If you are a car owner in India, you have to have a car insurance policy. There is at least one type of car insurance that is mandatory to have, i.e., Third Party Insurance Cover. It is a must for all car owners as per The Motor Vehicle Act.
There are several car insurance policies for a car but it is not so easy to settle for a particular insurance policy. You have to know about these policies and you have to do some research to find out the policy that suits your budget and follows the government regulations. You should follow some guidelines on how to select the best car insurance.
There are mainly two types of car insurance in India. These policies are comprehensive car insurance and third party.
Third-party car insurance is mandatory from a legal perspective. It covers you from financial aspects in case there is a car accident and a person outside of the car is the victim. The insurance company shall pay the third party for the damages caused to him by the car. Any car on the road must be covered by third party insurance.
This policy is not mandatory or compulsory. Comprehensive policy covers other aspects like the damage to the car. The policy covers accidents, theft of the car, natural disasters, etc. comprehensive policy also covers third party insurance. You can buy either comprehensive insurance or third-party insurance.
There is one additional cover you can have from the insurer aside from comprehensive or third party. You will be getting some additional benefits through this add-on policy.
There are so many insurance companies in India selling their car insurance policies. You have got plenty of options. You have to follow some criteria to choose the best insurance policy in India.
A comprehensive policy you must have if you have a new car or an expensive car. You can have at least a third-party policy for other types of cars. You can go for add-on benefits for better advantages. These add on benefits are like roadside assistance, flat tyre help, no depreciation, etc.
Aside from being aware of different insurance policies, one should also be enlightened about the insurance companies in India and their reliability and performance over the years. You should know what indicates the reliability of an insurance company. There is one such indicator known as the claim settlement ratio. The higher the ratio the better are the chances of your getting the claim settled. If you are sure of the claim settlement ratio, you can go ahead and make a decision. The ratio is published by IRDA every year. You should also see how transparently a car insurance company settles the claim of an insured and at what ease. You can check the time taken to settle the claim and the difficulties faced by the insured in getting the claim settled in time. A long process means the person has to go through a series of harassment. The insured person must have run from table to table to get himself heard at the office of the insurer.
Premium is the amount charged by the insurance company each year from the insured. The amount of premium differs from company to company. You should do some research and make comparisons to arrive at the most suitable premium amount. Some websites enable you to make comparisons and do the calculations of premiums charged by different companies. You may make use of this facility.
