Council have damaged windscreen

[DuFFmAn]

You are going to somehow need to prove negligence when making a claim against the council. From what I've read so far, it's almost your word against the contractors so far...

Unless you have any additional info to add, and assuming the contractors were using the appropriate guards on their equipment, you are highly unlikely to succeed particularly if you are going for the full on £800 mb dealer job.

For lower amounts, they may consider a good will gesture.

 

[DuFFmAn]

Windscreen.

Removed.

 

[Dieselman]

Right so I was driving along a dual carriageway today with a grass verge in the middle, approaching two council workers who are strimming the grass. I thought to myself I hope that a stone does not fly and hit my car.

Which stone? Could you see hte one in question, if so it must have been sizable, in which case, how did the trimester flick it at your car.

How do you know the item (lets call it a stone) was thrown up by the strimmer, not another car?

My advice would be to just get a screen fitted.

 

[rob_miller]

Which stone? Could you see hte one in question, if so it must have been sizable, in which case, how did the trimester flick it at your car.

How do you know the item (lets call it a stone) was thrown up by the strimmer, not another car?

No, I did not see the stone. As he was using a strimmer it is obvious that the odd stone will get flicked up but considering the road was quiet he could have quite easily stopped using it for a few seconds whilst I and the car behind me passed.

There were no other cars in front of me for at least 100m so it was highly unlikely that another car flicked up the stone.

The issue is that although they admitted liability they could if they wanted to deny any knowledge of it, I have no evidence it was them only their word. Considering this I think it would be best to use Autoglass, ask for a original screen and just pay the £75 excess and forget about it.

 

[Lxb3]

Hi Rob, sorry to hear about your bad luck. I used to be involved in dealing with similar issues for my employer, when people were trying to claim against us - sometimes with good reason, sometimes not (like the gent driving his "brand new" ML on the M27 when the cones "suddenly appeared in front of him" when he was doing "69mph in the outside lane"). I'd suggest you check out the website of the council in question - many of them have had to beef up their claims systems due to pothole claims numbers, and it's a very similar situation. Have a look and see if they have a claims form on there, if not phone them up and request one. I don't think there will be much of a challenge to where the stone came from - might also be worth you writing down a statement for your own good, noting things like whether or not the workers had warning signs up, whether the strimmer had a sufficient guard on it, etc etc.

 

[DSM10000]

No, I did not see the stone. As he was using a strimmer it is obvious that the odd stone will get flicked up but considering the road was quiet he could have quite easily stopped using it for a few seconds whilst I and the car behind me passed.

With a strimmer engine working and the operative probably wearing ear defenders and looking at what he was strimming it is unlikely he would have been looking out for cars or indeed have heard them.

If a car had flicked the stone I doubt that you would have tried to locate the driver to try to obtain payment, it is just one of those things and life is too short to stress over things such as this

 

[br0ke]

As others have mentioned, you'll likely have to take the hit on this, but..

What if it were a motorcyclist, or even a cyclist, so, for amusement, I would be inclined to send a recorded delivery letter into the council asking to see the Risk Assessment and Method Statement from the contractors who are employed to cut the grass.

Should put a few people into a spin for a bit....

 

[219]

SWMBO just had the windcreen on her Golf replaced by Autoglass : she noticed a crack earlier in the week , which was spreading down from the centre top , just behind the mirror .

On checking her insurance to confirm the excess ( £75 ) , she phoned Autoglass on the Wednesday evening and was offered an appointment for the following day , but opted for Friday PM as it suited her better . The mobile fitter came to our house around 3pm , and was just finishing off when I arrived home from work .

The car was left clean , with all trim correctly refitted , screen looked perfect ( their own aftermarket replacement ) , no leaks apparent after washing the car the next day ( although I refrained from blasting the screen edges with the pressure washer less than 24 hrs after fitting ) . All in all , a perfectly satisfactory job and no complaints .

I had used them once before for one of my W124's after getting a stone chip , dropped the car into a depot and picked it up later , again more than happy and no complaints .

 

[Mr E]

I wrote up my very satisfactory Autoglass experience recently. The was saying that, as the W212 has so many options regarding sensors, etc, they only use MB glass ordered against the VIN. That means all the sensors are now fitted to the glass and so it's just plug in and go.

Fitting was done by the mobile chappie, and all done very nicely.

 

[MB-BTurbo]

Whilst I can't help you with the insurance aspect, I can tell you that I've had two windscreens replaced by either Autoglass or RAC Windscreens (I can't recall which) and both have been faultless.

There are two things I ensured though:

I took it to one of their centres not a mobile unit.

I insisted on a genuine MB part, complete with pointed star logo on the screen - be sure to get the correct tint for your car.

Can you actually do that if the insurance company is picking up the cost?

 

[WDB124066]

You can here in NZL...

 

[Billy-cls55]

I have been in this position with a performance car that I took off the road, and was sitting on my drive, and the rear window was smashed via a stone from a council strimmer few years back, luckily it was witnessed, I won but took 6 months! and I had to shell out 1st and claim it back, You will have a battle getting them to pay out. They will say it was not them and the chip was already there, Plus you have insurance so the most you can claim is the excess, I have had many screens changed over the years, and auto glass and the others have always done a very good job, I normally say the rubber is damaged and they fit a new one also I suggest getting it changed and move on.

 

[proser]

Can you actually do that if the insurance company is picking up the cost?

Why should you/car be subject to an (potential) inferior part when it was clearly not your fault. Should be put back to how it was before the incident and if there was a genuine mercedes windscreen there before, then there should be the same upon replacement.

 

[alan1304]

I had a windscreen changed years ago now by Autoglass. Not on my W202 but on a Mk3 Granada 2.8i after some a**hole high on drugs chucked a breeze block through it. They did a brilliant job. You would never know the screen had been touched.

 

[alistairgd]

Just to clarify the claim, if the Council were using a contractor, your claim is with the contractor not the council.

****ty thing to happen, hope you get it resolved to your satisfaction.

 

[rob_miller]

The council paid out the full amount the other day for the amount the dealer charged. I must admit that the council have handled this very well and have kept their promises which is very surprising considering their approach on this at first.

 

[alistairgd]

Good result thanks for the update.

 

[MB-BTurbo]

Thanks for taking the time to get back with an update. Pleased it went your way.