Cracked Windscreen - Long delay to fix - options?

[Cilonen]

Cracked my windscreen friday, logged with Autoglass who have ordered one but cant give an estimate on when they can offer me an appointment.

Logged with tesla via the app on Monday, booked in today being replaced. £683 inc vat.

Anyone got any experience with Churchill paying up more than the measly £125 they are offering? Anyone have an email address for them? You ring and follow the prompts for windscreen and they tell you to ring autoglass and hang up...

[email protected]

They've been quite good about covering the cost fully, bar the normal £75 excess, for many people - but you do have to push them.
They have a dedicated "glass" team which you can be put through to, just follow the normal "make a new claim" selection rather than the glass selection (which will give you Autoglass' no.). The claim adviser will then transfer you.

If you want to email, the address is above. A copy of the email I sent is below (I had spoken to them prior). Hope it helps!


Registration: xxxxxxx

Further to my telephone conversation this afternoon (approx. 14.35) with your claims adviser, please find attached the estimate for the glass replacement from Tesla.

As discussed via telephone, Autoglass have advised after 1 month (reported 7th April) that they have no stock of glass, and no idea when they will receive stock. Tesla have confirmed that they have the glass and can fit it next week.

Given that your chosen supplier (Autoglass) are unable to provide the service, I would expect that you will honour the normal excess terms for glass replacement as I have no option but to go with another supplier in this instance, or continue to drive for an unknown period with damaged glass which is progressively worsening. I am aware from the Tesla owners groups that Churchill have honoured these terms for other drivers in my situation.


I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

 

[TFSMotorsport]

With Churchill too, you need to go through to the claims (not windscreen) and speak with them to get the go ahead to go directly with tesla, I have been waiting with Churchill/Autoglass since January and now waiting with Tesla since June. The crack is all the way across the screen .

 

[ACarneiro]

Quite sure. They will pay up to £125 for a 'non approved supplier'. Basically, £200 minus £75 excess.

Ouch. LV have told me over the phone they’d cover the whole thing (I hope they honour their word! Fully expecting some form of shenanigans)
6 months waiting and counting…

 

[Neilman]

Cracked my windscreen friday, logged with Autoglass who have ordered one but cant give an estimate on when they can offer me an appointment.

Logged with tesla via the app on Monday, booked in today being replaced. £683 inc vat.

Anyone got any experience with Churchill paying up more than the measly £125 they are offering? Anyone have an email address for them? You ring and follow the prompts for windscreen and they tell you to ring autoglass and hang up...

I've been in that exact situation - glass busted extensively mid-January waited for Autoglass to change their weekly "sorry no glass" message up to mid May then decided enough was enough and got Tesla to replace. Prior to Tesla's repair Churchill were still insisting on £200 - £75 excess.
In my case the long wait was clearly absurd so they relented and paid my £813 Tesla bill for screen and wiper blades less the £75 excess.

They might have cause to only refund their standard paltry glass cost if you've not given Autoglass any time for them to (try) to source the glass.
But I guess if you can insist "time was of the essence" then they might pay out with only a little bit of fuss.

 

[markbmcfc]

I'd imagine insurance will only pay more if you had their explicit permission to go to Tesla for the fix. I'm more interested in how you managed to crack your windscreen Friday and have it fixed today??? I'm still waiting since end of April for Tesla to find any windscreens!

I was as surprised as you are when they confirmed they could replace it the next day.

Picked car up today with new glass fitted. It's the Manchester SC if that's any help to you!

 

[markbmcfc]

Just to update the thread for anyone in the same situation:

Churchill agreed to cover the full cost minus £75 excess. I didn’t even have to fight that hard, just a simple email to their claims email address with a justification of my claim. They asked for the invoice from Tesla and then paid it, a week turnaround in total.

I know there’s people on here been waiting months so I feel quite embarrassed that I had it replaced in 24 hours and was able to claim but hopefully this will help others. If you want to use this as an example for your case just let me know and I’ll share the claim details with you so you can reference it with Churchill.

 

[Awesome_O]

Just to update the thread for anyone in the same situation:

Churchill agreed to cover the full cost minus £75 excess. I didn’t even have to fight that hard, just a simple email to their claims email address with a justification of my claim. They asked for the invoice from Tesla and then paid it, a week turnaround in total.

I know there’s people on here been waiting months so I feel quite embarrassed that I had it replaced in 24 hours and was able to claim but hopefully this will help others. If you want to use this as an example for your case just let me know and I’ll share the claim details with you so you can reference it with Churchill.

Which Tesla service centre is this Mark???

 

[markbmcfc]

Which Tesla service centre is this Mark???

Manchester

 

[Awesome_O]

Well, I dunno if anyone else had any luck trying to chase parts down but I was told there was none available across the country that aren't already allotted to customers.
They seem to be trickling in bit by bit and customers get it allotted when available.

Anyone else had any luck chasing Tesla for a new slot?

 

[Rhopps]

Hi,

We've had a cracked windscreen for approx. 6 weeks now with both Autoglass and Tesla finding it difficult to source a new screen. My insurance company at the moment seem reluctant to provide a courtesy car, however given the time elapsed, the crack being in the drivers vision line and it getting worse, surely there must be something that can be done?

Anyone have any experience? Seen some horror stories about delays earlier this year...but it seems even worse now!

Thanks

TC

I have been waiting 2 months for a new windshield for a Volvo and there is no end in site. They don’t even reset my schedule for service at this point. This problem is industry wide not just Tesla

 

[alflavor]

Had a cracked screen two weeks ago - first MOT tomorrow. Auto glass could not give me a timescale, luckily Tesla had stock so Direct Line allowed me to go direct - I had to pay the full £711 and I am now due back this amount - excess in my bank on Monday. Bit of a pain, but got sorted and can now go through with the MOT!

 

[pgkevet]

What is the windscreen construction? If they were bonded glass sandwiching polycarbonate then theoretically cracks wouldn't matter much..might run it star and reduce viz but wouldn't scatter glass?

 

[M1tch]

My temporary repair failed a few weeks ago and the crack is now over half the width of the screen. Attempting a second temporary repair….

 

[anthony_d]

What is the windscreen construction? If they were bonded glass sandwiching polycarbonate then theoretically cracks wouldn't matter much..might run it star and reduce viz but wouldn't scatter glass?

I don't think there's anything structurally different about Tesla windscreens to those on other cars.

In terms of the MOT, it has this to say about glass damage:

MOT inspection manual: cars and passenger vehicles - 3. Visibility - Guidance - GOV.UK

Field of vision, bonnet catches, condition of the glass, the view to the rear, windscreen wipers and windscreen washer rules and inspection for car and passenger vehicle MOT tests.

www.gov.uk

In particular this statement:
Check for:

• damage in windscreen zone A more than 10mm in diameter
• damage in the remainder of the windscreen’s swept area more than 40mm in diameter

Failure for damage is only justified if the damage significantly affects the driver’s view of the road.

So my reading of that is visibility is the only factor to be considered for glass damage. Structural impairments are not mentioned in this section of the MOT - and I can't find any other sections in the MOT that explicitly reference glass damage.

It then goes on to say this:
Repaired windscreens must be judged solely on whether the repair interferes with vision. An ‘invisible’ or barely detectable repair, finished flush with the surrounding glass, does not count as damage.

So my reading is that if you've repaired the glass, and it's "barely detectable" then it does not count as damage and it should not even have a "minor" remark in the MOT test report.

Finally this:
(a) Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured:
(i) but not adversely affecting driver’s view Minor
(ii) and affecting the driver’s view of the road or of an obligatory external mirror Major

My reading of that, is that 10mm/40mm threshold is the boundary for a remark, either minor or major. It does not read as an "automatic fail" as some glass companies allude to. The Major/Minor category appeared to be a lot more subjective.

That said, I spoke with one service technician who said that long cracks are automatic fails due to structural impairments, regardless of whether your view of the road is impaired or not, so their reading of the MOT manual is somewhat different.

 

[pgkevet]

A quick google tells me that many modern windscreens are structural components, and most are indeed laminated glass sandwiching polycarbonate. So not like the good old days on the only time I had one go with a huge bang and a lapful of glass gravel. It should mean that if not actively affecting driver vision then a modern screen with a crack remains safe to drive. As to trying to stop the crack running, a brave man might try and drill a hole at the ends of the crack or bond a butterfly across it...

 

[M1tch]

Going over speed bumps or hitting potholes has made mine increase in size recently. Todays repair would still fail an MOT but as long as admiral agree to the repair this week, I’m booked in for next Monday. (Had to move it from tomorrow as it hadn’t been agreed yet)

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

I've managed to crack my roof! Just waiting to find out how long thats going to take to replace.

I thought it might have been a stress fracture as I'd had creaking from that corner that Tesla couldn't reproduce (needs to be a hot day), but there's a missing chunk/chip of glass half way along the crack, so I think I'll have to accept it's not a warranty matter.

 

[M1tch]

221 days later I finally have a new windscreen! Quote was £711, actually paid £709 - absolutely no idea why. Will claim back off the insurance company so not a huge issue. Having never had to replace a screen before I assumed it was an hours job, turns out it was 4, which actually ended up being 7!!!!!

Either way, the drive home was amazing, it was so open and clear which sounds odd but that crack has been in a terrible place for a long time.

 

[DenkiJidousha]

I just got a chip in the black just above the wipers yesterday. Insurance sent me to AutoGlass who said the location meant it couldn't be repaired and they had a 5 weeks wait on parts to replace the windscreen (they've booked me in locally).

A short drive today and it is now a 34cm crack, not in the primary driver's vision (my reading of "Zone A"), but concerning enough that I want to expedite this (and will likely grow to exceed that 40cm threshold too).

Frustrating timing after 5pm on Friday - I will try speaking to Tesla on Monday, in the hopes they could fix it sooner (and then as discussed above, get my insurance company to approve that).

Annoyingly I'll have to take the bike and roof rails off, and remount it all again afterwards.

 

[DenkiJidousha]

Booked in with Tesla, just 2 weeks to wait which is better (although the downside is wasting a day visiting the service centre, versus the AutoGlass option at our local KwikFit). Insurance company was fine with this, will reimburse me less the ~£200 excess.