While driving back from our trip to Liverpool University last Saturday we heard the sound of a stone hitting the windscreen as we drove down the motorway. It wasn’t particularly loud and I didn’t think anymore of it.

Fast forward to yesterday morning, Tuesday, I backed the car out of the garage to find a crack across the windscreen (just above where my new parking permit goes). My heart sank – the car is only a month old! I guess the cold in the night had done for it.

I went back into the house to find the insurance documents, slowly realising that I didn’t have any – and so going online to download them. It was clear from a quick perusal that a chip would have set me back an excess of £25, but for a replacement windscreen it would be an excess of £75. I took the forms to work expecting a round of telephone calls and claims.

In fact the process was very straightforward. There was no claims number on the paperwork so I Googled for it – but instead got a page on the website of my insurer, Admiral, that allowed me to claim directly for a replacement windscreen. It took me across to the Autoglass website, and by just putting in my registration number (no policy number or anything like that) it confirmed I was eligible for a replacement at the cost of the excess.

On the same page I booked an appointment (for the next day) and paid the excess. I later got a call from Autoglass with some questions about the car, including did it have automatic cruise control (ACC). It doesn’t and they said they had a windscreen in stock for me (I guess if I had said yes to ACC there might not have been one available).

Today Autoglass turned up and the windscreen has been replaced and looks as good as new. Job done, with much less pain than I feared.