Windscreen repair FAQs

As a windscreen is crucial to a driver's visibility, a damaged windscreen can be one of the causes of your car failing it’s MOT as the MOT takes into consideration the effect any damage may have on the driver's visibility.

Therefore, it is important to have your windscreen chip repaired before your MOT assessment.
 

No, you don’t need to wait with your vehicle. You can leave your keys with an Optic-Kleer repair technician and come back and collect your repaired vehicle and keys once you have finished your shopping.

A small chip in your windscreen might not seem like an issue, but if you ignore it and leave it untreated, the chip can develop into a crack, in which case you will require a windscreen replacement. This will be a hefty expense to you if your insurance policy does not include windscreen cover.

Chips in windscreens are one of the most common types of damage to cars, and a major source of insurance claims. Regardless of how many precautions you take, you cannot avoid windscreen chips occurring. Luckily, what you can avoid is big expenses by ensuring that you have windscreen cover within your insurance policy. 
 

Optic-Kleer can offer a mobile windscreen repair service in most areas if that is more convenient than coming to the retail location where your local Optic-Kleer technician is working. 

Optic-Kleer has windscreen repair technicians all over the UK. Please follow this link to find out where and when an Optic-kleer technician can carry out a repair on your windscreen.

If you have a chip in your windscreen, we recommend having it fixed as soon as possible. A windscreen chip can easily develop into a crack, meaning you will need a windscreen replacement.

A damaged windscreen can cause your vehicle to fail an MOT, or reduce your visibility while driving.
 

A chip in a windscreen is repaired by cleaning and treating the damage with specially designed tools and resins. In the majority of cases, the chipped windscreen can be repaired by one of our highly trained technicians in around 20 minutes.

Windscreen repairs can usually be carried out in around 20 minutes. 

An Optic-Kleer windscreen chip repair will usually take around 20 minutes to complete. 

Please follow this link to find out where and when an Optic-Kleer repair technician can carry out a repair on your windscreen.

Occasionally, through no fault of the repair technician, the attempt to repair a windscreen can result in the chip turning into a crack. This is due to stress in the windscreen, for which we have no control.

In the very rare event that this occurs, Optic-Kleer will refund back to you the cost of the repair. If the repair has been carried out through your insurance, Optic-Kleer will make the refund back to your insurance company. Please read Optic-Kleer’s lifetime windscreen repair guarantee for more details.
 

After completion of a successful repair, the chip should not crack further and the repair should pass an MOT. In the unlikely event that a crack develops, Optic-Kleer will refund back to you the cost of the repair. If the repair has been carried out through your insurance, Optic-Kleer will make the refund back to your insurance company. Please read Optic-Kleer’s lifetime windscreen repair guarantee for more details.

The following are the most common causes of chips in windscreens:

• Road debris: On roads where there are loose stones, for example gravel roads and roads under construction, vehicles can dislodge these stones, which can hit your windscreen and cause a chip or crack. As speed will increase the impact of the stone on your windscreen, the faster you drive, the greater the risk.
• Direct impact: Damage to your windscreen can be caused by minor road collisions or even a bird hitting your windscreen.
• Changes in temperature: The change from hot to cold forces the glass in the windscreen to expand and contract, which over time can mean that chips can develop into cracks in the window screen. Also, having the heating turned up when it's cold outside can increase the risk of stone chips developing into cracks.
• Weather: Any severe weather, such as strong winds and thunderstorms, can dislodge a stone on the road which may hit your windscreen.

Optic-Kleer has windscreen repair technicians all over the UK. Please follow this link to find out where and when an Optic-kleer technician can carry out a repair on your windscreen.

Unfortunately, as toughened glass is commonly used in side windows, they cannot be repaired and need to be replaced. This type of glass is designed to fracture into small pieces unlike a windscreen that will remain intact upon impact. 
 

Once an Optic-Kleer technician has repaired a chipped windscreen, the damaged area will not totally disappear. There will usually be a small mark left in the damaged area but you should expect an improvement in the cosmetic appearance of the damage.

A windscreen chip repair is used to prevent the damage getting worse and to restore the structural integrity of the vehicle.

Although the chip will not be invisible after the successful repair, you should expect an improvement in the cosmetic appearance of the repair and a slight blemish or imperfection where the impact occurred is normal. 

• It WILL get worse - If you leave a chip in your windscreen, unfortunately it will get worse over time due to the vibration, bumps and pressure that pass through your car and its windscreen just in normal, everyday driving, because your windscreen forms part of the car’s structure.
• Safety 1) - Day to day - Your windscreen provides up to 30% of the vehicle’s structural strength - any damage will reduce this strength.
• Safety 2) - In an accident - Your vehicle relies on your windscreen in a couple of ways. The passenger airbag uses the windscreen for support, the roof uses the windscreen for support in the event of a rollover, and when your vehicle crumples up in an accident, the windscreen helps direct the energy of the impact around the passenger compartment - any damage puts all of these at risk.

Almostly certainly, althought it depends on the size of the chip in your windscreen and where it’s situated - see our guide on the windscreen repair page.

It only takes about 20 minutes so we can usually repair your windscreen while you shop.

It costs a lot less to carry out a repair to a damaged windscreen than to replace the windscreen. Even if your insurance company is accepting the cost of replacement you may need to pay an excess. There is also a major environmental benefit to repairing your windscreen rather than replacing it.

Usually not. If you have glass damage cover and we can repair the glass the work we carry out will usually be FREE* to you, paid for by your insurance company.

*Subject to insurance cover.