Although it is required for all drivers to have some type of auto insurance on their vehicle, many states only require people to have the minimum coverage. In California you can get minimum liability insurance that will cover incidences where you are at fault. For instance, if you get into a collision with another driver and you are at fault, then your liability insurance will cover the damages to the other party’s vehicle. As for your own, well that’s exactly right, you are on your own.
Liability (minimum coverage)
Now imagine you are driving down the road behind a pickup. Suddenly, a rock flies out the bed of the truck and cracks your windshield. The driver obviously doesn’t know what has happened and continues driving down the highway. What do you do? Shouldn’t the driver of the truck pay for the windshield that they broke? Well technically yes, they should be responsible for fixing your windshield. At this point however, what are you going to do? Follow the driver and wait until he stops, go tell them that they broke your windshield and demand payment? Unfortunately, this probably will not work out in your favor and unless you have a dashcam, you have no evidence of the incident. This is where comprehensive insurance comes into effect.
Comprehensive Insurance
If you don’t have it already, comprehensive insurance might be the best option if you want to avoid the situation described above. Comprehensive insurance covers damages that could occur that are not related to a collision. Many insurance companies cover auto glass repair/replacement as part of your comprehensive plan. Depending on your vehicle, windshield replacement can be a hefty cost. Often, the insurance company will require you to pay a deductible on the replacement, and depending on what that deductible is, it might save you hundreds of dollars on a new windshield. Fortunately, when it comes to chip repair, a lot of insurance companies will waive this deductible, and this could even be the case for windshield replacement. It all has to do with your vehicle type, your insurance company, and the type of incident where damage occurred. Using comprehensive insurance will generally not increase your rates because it is covering things that are out of your control. If this damage was caused during a crash however, it would not be covered by your comprehensive insurance. Instead, it would fall into the collision insurance category.
Collision
Collision insurance can also be something to consider. Now generally if you are involved in an accident, it should be the party who is at fault that is responsible for the damages. However, if you are hit by an uninsured driver or are a victim of a hit and run, then it can be very difficult to seek these reparations. Collision insurance will cover any type of damages that are caused by an accident that occurred like these or even if the collision was your fault. It is important that if you were involved in a collision and you want to have a windshield replacement that you look at your deductible and consider the possibility of insurance rates increasing if you are at fault.
Final thoughts
The purpose of this blog is to let our customers know how insurance works. Many times, we have customers who are afraid to use their comprehensive insurance because they don’t want their rates to go up. In some cases, using comprehensive insurance might not be the best option for you because your deductible is higher than the cost of installing an aftermarket windshield. To make the best decision it is important that you understand how your coverage works and decide if you want to file a claim.
At Apex Auto Glass and Tinting, we will walk our customers through the decision-making process and help them decide if using insurance is the best move for them. If they do decide to use insurance, we will even walk our customers through the process to file a claim online. If our customers have a high deductible, we will always try to let them know if they could pay a lower cost for an aftermarket windshield.
