What your car insurance co hides : The Tribune India

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What your car insurance co hides

Has anyone ever read the fine print of their insurance policy? Here are some facts of how convoluted this fine print can be.

What your car insurance co hides


H. Kishie Singh

Has anyone ever read the fine print of their insurance policy? Here are some facts of how convoluted this fine print can be.

A claimant reported that his car was parked in a slot allocated for the company director. The office was in a heavily guarded, walled and gated compound. The driver slept in the car. In the morning, he went to the toilet. When he came back, the car was missing.

All the proper procedure was followed. An FIR was filed. The insurance company was informed and a claim submitted. The claim was rejected on the ground that the car was left unattended. This was in breach of the terms and conditions of the insurance policy.

The claimant’s lawyer argued that the car was parked in the company premises, which were guarded and secure. It was not ‘unattended’ as the insurance company claimed. The company was ordered to pay.

Here is another very fine case of splitting hairs. You have a comprehensive insurance for your car. What does ‘comprehensive’ mean? The Oxford dictionary describes it thus: ‘including all or nearly all!’.

Your car is parked in your driveway. The wheels get stolen. You claim insurance on the first part of the meaning of comprehensive, ‘including all’. The insurance company rests its case on the second meaning ‘nearly all’. Here ‘nearly all’ means that the car is insured, but not the wheels!

However, if the car was stolen from your driveway and taken to a dark corner and stripped of the tyres, this will be covered. Suddenly, the word ‘comprehensive’ becomes comprehendible! If the music system was stolen and was factory fitted it will be covered. If fitted after sales and not declared to the insurance company, no insurance. OMG! So many ways to skin a cat! Pity the cat and never mind the car owner. 

Another point to clarify. If you sell your vehicle, what happens to the insurance? Answer: you can’t keep it. The car is insured, not you! The seller must inform the insurance company and transfer the insurance to the buyer. 

While accepting the insurance, the buyer must make sure that the insurance and registration address are the same. You have a right to retain the No Claim Bonus (NCB); this can be applied to the insurance for the new car.

NCB is the financial benefit (reduced premium) a customer gets if he has not made a claim in the previous year. Call it a bonus for being a good driver.

Another add-on insurance sounds very interesting! It is being called ‘road side insurance’. It will cover break-downs, flat tyre changing, towing, on-the-spot repair and more.

This has to be modelled after the AA (Automobile Association) in the UK. It worked in the UK, which is a small country where cars are well maintained. Help calls were for accidents mostly. 

At inception, the AA man, a certified mechanic drove a mo-bike with a side car full of spares and a first aid kit. Today they have vans, hundreds of them spread across the country that come to the aid of the stranded motorists with Domino’s precision! Will any Indian insurance company be able to replicate this? It requires military like precision, personal dedication and the compassion of the Good Samaritan, which we don’t have.

It’s worth a try.

A Happy New Year to all my readers!

Happy Motoring!

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