Windscreen Cover: What It Includes and How to Claim

Work through the numbers and the logic becomes obvious. Say you hold a 55% NCD on a base premium of RM1,500. That discount is worth RM825 a year. A replacement windscreen on a mid-range car might cost RM600 to RM900 fitted. Claim it as own damage and you pay your excess, lose the RM825, and start rebuilding the discount from zero over the next five years.

Almost nobody does that. They pay cash and move on, which means the policy they bought gave them nothing on the most common damage a Malaysian car actually suffers. The glass add-on breaks that trade-off by carving the glass out into its own small sum insured with its own claim treatment. You can check what discount you currently hold with the NCD checker before deciding whether the add-on is worth it for you.

Partner policy wordings name this add-on "Cover for Windscreens, Windows and Sunroof", and that phrase is the scope.

Covered

• The front windscreen, including laminated, acoustic, heated and factory solar tinted glass
• The rear screen, including the demister element
• Side windows, front and rear, and quarter glass
• A sunroof or panoramic roof panel
• Where the wording allows it, the rubber, moulding and adhesive needed to fit the new glass, and recalibration of any camera or sensor mounted behind it

Not covered

• Side mirrors. These are mirrors, not glazing, and they sit outside the add-on
• Headlamps, tail lamps and fog lamps
• Paint, bumpers, bonnet and body panels
• Aftermarket tint film, unless the wording specifically includes it
• Dashcams, toll readers and accessories mounted on the glass
• Pre-existing cracks that were there when the policy started, and wiper pitting or general wear

There is one trap worth naming clearly. If the same incident breaks the windscreen and dents a panel, and you claim for both, the whole thing becomes an own damage claim. The NCD protection you were counting on disappears with it. If the body damage is small, it is often cheaper to claim the glass alone and absorb the dent.

The glass sum insured is a number you choose, and the default offered on a quote is frequently too low. Pricing sits with each insurer rather than the industry, because Bank Negara liberalised motor pricing in 2017. One published figure: Syarikat Takaful Malaysia charges RM300 for a RM2,000 glass sum covered under Takaful myMotor, which works out to 15% of the glass amount.

The practical method is simple. Ring a panel glass workshop, ask for a replacement quote for your exact model and year in OEM glass, ask whether recalibration is included, then round up to the next tier. Underinsure and you pay the shortfall in cash at the workshop, which is the single most common surprise on a windscreen claim.

1. Photograph the damage before anything is touched. One close shot of the crack, one wide enough to show the number plate. A break-in needs a police report. A stone chip or a heat crack normally does not.
2. Call your insurer first, not the glass shop. They open the claim and direct you to a panel fitter. Walking into a non-panel shop first can turn a cashless repair into a reimbursement you have to chase for weeks.
3. The panel workshop replaces the glass, cashless up to your glass sum insured. If OEM glass plus recalibration comes to more than that, you settle the difference when you collect the car.
4. Ask to reinstate the sum insured. A claim exhausts it for the remainder of the policy year. A second chip three months later is uninsured unless you restore the amount, which usually costs a small additional premium.
5. Check the NCD line at your next renewal. It should be unchanged. If a glass only claim has been recorded as own damage, raise it with the insurer straight away.

Not every chip needs a new screen, and a resin repair does not consume your sum insured in the same way.

A repair usually works when the chip is smaller than a fifty sen coin, the crack is shorter than about 15cm, the damage sits outside the driver's direct line of sight, it has not reached the edge of the glass, and it is still fresh. Dirt and water get into an old chip and weaken the bond.

Replacement is the right call when the crack has reached the edge or is spreading, when the damage is in the driver's line of sight, when the inner laminate layer is pierced, or when there are several chips across the screen.

Does a windscreen claim affect my NCD?

Not if you hold the glass add-on and the claim is glass only. Without the add-on, it is an own damage claim and your NCD resets to zero at renewal.

Can I add windscreen cover to a third party policy?

No. It is only available on comprehensive cover. The same applies to flood and all drivers cover.

What if the replacement costs more than my glass sum insured?

You pay the difference at the workshop. This is why the amount should be set against a real quote for your model rather than left at the default.

Are side mirrors included?

No. Side mirrors are not glazing for the purposes of this add-on. They fall under an own damage claim.

Can I add it in the middle of the policy year?

Usually only at renewal, and never after the damage has happened. Add-ons cannot be backdated.

Is one claim per year the limit?

The limit is the sum insured rather than the number of claims. Once it is used up, restore it if you want cover for the rest of the year.

• Windscreen insurance guide
• Comprehensive car insurance
• Car insurance learning hub
• How sum insured works
• NCD checker
• Types of car insurance in Malaysia
• Insurers and takaful operators on BJAK
• Get a quote and set your own glass amount
• PIAM, Insurance 101 for motor