TOPIC:

turboted10 wrote:

All you guys having to replace screens due to chips etc, how is the front end paintwork holding up?? Damage to paintwork is usually proportional to screen chipping imho.

It doesn't hold up Front bumper and hood repainted, but I have chips allover the car, even on the rear doors. The austrians are very keen on using small gravel in the winter. It's small but very edgy and sharp. And it;s everywhere. At spring time it's like being through a war shootout. Just across the border, in Italy (20 km from me), you don't have this problem. They are using chemical solvents to fight the snow and frost.

See why you guys take out windscreen insurance given that, 

So windscreen replaced this morning at Autoglass in Borehamwood, took about an hour and 45 minutes.  Asked how much it would normally cost if I hadn't had cover through insurance ... £1200!!!

Main thing is the sensor calibration for the lane departure warnings (which I have turned off) and the auto braking which I don't think I have on my model.

OldAndLame wrote:

So windscreen replaced this morning at Autoglass in Borehamwood, took about an hour and 45 minutes.  Asked how much it would normally cost if I hadn't had cover through insurance ... £1200!!!

Main thing is the sensor calibration for the lane departure warnings (which I have turned off) and the auto braking which I don't think I have on my model.

OUCH!!!

Again to you continental guys, surely you have to pay an excess on windscreen cover? . So is it any different to what we get as standard cover on all policies here in the UK where if the screen is chipped to an MOT failure standard then it can be replaced at the standard rate of a £50 or £75 policy excess?

In Bulgaria, the insurer covers all the damages to the car, without paying a penny from the user. In case of accident, not being involved into a car accident, we go to the insurer and state the damage. Than they only appoint us date to go to the dealer and fix the issues. No money flow going, we have to deal or whatever. Everything is organised between the dealer and the insurer (or the insurance broker). We have right of declaring two incidents without a document from the police for an accident or something like that for a year. 
During the leasing period (usually 5 years), the insurance is getting cheaper every year, due to the ageing of the vehicle and the damages for the previous year are not taken into account. After these 5 years, if you have a damage, the price of the insurance for the next year would rise a little bit. At least, these are the conditions to my current and previous insurance company.