QuestionWhile driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike a eighteen wheeler passed by, a rock flew back and hit the windshield of my BMW 750Li and cracked the windshield. This was reported to my insurance claim department. I taken my car to a BMW dealership/service department close to my home. The cost to replace the windshield was then sent to insurance adjuster who immediately refused the price and suggested that I take it somewhere else. I told him that this is the place that I want to have the work done since they are familiar with my BMW. Now the insurance adjuster is giving me a different time with the cost and BMW service will not accept their price. How should this be handle in a win/win situation?
Answer Hello Karen,
Your policy holds the answer. Check under the Comprehensive portion of your policy to see what applies in terms of windshields. If the policy specifies that you must use only shops approved by the insurance company, you will have to abide by that. I've never seen this, however. What might be the case is their right to force you to use aftermarket parts, which are parts manufactured by someone other than the original manufacturer. If that is the case, you could have problems, as I assume the BMW dealer is selling you a BMW windshield. Original manufacturer parts are known as OEM parts.
Having said that, in my experience it is not unusual for reputable repair shops to turn their windshield repairs over to outside vendors. Those vendors are often the same as the insurance companies use. You might want to actually verify from your dealer where your windshield is coming from and who is actually going to do the work.
Insurance companies usually have agreements with large windshield companies such as Safelife. Because the company gets a reduced rate, they want to steer you there. But is it entirely possible the dealer could be using the same service. You'll need to check.
If you want to make an issue of this, ask your adjuster to show you where exactly in the policy it allows her to pick a shop, a rate, or a type of part. More than likely, if there is an applicable section, it will probably deal with the use of aftermarket parts.
I'm not sure you need to make an issue of this at all, actually. I have found the national chains to be extremely reputable. I don't see a problem. Unless the BMW dealer can give you concrete facts as to why their windshield is better (which I doubt)you should probably just go with whomever the insurance company recommends. I assume it will be a large, reputable chain.
Hope this helps.
Jane Pytel
http://SolutionsForYourInsuranceClaim.com
http://FloridaAutoInsuranceCentral.com
