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FYI: Windshield Repair Using Progressive Insurance

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SageBrush

REJECT Fascism
May 7, 2015
14,851
21,477
New Mexico
A Tesla Ranger is coming by today to replace my windshield. I called him first thing this AM to ask how the insurance should be handled. At least in my area, the customer pays out of pocket and then seeks reimbursement from the insurance company. The Ranger recommended that I call my insurance before his visit and square away details. We then realized that Tesla had not yet prepared a repair estimate ... Brian the ranger took care of that quickly, and then I called Progressive.

Progressive sub-contracts all glass repairs to Safelite, and calling Progressive to open a claim is quickly shunted to 'Safelite solutions' for administration. Safelite opens a claim but then it becomes messy if Safelite is not going to perform the repair. I was notified that I would be liable for any excess charges beyond what Progressive has agreed to pay Safelite, but they did not know what the Safelite payment was. I was told to call Tesla, who could call a Safelite shop. A few terse words later, the Safelite rep tracked down a Prog Tel # for the 'glass resolution team.' That Rep immediately knew that not only would Prog pay the full Tesla bill (minus the deductible), but in fact Prog recommended that Tesla perform the repair and NOT Safelite due to camera recalibration.

Useful info
  • Prog glass resolution team: (855) 279-3317
Steps to follow
  • Open claim with Prog via telephone or App
  • Repair through Tesla service center (or in my case, a Ranger visit) and pay via credit card
  • Submit invoice for reimbursement through email ([email protected]), App or website. Include Claim# and 'request for reimbursement' as part of documentation.
Caution
  • If for some reason a person chooses to have Safelite perform the windshield replacement, camera calibration will not be done and it might lead to a needed Tesla service. I would not want to be in the position of then having to argue with Progressive over reimbursement for the calibration.
OP here, follow-up piece of advice:

Progressive is a huge company, and its parts do not communicate well.
If you open a case with the app, stay with the app when you submit your documentation and claim.
Likewise, if you open a case via the website, stay with the website when you submit your documentation and claim.
If you open a claim by telephone, ask the rep how to submit the documentation and claim.

Mixing and matching does not go well.
 
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Windshield repair is complete. Brian the Tesla Ranger was awesome. It actually took a full 4 hours although Brian said 2.5 - 3.5 hours is more typical. My windshield was stubborn coming out. I have to say -- there is considerable disassembly before the windshield can be removed. I was glad to have the work done by a person with experience.

I asked him about camera recalibration, at least for my Model 3 LR that does not have AP or FSD. He said that Tesla techs are aware that if the camera is not disconnected from power it will auto-calibrate. A power disconnect would require use of a Tesla notebook and program to initiate a calibration routine that 3rd part glass installers do not have.

Invoice

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I had a rock-induced crack last summer. My car was less than 2 months old. The Safelite guy was able to epoxy it, but he said if the placement had been too close to the edge or if it had been bigger they would have had to kick me back to Tesla - at the time, Safelite wouldn’t touch a Tesla windshield replacement because of the camera calibration. I was fortunate. This is good info to know.
 
I had my windshield replaced about a year ago. My insurance is with State Farm and they directed me to Safelite. I talked to the manager at the Safelite shop and they confirmed they'd done a lot of Teslas, and was confident they'd do the job correctly. It took them two weeks to get the windshield from Tesla and the job took about four hours. They did a beautiful job, but I saw the invoice they billed State Farm with and the cost was just over $1,600. I found out later that Tesla would have charged significantly less, so I made sure to let my State Farm agent know this. By the way, Tesla confirmed that no visit to the Service Center for re-calibration was required following windshield replacement. They were right - the car performed the re-calibration by itself and autopilot was operating normally later the same day.
 
It seems progressive does not have free glass coverage where I am at. It's my understanding that some states require free wind shield replacement for full coverage (Florida).

My question is:
Have any of you, using comprehensive deductible) noticed any increase of insurance after doing this ?
 
Have any of you, using comprehensive deductible) noticed any increase of insurance after doing this ?
I have not had to replace the windscreen in my Tesla (yet), but have had several windscreens in prior cars replaced. No apparent impact to my premium as a result. I do live in a state where Progressive offers a $0 deductible for glass replacement, which I avail myself of.

Prior to living in AZ, I lived in Vermont, where my insurance carried a $300 glass deductible, but this was waived for chip 'repairs' and full windscreen replacements each time I had to get them done, and I was $0 out-of-pocket every time despite carrying the deductible on my policy.