Raw Deal: Driver enraged after insurers turned down his claim for windscreen

George McIntosh was left seeing red when his car insurer refused to pay up after his windscreen was cracked by a flying stone.

The retired engineer was driving when a chip was thrown up by a passing lorry and smacked into the front window of his Peugeot 108.

“It gave me quite a fright,” said the 81-year-old from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire. “I pulled over to look at the damage and realised I would need a new windscreen.”

George said he decided to get the vehicle repaired immediately after the incident in August as he had a forthcoming hospital appointment that he couldn’t afford to miss.

“I booked the car into a local repair shop to have it fixed the following day, and then I phoned my insurer Saga to tell them about it,” he said.

“I was also conscious that with the car having a broken window it wasn’t really secure enough to be out on the street, so I wanted it fixed as quickly as possible.

“I was worried that it could get broken into or have the interior soaked by the rain and causing even worse damage, so I thought I was doing the right thing.”

George paid £294 to have a new windscreen fitted but he was left fuming when the insurer reckoned he didn’t have a valid claim.

“When it was clear that Saga didn’t want to reimburse me, I was furious,” he said. “I pay more than £400 a year for a fully comprehensive policy which says it is just a £25 compulsory excess charge for windscreen damage.

“I knew I was liable to pay the excess myself and I was fine with that.

“One of the reasons I took the policy out in the first place was that it had a low excess level for windscreen damage.

“I couldn’t understand why Saga wouldn’t stump up the rest when it was there in black and white.”

George sent the insurer a copy of the invoice from the garage to prove that he had already paid for the repair in full, but said it didn’t seem to make any difference.

“My wife and I are both pensioners and having to pay out nearly £300 is a lot of money to us. We can’t afford to write off that sort of cash but I wasn’t sure what I should do about it next.”

Feeling like he was being passed from pillar to post, George wrote to Raw Deal for help and advice. We contacted Saga on his behalf and asked the company to investigate the issue.

The good news is that the insurer performed a U-turn and decided to reimburse George for the new windscreen after all.

Saga said “We are very sorry that Mr McIntosh’s experience fell short of expectations. We have now refunded him the cost of his new windscreen, and have sent him a further gift by way of apology.”

George said he has now had his cash back and thanked Raw Deal for stepping in.

He said: “I have also received a letter from the company to say sorry and a parcel with a present in it.

“It was disappointing that I had to resort to involving Raw Deal to get this resolved.

“It should have been a straightforward issue but instead it turned into a stressful and frustrating situation for my wife and I.”

He added: “Raw Deal came up trumps when I seemed to be getting nowhere for weeks.”