Free windscreen replacement insurance
Free windscreen replacement can be added to your car insurance policy. Read on for more details.
Key takeaways
- Comprehensive car insurance covers windscreens but usually means paying your standard excess, often $800+.
- Adding windscreen cover helps avoid high standard excesses on a windscreen replacement, which can cost $250 to over $1,000.
- Know the difference between excess-free repair and replacement options to understand your cover.
What different scores mean
9+
Excellent
These products offer the best value and outcomes considering various product features and price.
7+
Great
Competitive products within their group.
5+
Standard
But these products still offer reasonable value and have the basics sorted.
0+
Basic
Offering basic cover with limited features or higher pricing.
Car insurance and free windscreen replacement
When you take out a comprehensive car insurance policy, you'll have the option to add 'free windscreen replacement' or 'reduced excess windscreen repair' — or something to that effect anyway.
Essentially, this means that if you need to make a claim for windscreen damage, you can do this without having to pay your standard excess which is typically quite high at $800+. Each insurer may offer something different but there's three main options to choose from.
Excess free windscreen replacement
This means that you won't have to pay any excess when you make a claim for windscreen damage. You can usually make 1 or 2 of these claims per policy year.
Reduced excess windscreen replacement
Some insurers won't offer 'excess free' replacement, but they'll offer a reduced excess option instead. This means you can pay a reduced excess when you need to make a claim for windscreen damage, rather than paying your full standard excess. What that 'reduced excess' looks like will be agreed upon with your insurer but it's usually around the $50 mark.
Excess free windscreen repair
The wording here is very important. This means that if your windscreen is damaged and can be repaired then you won't need to pay any excess for this work. But if your windscreen needs to be replaced then an excess would apply. No excess windscreen repair usually exists as an included feature of a comprehensive policy and it exists alongside the option to have a reduced excess for windscreen replacement. So the option to have a reduced windscreen if the event a replacement is needed is still available for you to add to your policy.
Case study: Tiffany's experience
"Every day I commute to work via the train so I park in a big commuter carpark. One day I got off the train and found that my car windscreen had been smashed in. Luckily, I had included the excess free windscreen replacement option on my comprehensive car insurance so I was able to get it repaired without costing me a cent. The process was super easy and I was back on the road in no time. I've been really thanking myself for not stinging on cover!"
Does car insurance cover my windscreen if I haven't opted for windscreen cover?
In short, yes. If you have comprehensive car insurance then you're covered for accidental damage to your car, which includes your windscreen.
To make a claim for windscreen damage though, you'd have to pay your standard excess. Depending on how bad your windscreen damage is, this excess is often more expensive than the cost to repair/replace the windscreen and therefore, not worth making a claim for. I'd suggest getting a few quotes for repairs yourself and seeing if they come out more or less expensive than your excess.
How much does a windscreen cost to replace?
The cost of a replacement windscreen can vary widely. You can expect to pay anywhere from $250 to $400 for common cars like a Holden Commodore or Toyota Corolla. There are plenty of aftermarket windscreens for those models on the market and the labour is pretty straightforward.
However, windscreens for some models are harder to come by or are equipped with specialised sensors. This means you'll end up paying up to $1,000 or more. For example, some newer cars have automatic rain sensors that activate your wipers when they sense rain.
Our expert says
"Reduced excess windscreen cover is a non-negotiable for me when it comes to car insurance. It only costs an extra $50 or so every year but it has the capacity to save me hundreds. I won't miss the $50 it costs to add it on but I would miss the peace of mind it brings me every time a rock flies out of a truck and onto my windscreen while travelling on the highway. It's a no brainer for me."
Compare car insurance with windscreen cover
All the policies below either include windscreen replacement/repairs as standard or can have the feature added as an optional extra.
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How we picked these
Finder Score for car insurance
We analyse over 30 car insurance products across insurance providers, and rate each one for price and features. We collect up to 36 quotes per product, for male and female drivers in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia. Quotes are collected for 20 year olds, 30 year olds and 60 year olds, assuming an excess of $850 for a 2020 Toyota Corolla 4 door sedan model, with an average 15,000 kms driven each year. While we are not allowed to display actual quotes, our Finder Score aims to serve as an indicative guide to how cost and feature competitive a product might be for you.
Our feature score assesses each product for more than 15 features across loss and damage coverage, repairs and assistance coverage, personal items coverage and policy coverage. Features we assess include but are not limited to legal liability, essential repairs, new car replacement, car hire events, roadside assistance, agreed or market value, windscreen damage and natural disaster coverage.
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