Car Insurance Guide

7 July 2019

Car insurance is an integral part of your vehicle journey, but it’s up to you to choose the right policy for yourself. At Liberty General Insurance, our car insurance ensures that you will get reimbursed as per the terms and conditions. Simultaneously, we will guide you to choose a good policy for yourself.

How to choose a good policy?

It is imperative to choose a good policy to cover any perceivable damage/loss to your car. So, you need to keenly scrutinize certain points while purchasing a policy.

• Third party insurance
  This covers you against legal liability for injury or death or property damage caused to a third party involved in an accident. Since it is mandatory in India, you need to invariably have one for your car.
• NCB
  NCB, which is short for No Claim Bonus, is the bonus you earn for every claimless year of your insurance. In other words, it is the benefit given by the insurance provider for safe driving and maintenance of your vehicle. At the time of renewal of your insurance, the higher the NCB, the lower will be your insurance premium. Usually, NCB is steadily increased by the insurer over the years, as a reward for you not raising a claim in the previous years.
• IDV
  IDV stands for Insured Declared Value, is nothing but the current market value of your two-wheeler. In case of theft or total damage to your vehicle, IDV is the sum provided to you by the insurance provider. The insurance provider usually fixes it. IDV is one of the factors which decides the amount of premium you end up paying to cover your two-wheeler.
• Claim settlement ratio
  Claim settlement ratio is the percentage of total claims settled to the total claim received by the insurance company in a financial year. It is the likelihood of the insurer paying you for the loss/damage to your car. It is an important yardstick to measure the reliability of an insurance company.

Car Insurance Renewal

Prompt renewal of your policy will keep your car and your peace of mind intact. Glance over the above features again during renewal. Should you find, a different insurer providing better terms for the same premium or less, go ahead with the switch. Nowadays you can renewal your policy online.
In the odd case that the policy expires due to non-renewal, check if there is a grace period for renewal after the due date. If yes, then renew the policy immediately. If not, you need to schedule an appointment with the insurer for an inspection of your car. After the inspection, you will be provided a quotation for the renewal premium. Accept the offer if it is reasonable and renew the policy immediately.

Car Insurance Claims

There are two types of claims:
Cashless: In this type, you take your car to one of the insurer-approved garages (also called network garage) and the final bill is settled between the garage and your insurer. You need to pay only the deductible component in the bill.
Reimbursement: In this case, you need to pay the bills first and then submit the bills/receipts to the insurer. The deductible part is subtracted from the bill and you get the balance amount. An advantage of this method is that you get to choose the garage.

How to claim in case of an accident?

Nowadays almost all the reputed insurance providers have the facility of reporting a claim over a toll-free number and via SMS. Contact the insurance provider over one of these channels and lodge the claim. Fill out the claim form provided by your insurance provider, along with the required documents. For this you may need to note down some details as soon as possible after the accident.

• The registration number of the vehicle with which your vehicle was involved in the accident
• The name and contact details of any witnesses.

An FIR should be filed at the earliest at the nearest police station in case of an accident. A copy of the FIR should be enclosed with the claim form. A copy of the car’s registration book/card and a copy of your driving licence should also be enclosed. On receipt of your claim, the insurer will send a surveying officer to assess the damage caused to the vehicle. After scrutinising the survey report, the car may be sent to the garage for repairs. After the repair works are done, you need to submit the bills to the insurance provider. If the documents and claim are in order, the insurance provider will reimburse your bills.

In case of theft

In the incident of your car being stolen, lodge an FIR with the police station immediately. Submit a copy to the insurance provider. If the car could not be recovered, your claim will be processed, and you need to submit the RC book/card of the car and the duplicate keys to the insurance provider. You will also need to sign certain other documents indemnifying the insurance provider. After completion of the process, your claim will be disbursed.

In case of third-party involvement

When a third party is involved in your claim, the accident should be invariably reported to the police, then the insurance company. If you happen to be the third party in an accident, obtain the details of insurance of the other vehicle and inform that insurer.

At Liberty General Insurance, you can avail a car insurance today.

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