Below is an email I am trying to send to Churchill Car Insurance:

In approximately October, I had a chip on my windscreen, so I called your appointed windscreen repair people, Autoglass, to make an appointment for them to come out.
When the fitter arrived, he took one look and told me it wasn't possible to repair the chip, it would need a new screen, costing me my £75 excess, I said it would have to wait as, at the time, I could not afford it. He also advised me that the chip would cause my car to fail its MOT.

On Friday, we saw a small stand in the local supermarket car park offering windscreen repairs, we stopped and asked if it was possible to repair, and were told yes, it would repair easily. However, we decided to go to a reputable company just to be on the safe side.

Yesterday, me and my partner, who is a qualified mechanic with many years experience, took the car to an Autoglass centre, to get the chip repaired.
When we were eventually seen by the manager, he examined the chip, using a small device and said it was not possible to repair. We were again told it would fail its MOT. His attitude really was very poor, he could just not be bothered with us at all, when my partner told him we would go somewhere else, he just said, alright and walked off.

The Autoglass website, for checking if chips can be repaired states, 'Is your chip larger than a £2 coin? - we clicked NO. Is you chip in the main drivers area? - we clicked YES, their website states, we can repair your chip, call us to make an appointment.'

We then went to National Windscreens. The guy we saw, said that we couldnt have it done through our insurance, because Churchill only use Autoglass.

He said the chip was repairable, and it would cost us £30, so we had it repaired. He also said that it would now sail through its MOT.

We have just got back from having the car MOT'd, and it passed, no advisories at all.

I am absolutely furious with the service and attitude I have received from Autoglass, your approved repairers. It would seem that they make their money through new windscreens being installed, not from repairs.

We have had policies with Churchill for a few years now, and currently have car and home insurance with you, but I am appalled at the level of service, offered by your so-called approved companies.

You will see that I have attached a copy of the invoice for the repair, to prove that I have had this work done, by a 'Reputable Company'.

I feel very strongly that you should investigate this matter, and look into other claims where people have been told to replace instead of repair. Luckily for me, I have a partner, who knows the guidelines for such things, otherwise I would have been convinced I needed a new windscreen.

Please be aware that fitters appear to be on bonus for windscreen replacement not repair.

In the branch where we went, there was also a board, clearly visible to customers, with targets for the fitters for that week.

How many people are spending unnecessarily? £75 excess is a big jump from £10 excess for repair.