Comprehensive Car Insurance

What is Car Insurance?
Car insurance, also known as auto or motor insurance is an insurance policy that protects you against losses incurred if your car gets damaged from unforeseen events like an accident, theft, natural or man-made disaster. It also provides you with a financial shield in case any damage is done to a third-party person or property.

What are the Benefits of Car Insurance?



Comparison of Car Insurance Plans



What are the Features of Car Insurance Policy?
It is crucial for car drivers to know and understand the features of car insurance to make the most of it.

Third-Party Liability:
This policy covers any bodily injury or death or property damages of any third party that may arise out of an accident with your insured car. The Motor Vehicle Act mandates having this motor insurance policy for every car owner, and in its absence, you will have to pay a penalty if caught by the traffic police. The policy does not cover any damage that is done to your vehicle.

Comprehensive Car Insurance Policy or Package Policy:
It protects you and your vehicle against a number of risks along with third-party liabilities. Any damage caused to the vehicle due to an accident, theft, natural calamity or man-made disaster is covered. Likewise, the death of the driver and/or passengers inside the vehicle in the event of an accident are covered. Though not a mandatory policy, it is advised to have comprehensive coverage for your vehicle.

Insured Declared Value:
IDV or the Insured Declared Value of your car is the sum you can claim in case of total loss or damage to your car. IDV is calculated on the basis of its depreciation rate. Calculated basis manufacturer's listed selling price after deduction of depreciation as per age of the vehicle.

Premium:
It is the amount you pay for the insurance. It depends on many factors like the model and age of the car, its fuel type, the city where you reside, your age, profession, etc. You can use your NCB points and other discounts to cut down on your premium.

Cashless claim:
If you get your car repaired at one of our network garages, you will not have to pay for it. The repair bill will be taken care of by us. This facility is referred to as cashless claim.

What is Covered in Car Insurance Policy?

Accidents:
Any damage done to your car because of an accident is covered against any expenses towards repair or replacement. You can get it repaired at one of our cashless network garages, while in case of total damage, you will receive the IDV of your car as reimbursement.

Loss or damage due to natural disasters:
Damages caused to your car due to any natural calamity like floods, typhoon, hurricane, tsunami, lightning, earthquake, landslide, etc., are covered.

Loss or damage due to man-made disasters:
Damages caused to your car due to any riot, vandalism or any malicious acts are covered. Any damage that occurs in transit by road, rail, air or elevator, is also part of the policy's coverage.

Theft:
The insurance policy covers your losses if your car gets stolen.

Personal accident cover:
This policy covers the expenses of the owner-drivers in cases where they get injured (or death) while driving the insured car. A similar cover for the co-passengers of the car is available and can be added to the policy by paying extra premium.

Third-party legal liability:
If a person, vehicle or property gets hurt or damaged due to an accident with your car, you stay protected against liability due to accidental damages.

What is not Covered in Car Insurance Policy?
A car insurance policy does not promise that your claims will be settled by the insurer. Your claim request can get rejected in the following situations:

Drunk Driving: If you are caught driving under the influence of alcohol or any other intoxicating drug, you will not be covered by the policy. It is also a punishable offense.

Depreciation or any consequential loss: Any subsequent damage, which may occur as a result of the original damage, is not covered. Similarly, loss due to depreciation of the car's value is not a part of the policy coverage

Damage due to negligence: If your car gets damaged because of negligent behavior, like driving it through a waterlogged lane or if the damage seems intentional, the policy will not cover you

No requisite add-on cover: Some damages are covered only if you have a certain add-on cover. In absence of that, the standard policy will not cover such damages

Breach of any term or conditions: Going against the policy wording like using your personal vehicle for commercial purposes can jeopardize your policy coverage

Normal wear-and-tear of the car parts and any mechanical or electrical breakdown is not covered

Loss or damage due to war or nuclear risks is also not covered

The fixed amount that gets deducted at the time of the claim, known as compulsory deductible, will not be paid by us

It's important to note that the depreciation cover is not applicable in cases of theft or total loss claims

Car Insurance Add On Coverage
Take a look at some of the add-on covers in car insurance at Reliance General Insurance offers:

NCB Retention Add On Cover
No claim bonus (NCB) is a discount, given by an insurer to a policyholder for making no claims during the policy term. NCB can be accumulated over the years and the discount ranges from 20% to 50% on the own damage premium. This is simply a general insurance company's way to reward customer's good driving behavior.

Say at the end of 12 months, the insurer did not claim any own damage; then in that case the insurance company provides them a discount by giving NCB based discounts in their premium.

Discount earned by insured for a claim-free completed year.
In the case of Own Damage claim, No Claim Bonus gets back to 0%
NCB can be Transferred in Same Class of vehicle
NCB Reserving letter is issued for 3 yrs from the date of sale of the vehicle

Nil Depreciation
This cover pays the amount of depreciation deducted on the value of parts replaced under own damage claim

The cover operates for maximum of 2 claims during the policy period

Special Conditions applicable to this cover in addition to the General Conditions:

A claim where replacement of any part is not involved and no depreciation is deducted under its own damage claim, will not be considered as a claim under this cover.

Vehicle is repaired at any of our Authorized Garage / Authorized workshop / Authorized service station.

Total Cover
This cover pays for the amount spent on the registration fee, Octroi and/ or any other charges levied by the government authority towards the insured vehicle. Also, the insurance premium shall be paid.

This cover will trigger in the event of theft or total loss/ CTL.

Road Tax & Insurance Premium is payable on Pro-rata basis for the unexpired duration of the policy period.

What are the Benefits of Buying/Renewing Car Insurance Online?
Buying or renewing a car insurance policy can be done both online and offline, however, the former is recommended for the following reasons:

Saves your time and energy:
The process of buying and renewing takes only a few minutes. You just need to follow some simple directions. The process is absolutely hassle-free as you no longer need to visit any office, fill out forms, and stand in line to buy/renew the insurance.

Saves you money:
By buying/renewing online, you eliminate the need for an insurance agent, and thus, save yourself some money that would have otherwise gone towards paying commission. The benefit of the reduced cost of operations is passed on to customers this way.

Informed choice:
When you go online, you get to compare different offers, and therefore, can pick the one that suits your needs the most while giving you maximum benefits at a lower premium.

Easy customization
Another customer-friendly feature is that you can add or delete the various add-on covers attached to your standard policy, at the time of renewal.

Transparency:
Since every term and condition is out on the website, there is no scope of the customer being duped by false promises. Also, all your details are kept confidential.

Safe documentation:
The possibility of losing or damaging policy papers is minimized as documents are exchanged online and can be accessed from anywhere anytime. Going paperless is so Eco-friendly too!

Easy and secure payment:
Online transactions are not only quick, but there is also no fear of losing receipts. Since you make the payment through secure payment gateways online, you are safe from any kind of fraud.

Car Insurance Discounts
If you think the insurance premiums will exert stress on your budget, you will be glad to know that you can make them extremely affordable with several discounts.

No Claim Bonus:
If you have not made any claim requests in your last insurance period, you have established yourself as a safe and responsible driver, and will be rewarded with NCB points. It can decrease your payable premium by a good margin. No Claim Bonus accumulated over the years can get you a discount of up to a whopping 50%.



Voluntary Deductible:
Opting for a voluntary deductible while buying the policy is another way of lowering premiums. A voluntary deductible is an amount that you agree to pay from the claim amount and reduce the risk factor for the insurer. Therefore, the higher the deductible amount, the lower will be your car insurance premium.

You get discounts if you are a member of any recognized automobile association

If you install any certified anti-theft device to protect your car against theft, you are eligible for additional discounts

Another way to reduce premiums is to opt for pay as you drive insurance. In this, premiums are proportional to the kilometres for which you drive the car around. The less you use the car, the smaller will be the premiums

How to Choose the Type of Car Insurance that Suits You the Best?
Now that you understand the nuances of both types of Car Insurance Policies you must be contemplating about which one to choose.

Here are some valuable recommendations to help you with your decision:

The Third Party Liability Car Insurance policy is generally chosen by individuals who want to buy car insurance as it is mandatory by law

If you seek overall protection from the damages caused due to unforeseen accidents, opting for a comprehensive car insurance policy is the best option. Additionally, you can pick add-on covers for car insurance as per the risks which are more relevant to you

How is a Car Insurance Premium Calculated?

Vehicle owner's age:
The individuals between 18 to 25 years of age have to pay more premium amount than the others.

Fuel Type:
The premium for a CNG type vehicle is higher than that of petrol of diesel type vehicles.

Geographical Location:
A lot depends on where you drive your car. An area with a higher density of traffic like cities will have higher premium rates.

IDV:
Insured Declared Value (IDV) is the maximum amount to be paid to the insured person in case of any damage. This is decided by RTO details, brand, selling rice and affects own damage cover.

Cubic capacity:
The cubic capacity of your car will affect the premium rate you pay to get your vehicle insured.

Other factors:
Factors like add-on covers, discounts, purpose of the vehicle and safety features such as airbags and anti-theft devices will also be taken into consideration while calculating your car insurance premium.

Types of Car Insurance Policy:

Third-party Cover:
In India, this is a mandatory cover and there are strict fines if a person does not have a Third-Party cover. These cover the financial losses or other kinds of losses to the third party which is involved in any kind of accident with your car. It does not cover your expenses. TPL depends on the car's capacity and is issued by the Insurance Regulatory Authority of India.

Own Damage Cover:
This is the best cover which also covers your vehicle from any kind of damage even due to natural calamity. This means that it will have a higher premium. As the car grows older the IDV decreases and premium decreases too. It is calculated by the percentages of IDV.

Formula to calculate IDV is equal to the showroom price of the car added to any additional accessories that may have been installed in the car subtracted by the depreciation value of the car with every passing year.

This makes the formula to calculate OD as IDV multiplied by premium rate decided by insurer added to any kind of add-ons which could be in the form of bonuses subtracted by the discounts and benefits like no claim bonus or theft discounts.

Personal Accident Cover:
The car insurance goes beyond protecting your car and also safeguards and cover your personal injury costs as well. This is a vital part of being completely protected. With rising prices of medical health care, the insurance must cover even any basic injury caused by the accident which could ease out the financial burden.

As the sum insured to the person goes higher, and the premium rate also keeps on increasing similarly.

How to Save on Car Insurance Policy Premium?

Know Your Car's IDV
The value of your car depreciates overtime. Hence it is important to know your IDV. A lower IDV attracts a lower premium.

Claim Your No Claim Bonus:
The No Claim Bonus is your rightful reward for being a responsible driver. Earn discounts of up to 50% on your premium year-on-year.

Become AAI Member:
Become a member of the Automobile Association of India and you can secure a concession on personal-damage premium.

Increase the Voluntary Deductible
A voluntary deductible is the amount you agree to pay out of your pocket. The higher your voluntary deductible, the lesser will be your premium. Know what are deductibles for car insurance before purchasing.