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+--- Thread: Windshield Replacement--State Farm Edition (/showthread.php?tid=4236)
Windshield Replacement--State Farm Edition - Phokaioglaukos - 02-03-2017
A rock kicked up by a truck cracked the windshield on our BMW wagon. We have State Farm insurance and have had good claims experience with them, including when our younger daughter tried hard to total this car on the afternoon she got her driver’s license.
State Farm has outsourced windshield claims to Lynx, a third party, and they deal with you only by telephone—no fax or e-mail communications possible. There is a web site where a claim can be started, but I did not start there. State Farm/Lynx allows the insured to pick whatever repair shop the owner likes, but there are limits on what it will pay. You may recall that there has been some recent issues with State Farm’s auto glass procedures (https://cheapautoglass.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/state-farm-charged-in-auto-glass-casestate-regulators-allege-13800-claims-violations/).
Our deductible is $250, so when I got a quote from my local shop for replacement of the windshield for $410 it seemed like a good deal, for State Farm which would only pay $160. Lynx placed me on hold to call the shop to confirm rates, but came back to me to say they the shop declined. When I talked to the shop later they said that they have been offered $38/hour and that the glass price was capped. Because a third party comes to the shop to do the work the shop could not figure out whether that was more or less than $410, and the agent who called would not provide a firm price. I then pursued the issue with Lynx in several calls, mostly with their “bid team” of problem solvers. I absolutely was a problem.
The short of it is that State Farm will pay a maximum of 5.9 hours of labor at $38/hour and will cover 100% of the list price of OEM glass and 68% of the list price of aftermarket glass as noted in the NAGS (National Auto Glass Specifications) price list. For our car, the dealer quoted $1,204.69 for the repair, well above $813.60, the sum of the OEM glass cost ($589.40) and the maximum labor charge of $224.20. For aftermarket glass the maximum that State Farm will pay is $622.59 ($363.39 for the glass and $224.20 for labor), well above the $410 the shop quoted. Unfortunately Lynx would not describe to my preferred shop the same pricing information I squeezed out of the bid team. A further call between Lynx and the shop, while I waited on hold, approved the repair.
So, dealer-installed OEM glass would cost me $641.09 and shop-installed aftermarket glass would cost me just the $250 deductible. That was an easy call for a 2006 BMW. Now, if it were a Porsche….