If I put in a claim for my broken auto glass, won't my rates go up?
The vast majority of insurance companies will tell you over the phone that your rates won't go up for putting in a comprehensive claim. Because these chips and cracks are unrelated to your driving skills, they fall under comprehensive insurance. Some insurance companies refer to comprehensive insurance as "act of nature" or "act of God" incidents because they are not the driver's fault.
Most insurance companies will waive your deductible and pay for your windshield repair. They do this to help avoid costly replacement of your windshield should the damaged area spread to the point where repair is not recommended. Which means that this service comes totally FREE to you.
Are you talking to your insurance company or a windshield manufacturing and replacement company?
Many insurance companies use a free order taking and billing service to handle their auto glass only claims. Two examples of such services are the Safelite Glass Network and Lynx Services. These services are owned by large auto glass manufacturing companies that do the claim filing in exchange for being routed the majority of the calls.
If you don't have a auto glass shop in mind, they will set you up with a auto glass shop of their own. This is why they provide these services for free - to get thousands of jobs. Often times it is unclear whether you are talking to your own insurance company or a representative from one of these auto glass companies.
You, the customer, have the right by law to choose any auto glass shop you feel comfortable doing business with. You can not be told or coerced by your insurance company to use a specific shop to their liking. This practice is called steering and is against the law. Windshield Repair only shops Vs. Windshield replacement and repair shops. How do you think those glass shops doing both replacement and repairs are making their money? Thats right, the replacement side. Why would they repair or do quality windshield repairs when they could turn that repair into a replacement and earn more. So your asking yourself, I'm getting my windshield repaired by these guys, will my repair hold up or fail so they can replace it instead. Hmmm! Now for the windshield repair only shops. They know thats how they're putting the dinner on their table that night. They're specialized in doing windshield repairs only. What else is there to say? If insurance is not the way you would like to pursue, then please check out our affordable prices.
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