Flexplicity

MOTOR INSURANCE

Motor insurance is one of the smartest ways to take care of your vehicle.

As per IPC stats, there were 233727 motor theft cases from 2018 to 2020 – this accounted for 4.6% of the total crimes. And the number of road accidents was 135051 – this accounted for 2.8% of the total crimes. Looking at the statistics of theft and accidental cases in the country, it is extremely crucial that you purchase an insurance plan for your vehicle. And the government, too, has made it mandatory for every person who owns a motor vehicle to buy a third-party motor insurance policy – so it is really a matter of law.

Let’s learn in detail about motor insurance – its benefits, types, categories, and more – in this article.

What is Motor Insurance?

As the name suggests, motor insurance is insurance for motor vehicles. It offers financial protection against loss or damages caused to the motor vehicle because of an accident, theft, a natural calamity, etc. It provides cover to you, the insured vehicle, a third-party person, and property.

Two important things you should note -

As per the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, it is mandatory to purchase a third-party motor insurance. Driving a motor vehicle without insurance in a public place is a punishable offence under the Motor Vehicles Act.

Irrespective of whether you’re purchasing the motor insurance online or offline, it is important that you purchase it from a company authorised by the Insurance and Regulatory Authority of India (IRDAI).

Why should you purchase a Motor Insurance Policy?

Legal Compulsion:

As per the Motor Vehicles Act, driving a motor vehicle without insurance in a public place is a punishable offence. The fine for driving without insurance starts from Rs 2000 for the first offence and Rs 4000 for the subsequent offence. It could also lead to imprisonment for 3 months within the law's discretion.

Financial Security:

Not only is the cost of purchasing a vehicle high, but the cost of repairing the vehicle in case of severe damage is also very expensive. A motor insurance policy provides financial protection to you against any unforeseen events like accidents, theft, or any other serious damage to your motor vehicle.

Covers A Wide Range Of Risks:

A motor insurance plan offers protection against a variety of risks. From thefts to accidents, from manmade disasters to natural calamities - it covers a lot of risks. Further, it won’t just provide protection to your own vehicle, you will also be protected against any legal liabilities owing to damages or financial losses caused to a third party person or property.

Benefits of buying Motor Insurance online

Here are some benefits of purchasing a motor insurance policy online –

The buying process is simpler. You don’t need to go through the hassles of submitting documents or filling out forms.

You can easily research, and compare the various options available - and then make an informed decision.

You can avail discounts and special offers on the premium amount.

The policy can be purchased and renewed from anywhere, anytime - and in just a few clicks.

The policy issuance, too, is quick. You don’t need to wait for days or weeks to receive the policy papers.

Types of Motor Insurance Policies in India

You will come across various types of Motor Insurance policies in the market, such as –

Comprehensive Insurance policy

As the name suggests, it gives you complete, enhanced insurance coverage. This type of insurance policy covers the third-party liability as well as the damages caused to your own vehicle. The best of both worlds!

Third-party Insurance policy

This is the most basic vehicle insurance and a statutory requirement. Without this policy, it is illegal to drive your motor vehicle in India. This policy covers any injury/losses caused to a third party individual or property by your insured vehicle.

Own-damage Insurance Cover

This covers the damages caused to your own vehicle due to fire, rain, theft, etc. You can raise a claim under this policy to get compensation for the expenses incurred for repairing your vehicle.

Categories of Motor Insurance Policies in India

You will come across various types of Motor Insurance policies in the market, such as –

Private Car Insurance

This insurance covers motor vehicles that are used for private or personal purposes against mishaps like burglary, accidents, man-made disasters, natural calamities, etc.

Two-wheeler Insurance:

As the name suggests, this insurance covers two-wheelers, like bikes, scooters, etc., and offers protection against accidents and other mishaps such as fire, theft, etc.

Commercial Insurance:

This insurance policy covers all types of vehicles that are used for commercial purposes - and not for personal purposes. Examples include buses, cabs, auto-rickshaws, trucks, agricultural vehicles, ambulances, etc.

Add-ons available with Motor Insurance Plans

The motor insurance comes with certain add-ons in case you want extra protection for your vehicle.

Zero/Nil Depreciation Cover

With time, the value of your vehicle depreciates. If your motor vehicle gets damaged following a collision, and you have this add-on in your policy, you can claim the total cost of wear and tear of any of its body parts. The depreciation value of your vehicle won’t be deducted from your claim amount. This cover is applied to vehicles that are less than 5-year-old.

Engine Protector Cover

This covers you against the damages caused to the engine due to water seeping into the vehicle, leakage of lubricating oils, differential parts, or gearbox/engine failure.

Return to Invoice Cover

This add-on provides you with compensation equal to the car's invoice value i.e., the original value of the car when you bought it. The claim applies when a car is stolen or when it is beyond repair.

NCB Protect Cover:

NCB means “No Claim Bonus”, which is a discount that is offered on the premium if there is no claim made in the previous policy tenure. You can get a maximum discount of 50% if you don’t make a claim for 5 consecutive years. However, if you do make a claim, the NCB will reset to 0%. This add-on cover helps in avoiding this - meaning, even if you were to make a claim, your discount would stay intact.

Consumable Cover:

With this add-on, the insurance coverage is expanded to the consumable parts of your vehicle, such as engine oil, coolant, grease, nuts, bolts, etc.

Roadside Assistance Cover:

This add-on is a blessing. If your vehicle breaks down in the middle of the road, leaving you stranded, this cover helps you get roadside assistance. All you need to do is contact the insurance company’s toll-free.

The motor insurance comes with certain add-ons in case you want extra protection for your vehicle.

  • Changing a flat tyre.
  • Minor on-site repair.
  • Car towing.
  • Fuel delivery.
  • Arrangement of replacement of car keys
  • Battery jump-start
Tyre Protection Cover:

This add-on cover provides coverage for the repair and replacement cost of the vehicle’s tyres. It also covers the labour charges incurred during the process.

Key Replacement cover:

If your vehicle key is lost, damaged, or stolen, this cover comes to your rescue. It gives financial compensation for the costs incurred while replacing or repairing the key and lock-set.

Loss of Personal Belongings Cover:

This add-on provides financial coverage for any damage caused to any of your personal belongings or possessions kept inside the insured vehicle.

Loss of Personal Belongings Cover:

This add-on provides financial coverage for any damage caused to any of your personal belongings or possessions kept inside the insured vehicle.

Personal Accident Cover:

This add-on cover provides financial protection against death, permanent total, and permanent partial disability caused due to an accident. There are three types of personal accident covers available -

Personal accident cover for the owner-driver:

This offers the owner-driver protection against any accidental disability or accidental death.

Personal accident cover for passengers:

This provides protection to the passengers travelling against any disability or death caused due to an accident.

Personal accident cover for the paid driver:

In case the vehicle is driven by a paid driver, then taking this cover will provide protection to the driver of the vehicle against any accidental disability or death.

As you can see, there is something for everyone. Motor Insurance is unique and important. You need to buy this insurance, even if your vehicle is off-road. Whenever you buy a new vehicle, take out some time, read the vehicle insurance details thoroughly, and invest in the cover that fits your needs the best.

Motor Insurance Policy Types

When you go to a bookstore, you can see that the books are segregated based on whether they’re fiction or nonfiction, their genre, the reading ages, etc. This gives you a variety of options and also makes the job of picking one easier. You can compare them and make the choice that is right for you!

Similarly, you can choose your motor insurance plan from a variety of options. Every individual’s needs differ. Some may find comprehensive motor insurance beneficial, but others may find the plan unsuitable for their needs. There are diverse types of motor insurance policies and add-ons for you to choose from. You can select the type of motor insurance according to your preferences and requirements.

Type of Coverage

You save for years to buy the car you have always dreamt of. Then, when you finally purchase it, you do everything you can to keep the car in good condition. You pay attention to the way you drive because aggressive driving, urgent braking, etc. can make your car wear out early. You park it in the shade whenever possible to protect its paint and interior from the damaging effects of the sun. You wash it regularly to keep it clean.

Don’t you think you should put the same amount of effort into selecting an insurance plan to protect your car? A sudden accident, breakdown, natural calamity, man-made disaster, and other unexpected contingencies could damage your vehicle within minutes. And a motor insurance policy is a small price to pay for immeasurable peace of mind. Not to mention that it is mandatory to purchase an insurance plan for your vehicle. Driving without an active insurance plan can lead to legal repercussions, and financial ones too – if your vehicle happens to face any damage.

What you should know, though, is not all types of risks are covered under a motor insurance policy. The policy will provide insurance coverage against specific hazards subject to certain terms and conditions.

In this article, let’s learn about all the risks that are covered under a motor insurance policy.

Coverages under Motor Insurance

  • Accidents.
  • Natural calamities like earthquakes, floods, storms, cyclones, hurricanes, tempests, inundation, hailstorms, frost, landslides,lightning, etc.
  • Theft, burglary, riots, strikes, etc. resulting from human intervention.
  • Malicious acts like hostilities, an explosion of war weapons, terrorism, etc.
  • Damage while in transit by rail, road, inland waterways, lift, elevator or air.
  • Fire, explosion, self-ignition.

Please note: This is just an indicative list. The types of risks covered under motor insurance may vary across insurance companies. Ensure you read all the relevant policy documents so you’re well-informed before making the purchase.

Coverage for accidental disability and death

Insurance companies have to compulsorily offer personal accident cover in motor insurance policies. This cover offers protection to the owner of the vehicle in case they get injured in an accident.

For instance, Aman’s friend Jay recently visited him. Aman is driving Jay around and suddenly his car meets with an accident and the both of them get severely injured and succumb to their injuries. Here the insurance company will provide compensation to Aman’s family but not Jay’s.

Insurance companies also allow you to opt for a personal accident cover for the passengers as well.

So, in the above example, if Aman had opted for a personal accident cover for passengers at the time of buying the motor insurance plan, the insurance company would have provided the compensation to Jay’s family as well.

Third-party legal liability

A motor insurance policy also provides a third-party liability cover. It offers protection to the insured against legal liabilities that may occur due to the loss/damage caused by them to a third party.

Basically, it covers the vehicle owner’s legal liability to pay compensation for –

  • Death or bodily injury to a third-party individual.
  • Damage to the third-party property.

For instance, say Sachit buys a motor insurance policy that also offers coverage for third-party legal liability. A few days after taking the policy, Sachit while driving his vehicle, meets with an accident that damages Mr. Rai’s scooter. The motor insurance cover purchased by Sachit will cover the repair costs for the damage caused to Mr. Rai’s scooter.

Important:

  • In case of injury or death of a third party, the amount that will have to be paid to the third party or their family will be decided by the court. There is no compensation limit.
  • In case of damage to third-party property, the amount that will be compensated cannot exceed the limit of Rs. 7.5 lakhs.

Let’s take Sachit’s example again. Say Sachit had caused damage worth Rs. 10 lakhs to Mr. Rai’s shop. In this case, Mr. Rai will only be compensated for Rs. 7.5 lakhs.

So, these are some of the things covered under a motor insurance policy. A motor insurance plan offers protection against the financial expenses of the damages caused to the insured vehicle, the policyholder, or to a third party.

While it is important to understand what a motor insurance policy will cover, it is also important to educate yourself about the situations it won’t cover. Generally, mechanical or electrical breakdowns of the vehicle, wear and tear of the vehicle’s tyres or tubes, damage to the engine due to oil leakage are some of the situations not covered under a motor insurance policy. We have written a detailed article on this. You can check it out here.

Apart from these core coverages, a Motor Insurance policy will also offer multiple customizations in the form of customizations, add-ons, or riders. These are covered here.

Insured) Declared Value (IDV

When you go to a bookstore, you can see that the books are segregated based on whether they’re fiction or nonfiction, their genre, the reading ages, etc. This gives you a variety of options and also makes the job of picking one easier. You can compare them and make the choice that is right for you!

Similarly, you can choose your motor insurance plan from a variety of options. Every individual’s needs differ. Some may find comprehensive motor insurance beneficial, but others may find the plan unsuitable for their needs. There are diverse types of motor insurance policies and add-ons for you to choose from. You can select the type of motor insurance according to your preferences and requirements.

Let’s have a look!

Let us understand the concept of IDV better with an example

Harsh purchased a luxury car worth Rs. 30 lakhs. His driving style is safe, and he follows all traffic laws. Due to that, he has an impeccable driving record and no claims against him. After two years, as per the depreciation chart, the car’s value declined by 30%, and now the IDV of the vehicle is Rs 21 lakhs.

Scenario 1: While renewing his car insurance, Harsh set the IDV to be Rs. 12 lakhs to save up on premiums. Unfortunately, a few months later, his car gets stolen. Now, when he raises a claim, he will be eligible to receive only Rs 12 lakhs instead of the IDV he should have set, i.e, Rs 21 lakhs. While he saved some money on the premiums, he will face a huge loss of approximately Rs 9 lakhs.

Scenario 2: Now, Harsh did a simple market analysis before renewing the policy and discovered that a used car of the same manufacturing year and model is being sold for approx Rs. 22 lakhs currently. Considering the depreciation factor, Based on the market analysis, he estimated the IDV to be around Rs 21,00,000. He can claim this amount in the event that his car is stolen or completely damaged.

Pro Tip: Find the second hand value of your car from a credible source, and ensure you fix your IDV around this value - since you need sufficient coverage in the event of total damage or loss of your vehicle. This is to ensure that you don’t face any sort of hassles later. Also, check whether the policy document you receive from the insurer contains the exact values you discussed with the insurer as per the requirements mentioned above.

How to Calculate Motor Insurance Premiums

Imagine you and your neighbour own the same model of a vehicle. And recently, both of you purchased motor insurance plans for your vehicles from the same insurance company, too. Your neighbour’s motor insurance premium amount, however, is lower than yours.

Wondering why?

Because besides the model of the vehicle, there are many other factors that affect the premium of a motor insurance policy – such as the add-on covers you opt for, the age of your vehicle, your claims history, the deductible opted under the policy, apart from your geographical location.

Let’s dive deeper into the factors that affect motor insurance premiums – in this article.

Factors That Affect Motor Insurance Premium Rates

Components Of A Motor Insurance Premium

Premium Of Own Damage Cover

Damages caused to the insured vehicle because of an earthquake, storm, fire, accident, etc. are covered under the own damage cover. The premiums for this type of cover will vary across insurers.

Premium Of Third-party Liability Cover

A third-party insurance policy, too, has been made mandatory for every vehicle owner in India, as per Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. It offers you financial protection against legal liabilities that occur due to the loss/damage caused to a third party individual or property. The premiums of a third-party liability cover are decided after taking into consideration the cubic capacity of your vehicle engine.

Compulsory Personal Accident Cover

Looking at the increase in cases of road accidents, the government has made it mandatory for vehicle owners to purchase a personal accident insurance cover. This cover provides financial protection against death, permanent total, and permanent partial disability caused as a result of an accident.

Riders/ Add-on Covers

Riders are ready-made extensions that provide an extra cushion under specific situations. There are several add-ons you can buy with a motor insurance policy like zero depreciation cover, engine cover, lock and key replacement cover, no claim bonus protection cover, etc. The premiums will be higher if you opt for more add-ons and vice versa.

Other Components

Other than the above mentioned components, several discounts will also affect your motor insurance premiums. These will include the discounts you get for -

No Claim Bonus Percentage

Insurance companies offer a discount on premium if you don’t make a claim under the motor insurance policy in the previous policy year. You can earn a discount of around 20% to 50% in 5 years if there are no claims made.

Installing Recognized Anti-theft Devices

Installing anti-theft devices on your vehicles can help you fetch discounts from the insurance company too. Anti-theft devices help prevent and stop theft. For example, a thief will obviously try to steal a car that doesn’t have any security rather than stealing a car with a tyre lock. Anti-theft devices use multiple technologies that enhance the security of your vehicle.

How to claim?

Imagine you and your neighbour own the same model of a vehicle. And recently, both of you purchased motor insurance plans for your vehicles from the same insurance company, too. Your neighbour’s motor insurance premium amount, however, is lower than yours.

Wondering why?

Because besides the model of the vehicle, there are many other factors that affect the premium of a motor insurance policy – such as the add-on covers you opt for, the age of your vehicle, your claims history, the deductible opted under the policy, apart from your geographical location.

Let’s dive deeper into the factors that affect motor insurance premiums – in this article.

Making a claim

If your vehicle happens to undergo an unfortunate event like an accident, theft, or any similar mishap – you need to file a claim in order to get the cover amount to take care of the costs.

If your vehicle has sustained any loss or damage, you need to contact your insurance company immediately and inform them about the situation to initiate the claim settlement process.

The insurance company will require necessary documents during this process like the vehicle registration certificate, your driving licence, payment receipt, etc. The list of documents differs for different types of claims. So, make sure your motor insurance company gives you a list of documents at the time of policy purchase to avoid any trouble during the claim settlement process.

Steps you need to follow to make a claim

Making a claim involves certain steps. The steps vary, based on the type of damage caused.

(1) Own Damage Claim Process

(2) Third-party Liability Claim Process

(3) Theft Claim Process

Our Partners