At one time I sold and did a lot of windshield repairs in which I billed the customer's insurance company. That was a time when people had low deductibles and windshields were expensive.

Then in February of 2005 things began to change. Tired of glass shops waiving deductibles for free windshield replacements. The insurance companies reacted by by slashing what they would pay for a windshield replacement. Most part numbers were reduced  between 68 to 72 percent. Simply put a windshield that the insurance companies paid $600 for, was reduced to nearly $200.

Add to this that around 3/4 of the insurance policies written with a $500 deductible or higher and a change was due.

State Farm, the giant in auto insurance eliminated paying for chip repairs. In doing so things changes at other insurance companies. If you've read some of my past posts, you've seen how by filing a small chip repair claim, it can cause you to have your insurance bill to go up. In fact any small claim is fair game to the insurance guys when they need more money. Worse by just calling about filing a claim you risk a rate increase.

Case In Point: The other day I did a windshield chip repair for a customer. They told me the following story and said I should share it, that it should stand as a warning.

They had been with an insurance company sometime. I won't state which one, but it was one of the big boys. They had been with them for years. All of their insurance policies were with this company. (Auto, Home, Life, Jewelry, etc.) One day they lost a ring down the drain and called about filing a claim. For one reason or another they chose not to file a claim. The insurance company paid nothing. When they received their insurance bill later the rate had been cranked up. The threat to move all their insurance policies did nothing. So they switched to a different insurance company.

This story did not surprise me. I've talked to many that found out that by merely having their agent coming out to look at damage or calling their insurance company they got a claim filed against them. Even when the cost was below the deductible and the insurance company paid zero. CBS reported last year these very facts.

With insurance companies filing phone calls about filing claims as claims and increasing rates.

When they offer road service and many of them count running out of gas, a flat tire or locking your keys in the car as an accident claim. Some go so far as canceling you if you use the road service more than twice in 3 years.

When some claim windshield chip repairs don't count against you. But file them on a data base like CLUE, that is used to set rates or whether a new insurance company will cover you. Not calling them for the small stuff like windshield repairs seems very wise. If you don't show up on their radar screen your risk of a rate increase is low. What they don't know won't hurt you.