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rotor wrote: ↑Wed Oct 10, 2018 1:53 pm As mentioned earlier USAA is the best but I don't know that it is available for non-military. I had Allstate once, you are not in good hands with them.

I'm a veteran so I could use USAA. I'm just not a fan of their anti-2A stance.

G.A. Heath wrote: ↑Wed Oct 10, 2018 1:21 pm I have, and recommend getting, glass coverage. My deductable on a new windshield or repair is practically $0. In 5 years of owning a Jeep I have had more rock chips repaired on it than everything else over the rest of my life.

I actually got something called "Crystal" something or another when I bought the car. It was supposedly a protective coating for the windshield, but the reason I got it was that it came with 5 years of coverage on the windshield. Had 2 rock chip repairs and one windshield replacement under that policy all with zero cost to me. But the 5 years has expired. That was the best option I chose. I think it cost around $700 or $800, so it paid for itself. The tire warranty on the other hand was dumb on my part. My car goes through tires quickly, so it's kind of pointless.

OK, so I have some pretty extensive damage to my car's windshield that will require a full replacement. It's a good thing I have full coverage, so I'll only need to pay my $500 deductible, right? Think again.

My car has a rain sensor and also has a heads-up display, so I expected the windshield cost would be well over my deductible. Sure enough, the actual cost of the same windshield, from my car's manufacturer, is well over $900 just for the windshield. Throw in labor, molding, etc., and it's actually $1,220 total. So I file a claim. I'm told 4 times during the claim filing process that if I don't use their preferred service provider (Safelite), then I might have to pay more than my deductible. Also, I would need to pay the repair shop directly and then file for reimbursement from Allstate. Bad sign. I file the claim anyway.

Fast forward 2 weeks. I've heard nothing back from Allstate, so I call them. Apparently everything is approved. They got the estimate my repair shop sent over and all is good. I get an e-mail that day that tells me to contact my repair shop to schedule the work, and under "Order Details" says my deductible is $500. I'm focused on a few other things, and get slammed at work. My repair shop tells me not to worry, they can easily get the part and can do the work same day as long as they aren't too busy. Two weeks later I free up a bit. But before proceeding with the work, I decide to call Allstate one more time to make sure everything is OK. Last night I'm on the phone with them and they assure me that yes, everything is fine. I ask about where I need to send my reimbursement claim since that wasn't included on the email, and I'm told that the shop will get paid directly. I just need to pay the deductible and have the shop bill Allstate.

So this morning I call my repair shop. They have not received anything from the insurance company, and they flat out tell me that this isn't how Allstate operates. I call Allstate. They pull up my claim. Then they repeatedly call me by the wrong name. After getting conflicting information, I ask for a supervisor. Finally, I find out that Allstate believes the maximum "reasonable" cost for a windshield replacement on my car is $456. So if I want to have it replaced with the actual OEM part, I need to pay the difference between that cost and $456, and I also need to pay my $500 deductible. I'm not a math major, but I am able to realize that they are telling me I need to pay $44 more than the cost of just replacing the windshield on my own. So in exchange for all of my insurance premiums, I get the honor of paying $44 more than it would cost me if I had no insurance whatsoever.

OK, forget it. The car is almost 6 years old. I'll just use an after market part, and I'll even go with their recommended provider. Since $456 is the maximum reasonable cost that anyone should charge, according to Allstate, surely their recommended service provider will do the work for less than this amount, right? Wrong again. Safelite quotes me $630 for the work, or 38% above the maximum reasonable cost that anyone should charge. So I guess I need to go through my insurance after all, use an after market part, use their preferred service provider, and pay the $500 deductible. Hopefully I can actually get this resolved sometime this calendar year.

And yes, I did file a complaint with the Texas Department of Insurance. At a minimum, it seems like Allstate is doing everything they can to avoid having policy holders exercise their legal right to use the service provider of their choice.