Checklist for First Time Car Insurance Buyers
After months of research and plans, finally buying your first car is usually a special day in everyone's life. We understand how good it feels when you complete a car insurance plan in an easy and hassle-free manner. Here’s the checklist for first time car insurance buyers.
Purchasing car insurance is an easy procedure but it might become confusing or tiring if you are not aware of the process, especially when you are insuring your car for the very first time. Thus, we have made a checklist for first-time car insurance buyers to save lots of your time and help you buy an insurance policy instantly and easily.
Checklist for First Time Car Insurance Buyers
You can keep the following things ready to complete your car insurance purchase process in a hassle-free manner -
ID Proof
With your personal details like your name, address, age, etc, you would be required to submit a copy of your ID proof which can be your Aadhaar Card, Driver’s License, Passport, Voter ID or any other government-issued photo ID proof.
Details of Your Car
The next thing you would require is the details of your car including its make, model, variant name, registration number, engine capacity, fuel type, RTO location, etc. Thus keep these details handy.
Know the Different Types of Car Insurance Plans
On the basis of coverage, there are three types of car insurance policies namely third-party car insurance, standalone own-damage car insurance, and comprehensive car insurance. While third-party car insurance is a compulsory requirement as per the Indian Motor Tariff, a comprehensive car insurance plan offers you the maximum coverage for your car.
Driving Without Insurance is Punishable Offence
You must know that every car owner is required to have at least a third-party car insurance policy as per the Indian Motor Tariff to remain legally compliant while driving the car on Indian roads. The absence of valid third-party car insurance is punishable with a fine of Rs. 2,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 3 months.
Calculation of Premium
The premium of your car insurance policy depends on the size of the car's cubic capacity in case of third party car insurance and on a number of factors in the case of the remaining two types of car insurance plans. The factors include your car’s fuel type, make, model, variant, RTO location, registration city, etc. It is good to calculate the premium of your car using an online premium calculator to make an informed decision.
Insured Declared Value
The Insured Declared Value of your car is its current market price. It is the amount payable to you in case of a constructive total loss ,i.e, more than 70% of damage and in case of loss of car by theft. You should always go for an optimal Insured Declared Value, as a high IDV will cost you a high premium and a low IDV will result in a low claim amount in case of total loss or theft.
Car Insurance Add-ons
You can opt for additional coverages called add-ons by paying an extra premium. The common add-on covers people choose are a zero depreciation cover, engine cover, tyre cover, no-claim-bonus, loss of luggage, and many more.
Network of Garages
Car insurance companies have partnerships with a number of garages and these are known as network garages of that insurance provider. At these, network garages, you can avail the facility of cashless claims.
Claim Settlement Ratio
Claim settlement ratio refers to the percentage of claims settled by an insurance provider out of the total claims received by it in a particular financial year. The higher the CSR, the better it is.
Disclaimer: This article is issued in the general public interest and meant for general information purposes only. Readers are advised not to rely on the contents of the article as conclusive in nature and should research further or consult an expert in this regard.
