Insurance and windshields: It's time to end the jackpot!

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Drumous advertising, overcharging, attractive gifts: replacement of windshields has become a real business at the expense of insurers and motorists. A drift that increases bonuses and must stop. A platform by Christian de Boissieu*.

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What if I had a little pleasure with a state-of-the-art game console thanks to my windshield? Do you think a joke? Think again! This kind of attractive proposal has been swarming in some years in certain automotive repair centers. Some even go so far as to walk the parking lots of the shopping centers to deposit leaflets under the wipers of the cars and invite the Chaland to come and replace its windshield for free, in 30 minutes, with a nice gift to the key ! All of this must stop.

Impact, crack, scratch, or even nothing at all, many consumers to give in to the sirens of these very generous repairers and the limitless imagination. The specific figures are missing, but it can reasonably be estimated that three million windshields are changed each year. Difficult for the customer to resist. It is enough for him to bring his vehicle to a garage, to give the contact details of his insurer, to wait a little, during the intervention, and to leave, if necessary, with his lot under the arm! With the difference that this “wonderful” world has an increasing cost, the average amount for the replacement of a windshield that jumped 9.7 % in 2023, according to a study by the SRA association, Automobile security and repair.

Increasingly sophisticated windshields

First there is a technical reason. The windshields are increasingly sophisticated pieces. In addition to the rain and light sensors present for many years, the new driving aid systems (ADAS – Advanced Driver Assistance Systems), as adaptive cruise control or emergency braking, have been compulsory on new vehicles since July 2024. The windshield has been transformed into a technological tool, which must be subject to precise adjustment so as not to Disturbing these new devices. These advances made the bill jump. And its replacement generates an additional cost of approximately 20 % compared to the windshield of a car which does not have these Adas.

This tariff increase, linked to on -board technology, is not the only cause of the inflating quotes, because the vehicles that are equipped with it are still in the minority in the French car fleet. It is mainly linked to a development market practice, which consists for certain players in the repair sector to have their business development financed by insurance premiums. How is it possible? Quite simply by rushing into a regulatory flaw. Compensation for a windshield does not require the passage of an automotive expert. This allows rapid management for the motorist. Which one only has to deposit his car with a repair professional, responsible for sending the insurer the repair invoice to be reimbursed. In addition, the owner of the vehicle is free to choose his service provider under the Hamon law of 2015 which aims to allow freedom of competition between actors in the sector.

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The law is misguided

This law, which was to encourage more virtuous competition, has generated more and more pronounced drifts in terms of commercial offers. Take the example of a windshield whose replacement cost would be 700 euros. Some repairers will send the insurer an invoice of 1,000 euros, which includes, in addition to the cost of the room, that of the gift to the customer, for example a game console, or even sometimes a check, without the invoice precise. The insurer sees only an invoice of 1,000 euros, without any reference to the gratuity in kind which is granted to the customer, and settles this sum to the professional. Magic? Unfortunately not. There is no need to be a great mathematician to understand that these practices strongly contribute to the inflation found in replacement costs.

In September 2023, a group of deputies took hold of the question to try to curb the bidding of pricing and establish more transparency between what is reparation and concerning commercial gratuity. The idea of their bill was to limit the gifts offered by glazing professionals to 5 % of the value of the repair. The proposal was rebuilt, on the grounds of an obstacle to freedom of competition.

Repairing is not a gift

But what freedom are we talking about exactly? Is it eligible to have the insurance contributions supported, therefore by the community of the insured, the marketing costs of new entrants on the market having flared the good deal? In an environment where inflation is already strong, is it normal to let prosper these practices where, as if miraculously, replacing your windshield can prove to be for the motorist the opportunity to leave with a gift of several hundred euros? Is it also “fair play” with regard to repairers who work conscientiously, without engaging in a debauchery of abusive gifts? By dint of overvaluing the invoices, it is the automotive insurance premiums that are weighed down for everyone. The systematic recourse to experts in the event of a windshield replacement would regulate these practices, but this would extend repair times and add to the windshield that of the expert’s remuneration. Which is not desirable either.

The community does not have to finance the aggressive commercial practices of certain actors in automotive reparation. Recently, Florence Lustman, the president of France insurers, has very much tapped on the table by demanding that a more restrictive law be set up so that gifts are explicitly mentioned in quotes and invoices sent to the insurer , and that he has the possibility of refusing all or part of compensation. Recall that if the insured must maintain the freedom of choice of his repairer, he must not take advantage of the repair of a disaster, in accordance with article L. 121-1 of the insurance code. The windshield players must repack their Entrennes!

*Christian de Boissieu is Iard & Health Managing Director at Assurances Assurances