing) with the rear window smashed. Simply a flicked up stone.
You can also get inclusions in the glass, a tiny fault, that can suddenly cause the window to shatter.
There is no obvious mark in the dirt on the glass and if it was someone trying to prize it off you’d see a mark on the door.
Seems thermal/pressure related.
The vans are apparently quite well sealed- mine came with both high level brake lights cracked. I assumed overtightened but when getting prices for new the local van centre said they pop when doors are shut due to air pressure. Thought he was talking out of his arse but even though I didn’t overtighten the new genuine ones they’ve gone again so I guess he was onto something. I do have to slam the drivers door twice to shut it when I get in. I should remember to open the window in future.
I wouldn't tell the insurance company anything especially the way prices go up every year. I know people will say it's protected but it'll stil rise because your more of risk than the what the computer said you were at the start of your policy. I asked on behalf of my mum a few years back and they said it would go up because I had informed them about the damage. If it's the same cost as your excess then just pay it out and tell the insurance nothing.
I once called our insurance when I saw someone back into our car and drive off. On checking the car I decided to leave the minor scuff and cancelled the claim. This was about five years ago. Getting insurance this year I renewed online, filling in the usual details, only to be told it wasn’t possible and to phone them to complete the process. The chap on the phone said ‘I can see your completed form but you didn’t admit to your previous claim’. I told them no claim was made, no pay out etc but apparently it still counts!
The theiving sods will always find a way to take extra money.
@Enigmasdream, only you know what the glass excess is on your policy and how you value the convenience of getting your glass replaced rapidly, versus having to source the glass yourself, finding someone to fit it for you and then waiting until they can fit you in.
Just be aware that, provided there's no other bodywork damage, insurers won't increase your premium for a single glass claim and you won't lose your NCB. You'll always get dissenting voices re insurers/insurance, as above, and these are usually based on misconceptions and false expectations.
Just be aware that, provided there's no other bodywork damage, insurers won't increase your premium for a single glass claim and you won't lose your NCB. You'll always get dissenting voices re insurers/insurance, as above, and these are usually based on misconceptions and false expectations.
This looks more like deliberate damage to me:
Enigmasdream
New Member
Thanks for all the responses. I rang insurance and excess is 100 so will get it fix on wed. Im furious. But now got to work out to to make it safe as already bits are falling out and now have a big hole in middle but need to drive to work etc
I’ll ring my insurers back and tell them although they didn’t pay anything or send/receive any forms for a claim, and despite no work being needed or indeed carried out, I was mistaken to think I therefore hadn’t actually made a claim and am happy for the increase in premiums going forward.
Is it a misconception to assume if no work was done and no money paid then there wasn’t a claim? I always understood claim (not merely a notification of an issue you didn’t want to pursue) meant you were claiming something?
@Lubrown I'd be very wary and careful... I reported an incident a number of years ago as thought that's what you were meant to do... Then got quotes which amassed to a few hundred pounds. I tried then to say I didn't want to claim and would cover repair myself but was told because I had phoned it in I needed to go through with. Needless to say after paying excess and insurance going up for number of years I was more than peeved off. No doubt the insurance gurus will be along here to advise or correct me!
It’s the fact I rang them back within an hour and said there isn’t a mark on it, it requires no work… and therefore nothing further happened. Plus no insurance company mentioned it for the next four years!
And if you google ‘claim definition in insurance’ this is the top result…
“An insurance claim is a formal request by a policyholder to an insurance company for coverage or compensation for a covered loss or policy event. The insurance company validates the claim and, once approved, issues payment to the insured or an approved interested party on behalf of the insured.”
No validation or approval was made, no forms were sent or signed, no work done and no money moving anywhere.
I’d understand if they said ‘you notified us of an event on this date’ (they had the specific date on file) but they insisted I had claimed. This is what I find odd. Their remedy was to request a letter saying a claim wasn’t made - that’s what I have done but its fallen on deaf ears so far. With most insurers just asking about the previous five years claim history (when getting and accepting policy quotes) in theory it won’t be an issue at the next renewal. Will wait and see.
Certainly a mistake ringing them without inspecting the car first. Think it was the rage of seeing someone hit it then drive off. Lesson learnt there.
If you read carefully the questions insurers ask about claims, they almost certainly refer to claims made, losses suffered and incidents that have occurred. Your expectation that not claiming for an incident is, for the insurer, equivalent to no incident having occurred is, I'm afraid, false. From an insurer's viewpoint, the fact that the incident occurred is germane - in simple terms, the fact that someone backed into your driveway and damaged your car means that the risk of it happening again is higher when compared with someone for whom this has not happened.
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