Glass damage is casco's most common minor annoyance: a stone kicked up from behind a lorry, and there's a star crack in the windscreen already. Precisely because it happens so often, many policies handle it with a separate rule – and precisely because of that, it's worth checking how before you sign.
- Glass damage often has its own separate deductible rule in the policy – typically more favourable than the general deductible.
- The repair vs replacement question is a money question: a small chip can often be repaired – faster, and easier on the deductible.
- Calibrating camera- and sensor-equipped windscreens is part of a replacement – which is why glass damage has become one of the costlier items in recent years.
What counts as glass damage?
Typically, breaking or cracking of the vehicle's glass: the windscreen, side and rear windows – how mirrors, a panoramic roof, and headlight lenses are classified depends on the policy. It's worth checking the borderline cases: a headlight, for instance, is often covered under collision cover rather than glass damage, which matters because of the deductible.
The deductible quirks – typically
Glass damage is the area where policies often set a more favourable deductible rule than the general one – for instance, a discounted or separate glass deductible, sometimes waived entirely for a repair. The exact arrangements vary by insurer and change over time, so we won't quote figures here – but the glass rule gets its own row in the comparison table: between two similarly priced offers, this can be a real point of difference. On how the deductible works in general: deductible logic.
Repair or replacement – and calibration
A small chip outside the driver's line of sight can often be fixed with resin repair – faster, cheaper, and typically treated more favourably by the policy. A cracked windscreen, or damage within the line of sight, calls for a replacement; on a modern car this also involves calibrating cameras and sensors, which pushes up the cost considerably – which is why glass cover has grown in importance. The practical steps of a replacement: windscreen replacement, step by step.
Got a star crack in your windscreen, or just want to know where you'd stand with a glass claim? book a free 20-minute consultation →
