Car Insurance Renewal

It is mandatory to have car insurance if you own a car. Usually, when people want to buy a car, they compare different vehicles available in the market and go with the one that favours their needs in the best way possible. But when it comes to choosing the right car insurance, people are negligent. They end up choosing the least favourable one just for the sake of fulfilling the requirement set by the government via the Motor Vehicles Act. When buying a vehicle, it is of utmost importance that you compare and buy car insurance just as you would do when buying a car. Once you have availed a suitable car insurance, you need not think about it until you raise a claim or if the policy expires. This is where car insurance renewal process comes into play. Car insurance renewal is as important as buying a car insurance for the first time. Renewal of car insurance ensures that the car stays insured and the financial assurance continues.

Online Car Insurance Renewal

Renewal of your car insurance can be done from the comfort of your home via online websites or mobile apps depending on your insurer. This can save you both time and money compared to the time and money you spend to visit an insurance company or an insurance agent.

Before renewing your car insurance premium online, you can calculate your monthly/yearly insurance premium by using a car insurance premium calculator.

You can find the premium calculator on the insurer’s official website.

How to renew your car insurance

When it comes to renewing one’s car insurance policy, car owners have two ways to go about it, they can either renew their car insurance policy online or at the insurance branch office. When it comes to the online process of renewing one’s car insurance policy online, car owners can renew the policy on the website of the insurer or on any third-party website. For the process of renewing the car insurance policy online, all that the policyholder has to do is to enter the car insurance policy document number, and make the payment using his/her credit card, debit card, or net banking account. Now, in order to retain customers during the renewal of the car insurance policy, the car owner does not have to repeat the process of submitting all the required documents. Just entering the car insurance policy document number will suffice.

 

For renewing of one’s car insurance policy at the insurance branch, the car owner has to submit the current policy document, driving license, pollution under control (PUC) certificate, and registration certificate to the insurance agent. The car owner has to then make the payment for the insurance policy.

 

When it comes to convenience, renewing one’s car insurance policy is a lot more time saving and the whole process can be done in a matter of a few minutes. In addition, to push customers to rather renew their motor insurance policy online, car insurers offer premium discounts at the time of online renewal.

 

Terms related to car insurance policy renewal

Listed below are some of the terms related to car insurance renewals that policyholders need to know:

• Grace period

Grace period is basically the time given for the policyholder to renew the car insurance policy following the expiry date of the car insurance policy. While some car insurers do not have the beneficial grace period, other insurers offer a grace period from 3-30 days. In fact, some insurers even charge a late fee penalty for policyholders that renew their policy during the grace period. For policies that do not have a grace period, the policy will expire on the date as specified on the policy document. If the policy is renewed after the expiry date, the policyholder might have to pay penalty fees and in some cases, the vehicle will have to be inspected before the policy is renewed. When purchasing a car insurance policy, car owners have to ensure whether their policy has a grace period or not.

• Lapsed policy

If the policyholder fails to renew the car insurance policy on or before the expiry date, then the policy will lapse. Listed below are some of the disadvantages of a lapsed policy:

• If the policyholder has let the policy lapse for a significant duration, then he/she may not be eligible for a renewal of the policy. The policyholder in such a case will have to purchase a fresh policy.
• The policyholder will have to pay a penalty for allowing the policy to lapse.
• As already mentioned, if the policyholder allows the car insurance policy to lapse, then in some cases, the vehicle will have to be inspected prior to him/her being allowed to renew their car insurance policy.
• Policyholders might lose the opportunity of carrying over their No Claim Bonus to the next car insurance policy term.
• If the policyholder meets with an accident and holds a lapsed policy, any claim for coverage of damages caused to the car or for medical expenses will be rejected by the insurer. In addition, the car owner will be fined heavily for driving with a lapsed policy.
• Needless to say, but if the policyholder meets with an accident with a lapsed policy, then he/she will have to meet the expenses to repair the damages caused to the car for his/her own pocket.

Car Insurance Renewal Premium Calculator

The premium calculator uses the information fed against the parameters to calculate the insurance premium. The parameters* used by the calculator are as follows:

To Renew Motor Policy from the Same Insurer

• Expiring Policy Number

To Renew Motor Policy from Other Insurer

• Vehicle Details

• Vehicle owner - Individual/organisation
• Effective Driving Licence
• First Registration Date/Sales Invoice Date
• Registration City
• Manufacturer’s Name
• Vehicle Make and Model
• Sum Insured

• Details of Previous Policy

• Policy Type - Liability Only/Comprehensive
• Policy Start Date
• Policy End Date

• Personal Details
  • Name
  • Mobile Number
  • E-mail Address
• Additional Coverage for Your Vehicle
  • IDV for Non-electrical Accessories
  • IDV for Electrical Accessories
  • IDV for LPG/CNG kit

*Please note that there would be slight variation in parameters used by the calculator depending on the insurer.

Car Insurance Renewal after Due Date or Expiry

Due to the lack of awareness, policyholders tend to be a little negligent when it comes to car insurance renewal. The process to renew your expired car insurance involves the following steps:

1. Choose the insurance policy
2. Schedule a vehicle survey
3. Insurance representative will inspect your car for any damages and report back to the insurer once the vehicle survey is over
4. Buy the policy after the inspection is done

Car Insurance Renewal after Accident and Claim

Unlike car insurance renewal post expiry, renewing a car insurance post accident and claim settlement could be little tricky. Once the policyholder raises the claim due to an accident, the insurers can be a little hesitant in providing insurance to them as they are considered a high risk.

The process of renewing the policy post claim settlement is similar to that of policy renewal post expiry:

1. Choose the insurance policy
2. Provide details of your previous claim settlement
3. Schedule a vehicle survey
4. Vehicle Survey takes place, this is where insurance representative inspects the car for any damages and report back to the insurer
5. Buy the policy after the inspection is done and if the insurer sees it fit to insure you

Online Car Insurance Renewal features

Renewing car insurance online has several key features:

• Ensures continued financial assurance against liabilities
• Instant, hassle-free and paperless policy renewal
• Due to less paperwork, firms offer car insurance at a lower rate
• You can compare various policies and choose the most suitable one

Tips for Car Insurance Renewal

In case you have to renew your car insurance, keep the following tips in your mind:

• Compare different policies via online websites before deciding on the policy
• Know your IDV
• Provide the correct information for the parameters
• Make sure you renew your car insurance policy before it expires or soon after you have raised a claim

How to reduce the car insurance premium

If the policyholder has made an accident claim and the premium is more than what he/she can afford, then listed below are certain ways the policyholder can reduce the premium of the car insurance policy:

• Voluntary deductibles

When purchasing or renewing a car insurance policy, policyholders have the option of opting for voluntary deductibles. The other deductible is the compulsory deductible option, which the policyholder will have to pay following every claim. However, as the name states, the voluntary deductible option is optional and decreases the cost of the premium as the policyholder is voluntarily opting to pay for the damages to a certain limit following a claim.

• Avoid making small claims

If the policyholder feels that the damage caused to the car following an accident is rather small, and can be covered from his/her own pocket, then opting against raising a claim should be the option. With every claim, the premium increases during the following policy term, and not raising a claim will ensure that the premium of the car insurance policy is not increased. In addition, if the damage to the car following the accident is done to the deductible parts, and if the policyholder does not have a deductibles cover, then he/she should refrain from raising a claim to cover the expenses to repair the damages. This is because the base policy does not offer coverage for deductible parts.

• Transfer the No Claim Bonus

If you’ve held the No Claim Bonus with your previous insurer, make sure that you transfer the NCB and receive a instant premium discount. That said, if you’ve not made any claims in the year, when renewing your car insurance policy, your NCB will make you eligible for a premium discount.

• Make a comparative analysis

If you feel that your present car insurer is charging you too much for the premium of the car insurance policy, check other insurers offering the same benefits with a cheaper premium. You can opt to transfer your car insurance policy to another insurer and if you have not made any claims, then the No Claim Bonus is transferable as well. Cross-check the services offered by the insurer, their claim settlement ratio, and their claim turnaround time. However, be wary if an insurer offers a car insurance policy at a low costing premium. Often, insurers offer lower premiums but reduce the Insured Declared Value of the car of the policyholder. This means that the payout following a claim will be lower as well.

• Use your membership or profession to get you a discount

If you are part of an automobile association, then you will be automatically eligible for a premium discount. In addition, insurers also offer premium discounts based on the profession of the policyholder. If the customer or policyholder is a doctor, or in the armed forces, etc., then he/she will be eligible for premium discounts as well.

• Reduce the risk factor

If the policyholder takes certain steps to reduce the risk of the car being damaged or stolen, then the insurer will take this into consideration and reduce the premium of the car insurance policy. The policyholder should show that he/she has installed anti-theft  devices and parking sensors, and has a private parking space and has averted any sort of risk the car could be in.

• Make timely renewals

If the policyholder has always renewed his/her car insurance policies on time, then the car insurer will also take this into consideration and reduce the premium of the car insurance policy.

 

Can an expired policy be renewed?

If the policyholder has failed to renew the car insurance policy on or before the expiry date, then the policy will lapse. If the policy has lapsed just for a few days, then in most cases, the policyholder will be allowed to reinstate the policy, however by paying a penalty. That said, if the policy has lapsed for a significant time, then the insurer will ask the policyholder to rather opt for a fresh car insurance policy rather than try to renew it.

Car owners and policyholders will be required to pay higher premiums in the future as the Supreme Court has mandated long-term third-party car insurance policies as of 1 September, 2018. The mandate will ensure that car owners have the third-party liability for a tenure of 3 years, with a one-time premium payment. All fresh motor insurance policies and those who have purchased new cars from 1 September, 2018, will have to buy the long-term third-party car insurance policy. By being insured for a longer duration, car owners will not have to go through the hassle of renewing their car insurance policy every year.