Incredible Car Insurance Guide

If you own a car, you must carry a car insurance plan. It’s obligatory as per the law. It covers any harm to your vehicle or injuries and damages to others that you are accountable for.

Premium Funda:

There are different premiums for different coverage. Premium to cover damages to the vehicle and injuries to the passengers or driver varies. One must study this “Premium Funda” by collecting more than three car insurance quotes from different insurance companies. One must need to give mandatory information to conclude with your necessary coverage for your car such as engine no., chassis no., class of vehicle, cubic capacity, seating capacity, your alcoholism, daily usage and geographical area you are living in etc.

Setting up coverage limit as per your needs:

The amount insured for the vehicle is called as “Insured’s Declared Value”. This is purely customized value as per your needs which should reflect the current market value of the vehicle. Under liability insurance, Third Party Liability insurance is covered. Unlimited coverage can be attained under this.

Policy Period and Renewal:

Usually, policy period is valid or considered to be for one year. It is highly recommended to renew the same 45 days before its expiry. One has to pay the premium on time as no insurer extends the grace period for premium payment. If the policy gets laps by even one day, the vehicle has to be inspected. Moreover, if a comprehensive policy is allowed to lapse for more than 90 days, the accrued benefit of NCB (No Claim Bonus) cannot be capitalized.

Checking No Claim Bonus:

If insured or policyholder has not made any claim in the preceding year, the non-claim bonus is paid to the insured. Do check whether you can avail for this benefit. Getting nonclaim bonus can deduct your premium cost or gets it discounted for the current year. This is an important factor that needs to be taken into consideration while renewing your vehicle insurance policy. NCB can be migrated from one insurer to other if you want to switch over your policy to some other insurer. You need to produce the proof of NCB earned by way of the renewal notice from the current insurer. Moreover, you can also produce the originals of your current expiring policy along with a certification stating that you have not lodged any claim so far on your current policy.

Discounts to lower your premium:

In addition to NCB, there are other additional discounts available under Own Damage Premium for membership of Automobile Association of India. The anti-theft device inbuilt or approved by Automobile Research Association of India (ARAI), Pune and whose installation is approved by AAI can weaken your premium value. Concessions for specially designed/modified vehicles for the blind, physically disabled and mentally challenged persons minimize your premium with heavy discounts. However, Service Tax is applicable and would be as per prevailing rule of law.
Any modification in the vehicle should be informed to the insurer:
Fitting of CNG / LPG kit or any other modification in the vehicle should be informed to the insurance company so that the kit is covered on payment of extra premium on the value of the kit under “OD” section and also under “LO” section.

Required documents while driving in Public Places:

• Certificate of Insurance
• Photocopy of Registration Certificate
• Pollution under Control Certificate
• Photocopy of Driving License of person who is driving the vehicle

Transferring insurance to the new purchaser of your vehicle:

It’s easy to transfer your car insurance to your car purchaser just by providing the seller informs in writing of such transfer to the insurance company. A fresh application form needs to be filled in with a nominal fee for the transfer of insurance along with pro-rata recovery of NCB from the date of transfer till policy expiry. It may be noted that transfer of ownership in comprehensive/package policies has to be recorded within 14 days from the date of transfer failing which no claim will be payable for own damage to the vehicle.
These are the most important points one must consider or study while operating car insurance policy. If you have lost your policy, you can request (Written) for a duplicate copy of the same with some nominal charges.