Posted On: December 7, 2007, 7:46 pm CST

Posted By: Gary Quam

Warning! If you have a glass claim on your car, don't let your insurance company suggest a company for you. Most, if not all insurance companies contract with another company that takes care of their glass claims. You might think that you will be treated better by going through the contracted company, but in my case that was not the case. I have Farmer's insurance which uses Farmer's Glass to handle claims. Farmer's glass is managed by Safelite Auto Glass. I had a claim for comprehensive damage to the front fender, hood and windshield of my car. I had the car in the body shop for the body damage, but could not get the windshield done that day. I paid the $500.00 to the body shop. I was told by the insurance company that I could have it done at a later time and was assured that this would not cause a problem and that I would not be asked to pay another deductable. I set aside a day that I could be home from work and waited for Safelite Auto Glass to arrive. When the technician came, he said that I owed 374.00 before they would begin work. I explained that I had already paid the 500.00 deductable and showed him my receipts. He called his superviser and I heard the supervisor say that I would have to straighten it out with my insurance company. I spent the next 3 hours on the phone talking to various people at my Farmer's insurance agency, Farmer's Auto Glass, Safelite Complaints department (which didn't even apologize for my inconvience). Finally my agency told me to pay for it out of my pocket and give them the bill. I got 3 quotes on-line for 275.00, 285.00 and 295.00. I called two other places in my area and got quotes of 285.00 and 289.00. I chose Speedy Auto Glass at 285.00, but I'm going to have to take another 3 hours away from my job to get the work done. This is a total of about 6 hours of missed work that I could have avoided if I had just taken my car to a shop instead of having Farmer's glass (AKA Safelite Auto Glass) send their mobile truck over. Also, Safelite was 90 to 100.00 more out of pocket than any other place that I called. So here is the scam. Your insurance company is getting a big break from the company that it contracts with to put in your windshield. If the amount is below your deductable, you may be charged a much higher rate out of pocket. The insurance company wins. The glass company wins. You lose. If your windshield is broken and you insurance company asks if you would like them to suggest a company for you DON'T DO IT! They cannot make you go to their contracted company nor can they penalize you in any way. Call around for estimates and choose the best shop with the best customer service and the best times for you to get the work done.