If you have recently had your windscreen repaired by a specialist technician., do you have to declare it to your insurers? We answer this question, as well as pointing you towards the right help, in this article.
Whether you undergo a full windscreen replacement or receive a visit from our mobile windscreen replacement/repair team, you need to know where you stand. A windscreen repair does count as a claim on your insurance, since it repairs the structural integrity of the car. You have a duty to the DVLA to drive a car you know to be safe and sound for the road. Driving with a chipped or damaged windscreen could get you into serious trouble in the event of an accident. Let’s investigate whether repairing or replacing your windscreen is something you need to tell your insurer about.
Why You Should Always Repair Your Windscreen?
Try as we might to protect our windscreens, they can chip or crack through no fault of our own. When the worst happens, you need to know where you stand. Is it a free repair if you go through your insurance company? Remember, this counts as an insurance claim and could raise future premiums. Regardless of how you do it, you must repair that chip in the windscreen. Otherwise, it risks becoming a crack.
What’s so Bad About a Cracked Windscreen?
A cracked windscreen means that your car is not safe to drive. The windscreen is made from three layers. When you hire an excellent mobile windscreen repair service like ours, we repair the damage to all three layers of windscreen. This returns your windscreen to full structural integrity. This area of the car is stressed, meaning that cracks affect the tension in your vehicle. Like removing a supporting wall, a chip is a bad idea. We can repair the chip quickly. The whole windscreen takes far longer.
Do You Have to Declare a Damaged Windscreen?
You do not have to declare a damaged windscreen to the DVLA. This assumes that you will get it fixed. If you do not get it fixed, the vehicle remains unroadworthy. If the vehicle is in a state where it would fail an MOT, you should not drive it. A cracked windscreen would fail an MOT.
Do You Have to Declare a Repaired Windscreen?
If you have repaired your windscreen in the last five years through your insurer, you will have to declare this when switching insurer. This is because repairing a windscreen can count as a claim on your insurance. You do not have to report this to the DVLA, nor will it impact your ability to pass the MOT.
Do You Have to Declare a Replacement Windscreen?
The rules here are similar for a repair. You may need to declare it to your newest insurer, but you should not need to declare a windscreen replacement to the DVLA. Provided the job has been handled professionally, it should not impact your MOT.
Read our windscreen care tips now