Step one in the auto glass replacement process is to inform your insurance company about the loss. Many insurance companies will cover the windshield repair in your car, so you will first want to contact your insurance company and report the loss.
When reporting the loss, be sure to give as much detail about the loss as possible. You will want to tell the date and time which the glass was broken, the extent of the break, how the glass got broken (vandalism, accident, and road hazard), who was in the car when the glass got broken, and any other information that the insurance will request.
It is very important to be as honest and as descriptive as possible. You should taken pictures of the broken glass as well. Your insurance company may ask you for the pictures or they may ask take their own pictures. Finally, they may ask you to come in or will send you some papers to sign in the mail. Contacting the insurance company is the first and most important step in properly filing an auto glass claim for your windshield repair.
Many insurance companies have a 24/7 hotline where your claim can be reported anytime during the day or night. Therefore, you have the option of reporting the incident as soon as it happens; however, you do not want to wait too long before reporting it. You should report it as soon as possible.
Once you have reported the broken glass to the insurance company, you are ready to get estimates on the auto glass replacement. Your insurance company may give you a list of approved windshield repair shops. You should take this list and get estimate from all of the companies on the list.
This is the research phase of the process. You want to find the auto glass replacement service that best fits your needs. When visiting the different windshield repair shops, you will also want to ask them questions such as, how long it will take them to complete your vehicle, what prices they offer, what different products to they sale, or even about the qualifications of the technicians. All of these questions are important and will help you to determine which auto glass replacement shop to use to complete your window repairs.
Once you have your estimates, you should let your insurance company know which auto glass replacement company you will be using. If it is an approved company on the insurance's list of approved service centers, then you may get the deductible waived. If your insurance company will not waive the deductible, you will be responsible for paying that at the time of service.
This is usually paid right to the auto glass replacement service center. Either you or the insurance company will then contact the auto glass replacement service center and make an appointment to repair your vehicle. You can either bring your vehicle to there location or most shops today have mobile service trucks to come to you.
The replacement process takes about an hour on average once the technician has begun. When the job is complete, you might want to contact your insurance company and let them know how the job was done. Was it done properly? Do you notice any defects in the workmanship or the quality of the materials that were used? If so, you can contact the company yourself or your insurance company will arrange to have the auto glass replacement shop fix the problems and mistakes.
In conclusion, these are the basic steps to filing and completing an auto glass replacement claim. You should make sure that you follow them closely so that you can assure that your automobile is repaired properly and in a timely fashion. You want your automobile to be safe, so it is essential that you follow the above steps in order to assure the safety and comfort of your vehicle.
