Buyers in India give a large amount of thought and time when it comes to research while buying a new car. The reason for that is that it is an important purchase that requires paying a lot of money. Hence, they want to make sure that the car they buy is perfect for them. However, the same sentiment does not often carry over to buying four wheeler insurance. People simply buy the minimum requirement for car insurance and get done with it like a formality. However, it is one of the worst things you can do.
When you try to get a car insurance policy for your car, it is essential to pay special attention to your coverage requirements. Once you know your requirements, you will have a strong idea of how much insurance you should buy. Following the next step, you can compare various policies by different insurance providers to find and buy the best car insurance policy for you.
Buying car insurance & claims
Apart from having the right coverage, buying the right car insurance is also important for you to enjoy the benefits mention in the plan. This means how good of a policy you buy is also important for making claims in the future. This means avoiding any scenarios where your claims would be rejected by buying and managing the policy right in the first place. For this, you should know about the various nuances of car insurance claims. More precisely, when to make a claim and when to not.
Accident scenarios & claims
Even if you take all the necessary precautions, you cannot be sure that you will never find yourself in a dangerous position on Indian roads. Even when you are following all the safety guidelines and traffic regulations, you could get involved in an accident. This means that you don’t necessarily need to be at fault to be involved in an accident.
Regardless of the situation, you have to take the right call on whether to make a claim or not. This decision is based on what kind of damage your vehicle has picked up during the accident and the exact conditions of the accident. Essentially, you have to decide that the damage to your car is big enough to make a claim over.
When you are driving your own car, you would know exactly how much damage has occurred to your car and that of the third-party. Hence, you have to determine in that situation whether to make a claim or not. If the damage is minimal, it is better to not make a claim. Since, the cost of repairing would be too less, there is a chance that making a claim would hurt you more than it benefits you. Your premium would get higher after making a claim. Moreover, you will lose any accumulated NCB during your car insurance renewal. This makes your policy more expensive than before. Instead, you can cover minor repairs yourself and make sure that you enjoy better and cheaper coverage for longer.
Further, when NCB is combined with deductibles that you have to pay when you make a claim, and the aggregate amount equals or exceeds the cost of repairs, then you are foregoing any benefits that could be received at your next insurance renewal. You can visit the official website of IRDAI for further details.
Thus, in the interest of long-term benefit and saving NCB to lower your premium, it is best to make claims only for major expenses and not minor repairs. Please note insurance is the subject matter of solicitation. For more details on benefits, exclusions, limitations, terms and conditions, please read sales brochure/policy wording carefully before concluding a sale.