Should I Claim It?

Windshield insurance laws by state: three regimes, not fifty rumors

Most "free windshield states" articles collapse three very different legal setups into one list, and several of the biggest ones haven't been updated in years. Here's the actual structure, verified against the primary statutes on August 13, 2026, with the statute linked on every page.

Regime 1 · Deductible waived by law

Three states, and only three. Each with a different scope, which is where articles go wrong.

StateWhat's coveredThe catch
Florida
§627.7288
Windshield onlyNot side or rear glass. Whether calibration cost is included is legally unsettled
Kentucky
KRS 304.20-060
All glass, plus required lights, calibration included by statuteThe claim must be glass-only. Mixed storm damage voids the waiver
South Carolina
§38-77-280(B)
All safety glassPhysical-damage coverage is itself optional in SC. A 2026 sunset bill appears to have died; we re-check in 2027
Regime 2 · Insurer must offer the option

Four states where $0 (or reduced) glass coverage exists only if you added it to your policy. The question isn't "what does my state do," it's "what did I buy?"

StateThe optionWorth knowing
Arizona
§20-264
$0 on glass and required lightsBroader than glass alone: "safety equipment"
Connecticut
§38a-339
$0 on safety glassSince 2005 insurers haven't had to tell you it exists
Minnesota
§65B.134
$0 on safety glassRegularly mislabeled a "free windshield" state
Massachusetts
c.175 §113O
$100 glass deductibleA floor, not $0. No MA law requires a zero option
Regime 3 · Optional coverage allowed, nothing required

New York (§3411(k)) generally bans $0 deductibles on physical damage but lets insurers sell no-deductible window glass coverage. May sell. Not must offer. New York appears on "must offer" lists all over the internet; the state's own insurance regulator says otherwise.

Every other state: no special glass rule. Your comprehensive deductible applies, and the file-or-pay decision is pure arithmetic. That's what the calculator is for.

Laws that look like glass coverage but aren't

A recent wave of state laws (Iowa 2025, Utah 2021, Maryland 2023, New York 2025, plus 2026 bills in Virginia and Louisiana) regulates how glass shops handle ADAS calibration, assignments of benefits, and disclosures. These are shop-conduct laws. None of them waives a deductible or creates coverage, and articles citing them as new "free windshield" states are wrong. Disclosure is not coverage.

How we keep this honest

Every rule on these pages cites the primary statute with a link, carries the date we last verified it, and gets re-checked on a schedule (South Carolina is diarized for early 2027 because of its sunset bill). If you find a rule that's changed before we have, the statute wins, and we'd genuinely like to know.