Insurance

5 Things you Should Know about Car Insurance Companies

When you invest a huge amount in your car, it becomes important to invest in a good car insurance policy too. But a lot of people just buy what their car dealers offer them. This happens because not everyone is familiar with how a car insurance policy works and how to select a good car insurance policy for them. Well, in this article, you will read 5 things to help compare car insurance companies and how these five things can affect the quality of insurance that you choose to purchase.

  1. Types of car insurance policies available in the market

First things first, you should make up your mind about which type of car insurance policy do you want? There are basically two different types of insurance policies available in the market, comprehensive cover and third-party cover. you don’t really enjoy much of a choice with regards to third-party cover as it is compulsory to have one for every vehicle but when it comes to selecting a comprehensive insurance, the market is literally flooded with plans from car insurance companies. let us discuss in detail the coverage provided under each plan. Go online and do some auto insurance research to get a few quotes and choose the most suitable policy.

  1. Coverage provided under a Third-party liability insurance

A third party car insurance provides you with coverage against any damage caused to a third-party by you while using your vehicle. The damage can be to the vehicle, the property or even physical injuries. It is mandatory for every vehicle in India to insured by a third-party policy according to Motor vehicles act 1988. No coverage for personal damage is provided under this plan by car insurance companies.

  1. Coverage provided under a Comprehensive car insurance and the extensions

In terms of coverage provided, comprehensive and third-party cover plans are complementary to each other. While the third-party plans provide coverage for damage caused to the third-party, a comprehensive policy provides similar or even better coverage for personal damage and own vehicle damage. Car insurance companies provide a lot of choice in these policies to their customers with features like guaranteed 1-hour claim settlement, easy renewal and lots of extensions like theft coverage, malicious attacks protection, natural disaster protection and more.

  1. No Claim Bonus

To start with, a No claim bonus is kind of insurer’s rewards for the customers who don’t make any claim from their policy for a specified term of their policy. now the first question that might have come to your mind is what kind of reward does a No claim bonus offers? Well, in short, an NCB can get you huge discounts when you renew your policy or change your car insurance companies. the amount of discount offered depends upon the period of time for which you don’t make any claims from your policy. you can see for yourself the details in the table below:

No claim periodDiscount Offered
1 year20%
2 years25%
3 years35%
4 years45%
5 years50%
  1. IDV of your vehicle

IDV refers to insurance declared value of your vehicle. Basically, IDV indicates a value that you get from your insurance policy if your vehicle gets stolen or it is a case of total damage. Well, there must be some of you thinking it is a great way to get the full value of your vehicle back even after a couple of years. But, no, it does not work that way. There is a depreciation factor which is set by the age of your car and this depreciation is then used to determine the IDV of your vehicle. Therefore, the caveat, in this case, is that you never get the full value of your vehicle reimbursed by your car insurance policy in case of theft or total damage, from the table given below, you can check out the depreciation that comes in the value of your vehicle with its age.

Age of Two-wheelerPercentage depreciation to calculate IDV
Less than 6 months5%
Between 6 months and 1 year10%
Between 1 year and 2 years20%
Between 2 years and 3 years30%
Between 3 years and 4 years40%
Between 4 years and 5 years50%

Beyond five years of age, the IDV is set by a mutual agreement between the policyholders and car insurance companies.

  1. Zero Dep Cover

As your car gets older with time, your car insurance policy does not provide you reimbursement for the complete damage and you have to pay a part of the damage from your pockets. Sounds contradictory to the very definition of car insurance, right? But, this is how things work and there is nothing much that can be done. But wait, there is one solution to this problem. If you are willing to pay an extra amount on your premiums, then you can go for a zero-dep cover which does not consider the depreciating value of your vehicle and thus, provides you complete reimbursement for the damage repair of your vehicle. Although, a zero-dep cover is it more expensive than a normal cover it is totally worth it and ore on this will be discussed in the further sections.

  1. Claim settlement procedure

Ease of claim settlement can be a make or break the deal feature for car insurance companies. if you want only the best car insurance India and nothing less, then you cannot ignore the claim settlement procedure of the plans of your choice. The claim settlement in case of a third-party cover is always difficult and time taking as it goes via a lot of court hearings. For a comprehensive cover, companies take ease of claim settlement very seriously and therefore, keep it as one of the highlighting features in the policies.

Things to consider to select the best car insurance India

Now that we have covered the basics and essential part of this article, let’s move to a bit more useful part. Let us read about what are the things to keep in mind in order to get nothing less but only the best car insurance in India. Believe it, if you read this article until now with good concentration and understood everything mentioned till now, then this section will be a cakewalk for you. So, without any further ado, let us explore the tips:

  • Shop around for maximum options available

When you start looking for a car insurance policy, don’t hold yourself back from exploring the maximum options available either online or offline in the market. This way, you will be exposed to the maximum number of different features available from different car insurance companies in India. After this, you just have to shortlist some of the plans that suit your requirement and comes in your budget.

  • Use car insurance calculators

You can make your hunt for the best car insurance India easier with the help of a car insurance calculator. This will help you to narrow down your window of choices to the options that really are suitable for you. You can even use car insurance calculators to compare the insurance policies from different companies.

  • For policy renewal, Use your NCB

If you are looking to renew your car insurance or change your insurer, then don’t forget to make use of your No claim bonus if you have any. Now you already know that an NCB can get you huge discounts on your policy renewal. If you are specifically looking for a new insurer, then don’t forget to collect any claim certificate from your previous insurance company in order to get discounts from your new insurer.

  • Maintain a good driving record and install anti-theft gadgets

A lot of people overlook this part while purchasing a car insurance because they don’t know that a good driving record and anti-theft gadgets in your car can get you discounts on the premiums. These tips are those minor things that people do in order to get discounts on the car insurance premiums. Other small things you can do is now to make claim every time your car suffers a minor damage. Learn to pay for the small damages yourself. This will not only get you no claim bonus but will also help you maintain a good driving record too.

  • Finally: Online vs Offline

For most of the readers, this point must have come in the first place. This is one of the hottest points of discussion regarding a car insurance purchase. While online car insurance policies have been available for only a decade now, people have been buying car insurance from the market for ages. So, it is quite difficult to convince people of the advantages of buying an insurance online over the oldskool traditional offline purchase. Since this comparison can take up more than a complete article, we would try to keep it short. In a single statement, if you are well aware of the terminologies of a car insurance policy, then you can easily get a better deal online but if you are not aware of the know-how of a car insurance, then it would be better for you to get is offline or you take help from the live chat support online and get one online too.

Conclusion

So, we reached the end of this long article where we read a lot about the car insurance policies and how you can select the best car insurance for you. We hope that whatever you read today will help you out in getting only the best car insurance for you.

If you have any questions, please ask below!