Important Tips And Steps To File Your Car Insurance Claim

• Protect yourself with third party or comprehensive cover
• Use bumper to bumper policies to reduce your liability
• Enjoy facilities like zero depreciation and roadside assistance covers

Having a car insurance is a boon for car owners in India as it financially protects the policyholder/car owner from liabilities that he or she may incur from any mishap. There are two kinds of motor insurance available in India, comprehensive car insurance plan and third-party liability cover, and as per the Motor Vehicles Act it is mandatory that every car owner has a third-party liability cover at least. A comprehensive insurance plan covers both own damage liabilities as well as third-party liabilities while a third-party liability insurance plan covers only third-party liabilities that one incurs at the time of mishap. When it comes to filing your car insurance claim, there are a number of steps involved in the process. There are two kinds of claims that you can file; cashless claim and reimbursement claim.

• Cashless Claims

Cashless Claim is when the policyholder can go and get his/her car repaired at any of the insurer authorised network garages without having to pay for the repairs. The process of cashless claim settlement involves the following steps:

• Inform the insurer as soon as the mishap takes place by contacting the customer care team
• Register your cashless claim request with the customer executive
• You will receive a unique claim request number that you can use for future references
• File an FIR at the nearest police station and obtain the copy of the same
• The insurer will send an authorised surveyor to inspect your vehicle and assess the total loss incurred as a result of the mishap
• On the surveyor’s request, submit copies of the relevant documents and get them cross-verified against the originals
• Once your documents are in order, the surveyor will approve for your car to be repaired
• Get the address of the nearest cashless garage from the customer care team, insurer’s official website or from the surveyor and have your car towed or drive it to the network garage
• Have your car fixed by the mechanics at the network garage
• After your car is fixed, the surveyor will re-inspect your vehicle, after which your vehicle will be delivered to you
• The insurer will settle the bills for repairs directly with the garage

• Reimbursement Claims

Reimbursement Claim is when the policyholder gets his/her car repaired at any garage for which he has to pay and later get the amount reimbursed by the insurer. The process of reimbursement claim settlement involves the following steps:

• Inform the insurer as soon as the mishap takes place by contacting the customer care team
• Register your reimbursement claim request with the customer executive
• You will receive a unique claim request number that you can use for future references
• File an FIR at the nearest police station and obtain the copy of the same
• The insurer will send an authorised surveyor to inspect your vehicle, the incident and assess the total loss incurred as a result of the mishap
• On the surveyor’s request, submit copies of the relevant documents and get them cross-verified against the originals
• Once your documents are in order, the surveyor will approve for your car to be repaired
• Have your car towed or drive it to the nearest garage and have it fixed by the mechanics there
• After your car is fixed, pay the garage for the repairs made
• Once you get your car, submit the repair invoice or receipt to the insurer and have the amount you spent on the repairs reimbursed

Things To Remember When Filing Car Insurance Claim

There are a number of things that you should remember when filing a car insurance claim, a few of them are mentioned below:

• Perform a complete vehicle check before you go ahead and file an insurance claim
• Accumulating No Claim Bonuses will benefit you in terms of availing discount on your car insurance premium
• In case of an accident, ensure that you take care of medical emergencies before you go ahead and file a claim
• After attending to the medical emergencies, collect all the relevant documents that will support your claim
• If you have a good driving record, you can avail discount on your car insurance premium
• Save on your No Claim Bonuses by not making small claims