Buying Motor Insurance Smartly

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Protecting a car with insurance coverage is mandated by the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The law states that all vehicles on Indian roads should be shielded with a minimum level of insurance protection, also referred to as third-party liability insurance.  While Third Party Insurance is mandatory, a Comprehensive Insurance policy is not. Moreover, a Comprehensive policy — which comprises of two major components, Third Party cover and Own Damage cover – is always higher priced than a Third Party insurance cover. This explains why a majority of people in India rely only on Third Party Insurance and do not go for a Comprehensive cover.

THIRD PARTY MOTOR INSURANCE

In a Third Party Motor Insurance policy, there are 3 parties involved:

  1. The first party is the insured person
  2. The second party is the insurance company, and
  3. The third party is the person who claims damages on being injured by the insured person.

Under a Third Party Motor Insurance Policy, the insurance company enters into an agreement with the insured person to indemnify him/her on being held legally liable or sued in the court of law for the damage or bodily injuries or death of a third party or third party property while using his/her vehicle. Thus, Motor Third-Party Insurance is referred to as ‘third party’ cover since the party benefiting from it is neither the policyholder nor the insurance company. Also, the coverage offered by a Third Party Insurance Policy is cost-effective as the premium rate is lower due to the low incidence.

WHAT’S COVERED UNDER THIRD PARTY MOTOR INSURANCE

1) Death of third party

2) Accident leading to disability:

3) Property Damage:

4) Owner-Driver cover accident

 

WHAT’S NOT COVERED :THE NEED FOR OD COVERS AND RIDERS

  1. Damage to your Own Vehicle
  2. Cover against injuries you suffer in an accident (death and permanent disability is covered by a Personal Accident Cover for the owner driver which is a mandatory cover)
  3. Cost of Personal Belongings in the Insured Vehicle during an Accident
  4. Pay-out for a Replacement in case of Theft or Total Loss

This is where the comprehensive cover as well as riders come in – which are all opt – in and of course, where you need to decide what you need.

 

SAVE MONEY BY CONSULTING US

If you have bought your cover from a dealer or someone has been influencing this sale , it possibly will surely be a cover that is much higher than you actually need by building in all possible covers OR possibly priced higher than similar options available as our recent experiences show. We have seen clients often pay as much as 20%-30% extra on covers, sometimes for riders that are not required by the user.

Depending on the car, the lifestyle you live etc, our insurance advisors can save you valuable money as well as give you precise covers that may help at the time of need .

Example, if you are not staying in a low lying/flood prone city, the engine protector rider may not be of much use. Similarly, if you are purchasing a small car, consumables cover or key & lock replacement cover may not be a major requirement. Or If you or your family members drive the car, there is no point of taking a Paid Driver liability cover. Also, If you/family members have adequate personal accident insurance policy or have a life insurance policy with adequate accidental disability coverage, you may want to take a relook at the un-named passenger cover.

Sometimes dealers may suggest that you may lose your cashless claim privileges or lose certain aspects of your warranty and this is not true. In fact, IRDA has prescribed rules in this regard and no dealer can refuse to give you cashless facility as long as your insurer has a tie-up with them. In fact, warranty is also extended by car manufacturers and the dealer has no role to play on deciding what will be covered as part of your warranty basis where you purchase your insurance.

Sometimes your existing dealers may scare you on  no claims bonus – note that you are entitled to an NCB irrespective of where you purchased your policy from and it has got no correlation with your car dealer. Even if you decide to change your insurer after a year, NCB bonus will be still offered as long as you have a claim-free year.

Our quotes for motor insurance are provided free on a no obligation and all you have to do is leave us a message at https://www.plindia.com/motorinsurance/ and we shall revert at the soonest. Alternatively, do mail us at insurance@plindia.com.

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