If you’re a car owner, purchasing a car insurance plan is a legal mandate in India. The insurance policy will help you deal with any damages to your vehicle. When you have motor car insurance, you can be at peace knowing that you will be financially protected if anything happens to your car. However, to get the benefits of a car insurance policy, you will have to file a motor insurance claim.
What Is a Car Insurance Claim?
A car insurance claim is a method through which an insured individual asks their car insurance company to provide them with financial support for the damages their car has faced or to pay for third-party financial liabilities. The car insurance claim will help you get cashless insurance coverage or reimbursement for the damage repair bills. Most insurers these days allow customers to carry out different tasks like car insurance renewal or raising a claim online.
For instance, if you’ve purchased the Tata AIG car insurance, you must visit their official website to initiate an online car insurance claim. However, it would be better to learn how to claim car insurance to get financial support through your insurance policy on time.
Steps You Should Follow to Claim Car Insurance
Listed below are the four steps you should follow when filing a car insurance claim:
- Inform the insurance company: You must contact your insurance company about the incident as soon as possible. Most car insurance companies in India have a time limit under which you must file the claim. Your insurer will reject any claim filed after the specified time limit. Therefore, to initiate the claim, you must contact the insurer quickly. Once your insurer is informed about the situation, they will guide you through the steps and help you file the claim smoothly.
- Contact the police: While contacting the police is not mandatory, filing an accident report at the police station closest to you is advisable. When you’re filing the accident report, you must provide as many details as possible. Some of the details you must provide are the location, vehicle number, details of witnesses, etc. Once you have filed the complaint, you must keep a copy of the FIR with yourself.
- Evaluate damage percentage: Once you have intimated the claim process, an inspection will be scheduled by your insurance company. The insurer will send a representative who will evaluate the damage to your car. The representative will also recommend the closest network garages to get the cashless insurance cover for the damage repair. Most car insurance companies in India usually schedule a survey within one or two days of the claim initiation.
- Claim settlement: Once the survey of the car is done and your insurer has approved your claim request, the insurance company will send you and the network garage an approval for the repair costs. Once the garage has evaluated the damage, they will go ahead with the repairs. Usually, in most car insurance claims, you have to pay a portion of the amount from your pocket. Once you have paid that amount, you can wait for the damages to be repaired to drive your vehicle again.
Following these steps can help you file the claim after an accident or any other event that may have damaged your four-wheeler. If you prefer getting your car repaired at a garage that doesn’t come under your insurer’s network, then you must send the damage repair bills to your insurer. Once they get the confirmation from the representative for the damage estimate, you will be reimbursed for the repair costs. While these steps will help you protect your car from damages, keeping a few things in mind during the car insurance claim process is important.
Things To Remember When Filing A Motor Insurance Claim
Given below are some of the things you must remember when filing a car insurance claim
- You must inform your insurer immediately after any damages.
- You should analyze the situation and raise the correct type of claim. If it is a minor dent and is quite small, you must opt to repair the damages by yourself. This is because it will help you protect your accumulated NCB.
- You must enter the correct details while providing the claim form to your insurer. Any incorrect details on your claim form can impact your claim heavily.
- If there are any third-party involved, you must stay away from confrontations. Settling the issue without any arguments will help you get the settlement from your insurance for the car with ease.
- You must provide all the important documents for filing the claim. Providing the necessary documents will ensure your claim is settled smoothly.
- If you have the option of getting your car repaired at a network garage, then it would be better to opt for it. This is because the claim settlement is faster and smoother with network garages.
Conclusion
Car insurance claims help us get the support we need to repair our vehicle if it’s damaged. However, you must learn about the claim process while purchasing the plan. Many insurers allow customers to carry out a claim online. To file the claim, you must inform your insurer and get a police report. Once the claim is registered and your insurer’s representative has evaluated the damages on your vehicle, your claim will be settled.
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