Service excellence, smart cost control and purpose-driven scale
Insights from My Glass 2025
Service providers can play a far more strategic role in the insurance value chain than simply “fixing the problem”. That’s my take from my discussions with My Glass in 2025
Across multiple conversations during the year, a consistent narrative emerged: My Glass is not just replacing windscreens, it is reshaping how insurers, brokers, and clients experience one of the most frequent touchpoints in short-term insurance. At the same time, it is doing so with a business model that consciously balances efficiency, empowerment, and long-term sustainability.
Taken together, the insights from 2025 reveal a business that understands where pressure points in insurance really sit, claims cost, client experience, broker reputation, and ESG expectations, and has chosen to address them in practical, measurable ways.
The windscreen as a safety device, not a commodity - One of the strongest educational themes in My Glass’s 2025 content was a return to first principles: a windscreen is not merely a piece of glass, it is a structural safety component.
Repeated emphasis was placed on helping brokers and clients understand when a repair is sufficient and when replacement is non-negotiable. This distinction matters. Poor decisions around repairs can compromise airbag deployment, structural integrity, and roadworthiness, turning a cost-saving exercise into a safety risk.
The insight here is subtle but important. My Glass is positioning itself not as a volume-driven replacement business, but as a safety-led assessor. That shift reframes conversations with insurers and brokers away from unit cost alone and towards appropriate intervention, fewer comebacks, and reduced liability risk.
In an environment where claims leakage and client dissatisfaction often stem from poor first decisions, this emphasis on doing the right job, rather than the cheapest job, is strategically significant. We will therefore repair first, whenever possible, but we will replace the glass with correct quality glass and not any type of glass. One which meets OEM specifications.
OEE glass and the economics of sustainability - Another major theme to emerge in 2025 was the accelerating shift from OEM to certified OEE glass, and the implications this holds for the industry.
With hundreds of thousands of windscreens replaced annually in South Africa, the cost differential between OEM and OEE glass is no longer marginal. In a claims environment under constant pressure, My Glass has been vocal in advocating for high-quality, homologated OEE alternatives that meet the same safety and fit standards as OEM glass, without the inflated price tag.
The key insight is that this is not a compromise strategy. It is a credibility strategy. My Glass consistently drew a clear line between certified OEE glass and inferior aftermarket products, reinforcing that quality control, correct bonding, and technician skill are non-negotiable.
For insurers, this translates into lower average claim costs without increased risk. For brokers, it reduces excess disputes and premium pressure. And for clients, it delivers safety without unnecessary cost. In a year dominated by affordability concerns, OEE emerged as a rare win-win-win.
“In a market where service failure can be more damaging than underwriting error, My Glass has focused on reducing friction, protecting broker reputation and aligning cost control with safety and purpose.”
