Hi all,

 

Bit of advice... was passing a lorry on the motorway this morning, it veered over the solid white line to the left of the left lane and flicked up a bunch of large stones. These have chipped/cracked my windscreen and battered the bumper, bonnet and a pillars with some pretty big stone chips! Pretty gutted and annoyed, have I got any right to claim anything from the lorry company? Or is it just one of those things you have to suck up?

 

Also is that chip likely repairable, or going to need a full screen replacement? I've got the heated screen and lane assist etc (which I've heard needs re-calibrating if windscreen replaced?) so it sounds like a potential major headache!

 

Any advice appreciated, cheers.

Edited 3 April, 20179 yr by ahenners

I wouldn't have thought you could claim from the company.

 

WRT the windscreen, that looks cracked as well as the chip. I had mine replaced (same as you, heated with the cameras). No issues with mine and no recal required. I will caveat that by stating I never use the lane assist anyway so maybe it's not working but I have no interest in trying it and maybe even fixing it. 

Better chance against the highway authority for not removing the debris from the road. However even that is a long shot; I am sure most of us have lost a windscreen to a stone at some point, and my car has a number of nasty chips along the front from stone damage.

Best to suck it up. It's one of those things. Most insurance companies allow a claim for windscreen replacement without affecting no claims. Had mine replaced on my BMW last year I think it cost £25 excess and was sorted the next day.

Cool, cheers guys! Yeah thought that would be the case that I'd have to suck it up. Never mind

 

Yeah it has a crack above and below the actual chip. Top to bottom it's about an inch with the chip in the centre.

Usually about £75 windscreen excess, but check your policy.

 

13 minutes ago, glosrich said:

Usually about £75 windscreen excess, but check your policy.

 

 

Yeah spoke with my insurance earlier, £75 to replace and they will do the calibration of the lane assist camera which is good. 

If you have a dashcam you could take action against the lorry company. If the truck veered over a solid white line for no reason (e.g. to avoid another vehicle) then that's reckless driving. Mind you, truck driver will probably claim he was hit by a gust of wind, but again, dashcam footage can disprove that.

 

Feel sorry for you though, race blue shows every stone chip due to the white primer (which they use to make the metallic paint pop)

My friend had similar scenario and got in touch with the local council, who forwarded him a claims form to cover his excess.

1 hour ago, MoggyTech said:

If you have a dashcam you could take action against the lorry company. If the truck veered over a solid white line for no reason (e.g. to avoid another vehicle) then that's reckless driving. Mind you, truck driver will probably claim he was hit by a gust of wind, but again, dashcam footage can disprove that.

 

Feel sorry for you though, race blue shows every stone chip due to the white primer (which they use to make the metallic paint pop)

 

I do indeed have a dash cam, but reviewing the footage I don't think it's going to help too much. You can see the lorry veering over and the dust cloud it produces and very barely see the stones hit the windscreen.

 

The bit of motorway in question is actually a right hand bend, I suspect he was travelling too fast or just not paying attention to take such a bend in a big dumper lorry. M55 eastbound joining the M6 if anyone is familiar with the area.

Must be a weekend for it....  

Did my Saturday on a dual carriageway doing 70ish, Mazda in front threw something up of the road and bam, loud crack and my passenger almost had a code brown as this impacted at eye level for the passenger, luckily the rest of the car is undamaged (including the passenger seat) just the chip in the windscreen.  It's just a touch bigger than a £2 coin; National windscreen repair came out to have a look at it today (via the insurance) said that it will need to be a new windscreen and as other have said, for me on my policy I have to cough up a £75 excess.  

 

Is there anything myself and Ahenners need to be aware of when our windscreens get replaced?  I have rain sensors on the windscreen and an autodim rearview mirror; after 15 years of driving I have never had to have a windscreen repaired never mind replaced entirely, advice and pointers are welcome and appreciated  

 

 

 

 

4 hours ago, ahenners said:

 

I do indeed have a dash cam, but reviewing the footage I don't think it's going to help too much. You can see the lorry veering over and the dust cloud it produces and very barely see the stones hit the windscreen.

 

The bit of motorway in question is actually a right hand bend, I suspect he was travelling too fast or just not paying attention to take such a bend in a big dumper lorry. M55 eastbound joining the M6 if anyone is familiar with the area.

I think you have pretty solid evidence for the Police to get involved. They don't need to see stones flying, just the lorry crossing an unbroken white line. If you had audio enabled the dashcam may have picked up the impact noise. If your dashcam records speed, if the truck is doing more than 56MPH well.

 

It's your call though, pay the excess and let it go, or make the truck company pay. Just make sure any dashcam footage you hand over doesn't contain any naughty moments of your own vehicle. 

@BNT1985  Nothing needs doing for the auto dimming rear view (that has a sensor on the mirror unit). With the lane assist/high beam camera, Autoglass advised they will recalibrate it and this is included as part of the replacement - I simply pay the windscreen repair excess on my insurance policy. Not sure if this calibration is an absolute must, I've seen people saying they've had issues if not done, but then others as per a poster above, have said it's fine with no recalibration. 

 

I feel your pain though, it's unlucky! :(

I don't have lane assist but I do have the high beam assist, I'll ask about it when they come to replace it on Wednesday.

 

Thanks