Claims

Car windscreen insurance: will a claim affect your no claims bonus?

A car windscreen insurance claim often leaves your no claims bonus alone, but it is still recorded and can affect your next quote. Here is how it works.

With a lot of car windscreen insurance, a claim just for glass damage does not reduce your no claims bonus, because many insurers treat glass claims as an exception. That is not a legal rule, though: it depends on your policy wording, and even when your bonus is safe, the claim is still recorded and can be taken into account when you are next quoted.

So the honest answer has two halves. Your bonus and your price are not the same thing, and a glass claim can leave one untouched while still having a bearing on the other.

Does a windscreen claim affect your no claims bonus?

Usually not, if the claim is only for glass and your policy has a separate windscreen or glass section. Which? notes that it is "quite common for insurers to make exceptions with claims for glass damage" when working out your no claims discount.

The catch is in the detail. Where a policy protects your bonus for glass claims, the wording usually ties that to claims for the glass alone. If a stone cracks the screen and you also claim for damaged paintwork, or the windscreen breaks as part of a wider accident, the whole thing may be handled as an ordinary damage claim, and an ordinary claim is where you would normally expect to lose some of your bonus.

To check where you stand, look at three parts of your documents:

1. The windscreen or glass section, which should say whether a glass-only claim affects your no claims discount.
2. Your schedule, which shows the glass excess and the general excess separately.
3. The list of what counts as "glass", which tells you whether sunroofs, panoramic roofs or rear windows are included.

Will my premium go up after a windscreen claim?

It can, even when your bonus is untouched. This is the point many guides skip.

Your no claims bonus is a discount applied to a price. The price itself is set from everything the insurer knows about you, including your claims history. Which?'s money expert says it is "possible but unlikely" that a single windscreen claim would affect your premium at the next renewal, but that "several claims for glass in a short period of time may cause your insurer to consider you a higher risk."

The same logic applies to no claims protection. As Which? explains, protecting your bonus does not stop your premium rising after a claim, because the base price can still go up before the discount is applied. If you want a wider look at how claims and discounts interact, our piece on learner drivers and the no claims bonus covers the same split from another angle.

Your glass claim is still on record

Motor claims reported to insurers go onto the Claims Underwriting Exchange, or CUE. The MIB describes CUE as "a record of all reported motor, personal injury and household claims", used by insurers and brokers to support underwriting and fight fraud. A glass claim is a reported claim, so it can show up when another insurer checks your history.

You may be asked about it when you get quotes

When you buy, renew or change a policy, the law says it is your duty "to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to the insurer" (Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, section 2). If a quote form or a broker asks about claims in the last few years, read the question carefully. The answer you give needs to match what was actually asked. Which?'s guidance is to declare all your claims when shopping around or renewing.

Windscreen excess explained

Glass claims normally have their own excess, separate from the main excess on your policy. It is the amount you pay towards the cost before the insurer pays the rest.

In a survey of people who had claimed, published in March 2025, Which? found the average glass excess was £21 for a repair and £104 for a replacement. It also found the excess with an approved repairer ranged from £19 to £150, while using a repairer the insurer had not approved carried an excess of £74 to £495. Those are averages and ranges from the people Which? surveyed; your own figures are in your schedule.

If your policy has a much higher excess for unapproved repairers, going elsewhere without checking first could leave you paying considerably more towards the same job.

Repair vs replacement windscreen claim: what's the difference?

A repair fills a small chip with resin. A replacement means the whole screen comes out. From a claims point of view, the differences look like this:

Damage that is left alone can spread, turning a cheap repair into a replacement. It also matters for the MOT. The MOT inspection manual fails damage larger than 10mm across in Zone A, a 290mm wide area of the wiper-swept screen centred on the steering wheel, and damage larger than 40mm elsewhere in the area swept by the wipers. A repair is judged on whether it interferes with vision, and one that is barely detectable and flush with the glass is not treated as damage.

When the usual glass rules don't apply

These are the cases where people most often find their windscreen cover works differently from what they expected.

Panoramic roofs and sunroofs

Policies vary a lot on roof glass. Some include sunroofs in the glass section, some exclude panoramic roofs, and some treat a roof claim as an ordinary damage claim with the full excess and a possible effect on your bonus. If your car has a glass roof, search your policy wording for "sunroof", "panoramic" and "glass roof" before you claim.

Windscreens with driver assistance cameras

Many newer cars have cameras behind the windscreen for features such as automatic emergency braking and lane keeping. After a replacement, those systems need recalibrating or they won't work correctly. Thatcham Research published guidance on recalibrating these systems when windscreens are replaced or refitted. Check whether your glass cover includes recalibration, whether it uses the same excess, and whether the repairer gives you proof the work was done.

Damage that isn't the glass itself

A leaking seal, a damaged frame or a broken wiper arm may not count as glass damage at all. Claims like these can fall under the general accidental damage section instead, with the larger excess and the usual effect on your no claims bonus.

Windscreen insurance cover only: is that possible?

People sometimes search for windscreen cover on its own. On a car you drive on the road, glass cover sits within a motor policy rather than replacing it. GOV.UK confirms that third party insurance is the legal minimum and that it does not cover repairs to your own vehicle.

That means the questions worth asking are whether your current level of cover includes glass, whether it is an optional extra on your policy, and what excess applies. Our guide to car insurance explains the main levels of cover. If you use Kompare, a specialist broker from the panel can talk you through how glass cover works on the quotes they find for you.

What to do before you make a glass claim

1. Read the windscreen or glass section of your policy and note the excess for repair and replacement.
2. Ring the claims line and ask whether the claim will affect your no claims bonus, and ask them to confirm it in writing.
3. Use the insurer's approved repairer, or get any other repairer approved before work starts.
4. If your car has windscreen cameras, ask whether recalibration is included.
5. Keep the paperwork, including the invoice and any calibration certificate.

If you think a glass claim has been handled unfairly, complain to the insurer first. The Financial Ombudsman Service says the business has up to 8 weeks to consider most complaints, and you then have 6 months from its final response to take the complaint to the ombudsman.