Imagine you’re driving along the highway, and suddenly the car in front of you goes over a few scattered stones on the road, and a rock hits your windshield. This is a scenario that nearly every driver in Canada and the world over has experienced. Unfortunately, that tiny chip eventually becomes a crack across your windshield and spreads across your vision if left unrepaired.

In this situation, you would first call your car insurance provider to determine if you have a windshield repair or replacement covered and how a claim will affect your car insurance premiums.

There are a few solutions for replacing your windshield through your car insurance.

• Comprehensive insurance: a broken car window will get replaced. This coverage also pays for situations where a tree falls on your car and needs repairs, or if it catches fire, or if your car gets stolen and is vandalized.
• All perils or specified perils insurance coverage: includes comprehensive and collision coverage plus a little more. For example, all perils coverage covers you if your vehicle is stolen by someone you know and damage occurs.
• Collision insurance: If your windshield, or any glass, is damaged due to a collision, collision insurance will be your windshield insurance.

You can get a windshield chip fixed without paying a deductible, as reair costs are cheaper than the deductible amount.

Windshield insurance claims will increase your insurance premiums by a couple of dollars a month and improve your future car insurance quotes. Your deductible on a windshield replacement will be almost as much as the replacement cost, so it might be better for you to buy an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) part and get it repaired at a dealership.

However, if your policy already has a claims-free credit, it may be removed when you renew it. If you want additional protection, you can ask your insurer about adding accident forgiveness coverage, which is designed to waive higher premiums for at-fault accidents.

If you’re in a collision, your deductible will be less than the cost to replace or repair the windshield should you make a claim. However, your total repair bill will also be more than the increased premiums should your premium increase due to the claim.

If your car has cruise control, blind-spot warning, adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assistance, etc., these are known as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and you are likely to pay a lot more for your windshield replacement. However, if left unrepaired, these systems won’t work correctly.

Depending on the type of car you drive, repairs can cost anywhere between $700 and $1,000.

If you can, avoid using your insurance to get your broken car window replaced or repaired. It’s cheaper to pay for a scratch, dent, chip, or complete windshield replacement yourself in the long term. Also, the deductible and likely rate increase aren’t worth it unless you’re in a severe accident. Do your research and compare prices, but you may be limited to going to the dealer if you have ADAS.

And don’t forget to compare car insurance with our tool to find the perfect car insurance according to your needs.