Consumers will certainly be familiar with glass breakage insurance as an optional component of a household insurance policy commonly found in Austria. Therefore, it sometimes seems superfluous to additionally resort to the benefits of a separate glass breakage insurance policy. However, upon closer examination, it is often the case that glass insurance can be useful as additional coverage for numerous consumers. Glass insurance, often referred to as glass breakage insurance, is a specialty insurance for households that is often purchased as a supplement to household and/or homeowners insurance.
What are the benefits of glass insurance?
As can be seen from the name, consumers can use glass insurance to protect themselves against damage to any property in or around the house that is made of glass. In many cases, this type of insurance is used when there is a particularly large amount of glass or other glass objects either in the house or on the house. are included. Most glass breakage insurances cover damage to the glass building as well as to objects in the household.
Nowadays, depending on the insurance provider, consequential damage caused by the glass breakage is also covered by the insurance. If, for example, the broken window has caused scratches on the parquet, these are also replaced by the glass breakage insurance.
Which objects are insured with the household insurance?
Depending on the insurer, it is primarily the following items that are covered against damage in the course of glass breakage insurance:
In some cases, not only are items that are made of glass protected by glass breakage insurance, but coverage also extends beyond that to so-called glass-like materials. These include, for example, certain plastics (Plexigals) or ceramic hobs, which are also insured if damaged.
With many insurance providers, only the glass is insured if the ceramic hob breaks. Sounds logical at first, however, with some ceramic hobs the glass alone cannot be replaced. It is therefore necessary to replace the entire ceramic hob, including the electronics. As said, then some insurance companies only cover the cost of the glass. However, there are also insurances which then cover the ceramic hob incl. the glass. Replace electronics.
Important: Especially for conservatories it is important that they are only insured against glass breakage if there is a foundation as well.
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What damage is insured?
Who decides for a glass breakage insurance, would like to know naturally first of all, which causes of damage with this insurance can be covered at all. Primarily, the following are the causes that can lead to damage to glass panes or other glass objects and are covered under the glass insurance policy:
- Environmental influences, for example storms or hailstorms
- Damage caused by third parties, for example, vandalism or a burglary
- Damage due to carelessness (by the policyholder)
Apart from a few exceptions, all causes of damage naturally result in the destruction of the respective glass pane or the objects made of glass, as the repair of a broken glass pane is of course rather impractical. However, the damaged or destroyed pane of glass may still incur repair costs, which are then also borne by the insurance company. This can be the case, for example, if a broken window pane is to be used in the course of emergency glazing to at least temporarily protect the house from wind and unwanted visitors.
What costs are not covered?
While the previously mentioned causes lead to the settlement of damage or destruction of the glass objects, there are also various damages that belong to the exclusions of the glass breakage insurance. For example, glass damage that is already covered by other insurance, such as building insurance or household insurance, is not covered. In addition, there are other exclusions in the glass insurance, which include, among others, the so-called hollow glasses. These include in particular:
- Aquariums
- Terrariums
- Vases
- Drinking vessels
- Lighting
As a rule, damage to these objects is not compensated, although it is possible to include them in the insurance cover as an option, especially in the case of aquariums and terrariums. Among the costs that are also not replaced are so-called blemishes on the glass. These include in particular scratches, scuffs, chipping and clouding. In principle, this damage falls into the area of wear and tear, which cannot be covered with glass insurance.
Sum insured for glass breakage insurance
As with any insurance policy, it is also important with glass insurance to choose the appropriate amount of cover or. To choose the sum insured. In the case of glass breakage insurance, almost all insurers offer three basic options for determining the sum insured. The first option involves the policyholder insuring individual glass items that are particularly valuable by listing them separately. This list must include, among other things, the respective replacement value of the items, so that the sum of the various items with their replacement values then results in the sum insured. In order to avoid underinsurance, the value is calculated with the help of the so-called glass price index.
However, in Austria, too, the sum insured is usually determined on the basis of the second possible variant. This is a lump sum coverage, which includes all building and furniture glazing. Here, it is not necessary to list each individual item, but similar to household insurance, there is a sum insured that applies to all insurable glass items.
The most used third option is to set the sum insured by the square meter number of the largest pane of glass. Mostly 5 or 10 m² panes are insured here. This specification is then sufficient to have all panes up to the maximum specified number of m² integrated in the contract.
What is the premium for glass breakage insurance based on?
The premium, which is to be paid for the glass insurance, depends essentially on the selected protection or the type of glass. Coverage amount. Other factors, which are important for example with a household or residential building insurance, normally do not play a role with the glass insurance. For example, the type of construction of the house does not determine the amount of the premium to be paid. However, a distinction may be made between the type of exterior glazing. Here, for example, the thickness of the glass panes processed on the building can play a role. Because, of course, the risk of damage is much higher for thin glass panes than for glass panes that have, for example, a thickness of one centimeter or more.
Conclusion on glass breakage insurance
The glass insurance is definitely a type of insurance that every real estate owner and tenant may need, because a glass breakage can happen quickly – sometimes even without outside influence. Meanwhile, for household insurance, it is sufficient to include glass breakage in the ordinary household insurance policy. This part of the product is usually included in the insurance anyway.
In the building insurance or business insurance, the glass breakage must be included additionally and separately. Otherwise no glass insurance is integrated in the contract.
From the practice it can be reported that it frequently also comes to so-called spontaneous breakages of panes. Here no external impact on the pane is necessary. The disc simply shatters into many small particles.