15 Tips for Car Insurance Claim Success

When you own a car, you need to buy insurance for the vehicle. You have the option to buy a third-party or comprehensive coverage. With third-party insurance, you are covered for a third-party liability that arises due to your fault. By getting comprehensive car insurance, you are covered for third-party liability and provide financial protection against damage/repair caused to your vehicle. If your car is damaged in an accident, you must be getting worried about the car damage and getting a claim from the insurance company. Buying car insurance does not guarantee that your claims for the damage cost of your car will be paid by the insurance company.

15 tips to ensure claim success for your car insurance are:-

1. Write down the series of events that lead to a car accident. A clear and accurate report of the accident will help the insurance company to decide quickly about the claim.
2. Take pictures of the damage and injuries caused by the accident. In addition to the written document, taking photos of the scene will add value to the insurance report.
3. If your car is damaged, stolen, or broken, and someone is injured due to an accident, call the police to prepare a report for the incident.
4. Inform your insurance company about the accident. You may inform the company on the claims support helpline and also report the incident with a written claim.
5. Contact the insurance company representative and ask for the steps to file a car insurance claim such as the documents required for filing a claim.
6. When you get a courtesy car while your car is being repaired, you need to follow the specific instructions of the insurance company before hiring the car.
7. If you don’t get a courtesy car, you can claim travel expenses incurred during the time your car is being repaired. The insurance company will pay for ‘reasonable expenses.
8. Provide the correct details in the claim form. The insurance company will scrutinize the details before the settlement of the claims.
9. Don’t get the repair work done before the insurer agrees to pay for the cost incurred in the repair work. Also, check with the insurance company if they network garages in your area to ensure the repair work is done efficiently.
10. Don’t forget to get the receipt of the repair work done for your car. The insurance company will ask you for the receipt to settle the claims.
11. Start driving your car only when you have complete documentation such as insurance for your car, registration certificate, and a proper driving license. The insurance company will reject the claim if you don’t have complete documents.
12. Don’t do careless driving such as over-speeding or breaking the traffic rules will lead to rejection of claims. So, be wary of it.
13. Inspect your car by an authorized surveyor before buying or renewing car insurance. It will help you in claiming damages.
14. Don’t drink and drive. Even if a little smell of alcohol is detected, the insurance company will reject your claim on the ground of consumption of alcohol.
15. Use your car for the purpose as specified in the proposal form at the time of buying the insurance cover.

Conclusion

Car insurance in India is a fairly mature market and insurance companies have no problems with paying out genuine claims. At the same time, they need to take care of their business aspects so that only genuine claims are paid. Better do your groundwork carefully and be genuine from your end; it would make it difficult for insurers to reject your claim if it’s genuine.