Before filing a claim, do personally assess the extent of damage caused to your car.
Mr. Sen's Dilemma: The Aftermath of a Car Accident
At the steering wheel, grooving at the music playing, Mr Sen was still basking in the weekend glory. He’d just taken his family out to celebrate his new possession – a brand new SUV, something he dreamt of ever since that first job.
The empty roads amidst the woods was a pleasure to drive until suddenly an unidentified animal just decided to cross it. Before he realised anything, Mr Sen applied the brakes so hard that the brand new SUV suddenly swirled and hit against a roadside tree. Lucky, no one was hurt but seeing his car front damaged so severely, Mr Sen literally felt like sinking.
What now? With great many concerns racing through his head, besides a heavy schedule at work, Mr.Sen would now be battling out a settlement for his car accident claim. Well, not really.
How Car Insurance Claim Settlement Has Become Hassle-Free
With the growing competition in the insurance sector along with the online boom, car insurance claim settlement these days has become quite hassle-free. All you have to do is choose the right way to deal with it.
There are primarily two ways to get your car insurance claimed.
- Cashless
- Reimbursement
1. Cashless Car Insurance Claims Settlement
These days, in an effort to provide better services to their consumers, the insurance companies have introduced loads of value-added services. Cashless settlement of car insurance claims is just one of them. Insurance companies are tied up with number of authorised service centres/workshops where their consumers will get the benefit of cashless settlement towards the repairs, if any.
Once the surveyor inspects the vehicle and approves the motor insurance claim, the insured doesn’t have to bear any costs except some mandatory ones as per the Terms and Conditions of the policy. This works out to be a splendid benefit considering the costs involved. Hence, it is advised to cross check the service centres within the insurance company’s network tie-up before intimating the claim.
2. Reimbursement of Car Insurance Claims
Did someone say reimbursement? Let us see. It is common for people to go to their regular garage or service centre for repairs purely due to loyalty or in cases where the insurance companies do not have any tie ups for the cashless car insurance settlement.
If you are opting for the reimbursement of the motor insurance claim, the process would typically begin with the intimation to the insurance company and subsequent completion of the required documentation along with the claim form.
This will be followed by a surveyor who will pay a visit and inspect the damaged car. He will then assess the damage and note his observations.
Once the car is repaired, the insured has to make the payment to the service centre and all the documents along with the invoice, policy copy, driving license, etc are to be submitted to the insurance company for further processing. Typically, it takes around 10-15 business days for such insurance claim settlement, depending upon the insurance company.
Direct Method: A New Approach to Car Insurance Claims
The insurance companies are always on a lookout for new ways to retain their existing customers and attract the new ones and their credibility majorly depends upon their claim settlement ratio. Hence, newer methods are introduced to fine-tune the claims processes and one of them is the Direct Method.
What is the Direct Method
This method is newly launched and broadly replicates the cashless car insurance claims. It was introduced by Bajaj Allianz car insurance company in an effort to provide better ways towards handling claims.
In this method, if the car insurance claim is of a small amount, then the insurance company pays in advance, after the inspection that you can use at your convenience.
For Example: If the wind-shield of the car is broken and you don’t have the time to fix it, just drive to a specified/authorized centre and get the vehicle inspected. Bajaj Allianz car insurance company will make an advance payment towards the same.
You can then get the wind-shield repaired as per your convenience, but within a specified time-frame. So the fabulous aspect of this direct method is that the money is already paid for, before the job is done!!
How Technology Has Made Claim Settlements Faster
Good news is that these days insurance companies want good publicity. And towards that, they are setting up departments only to settle claims. Cutting edge technologies, seamless processes like clicking images of your damaged car and uploading on your insurance company’s website have proved to be a huge time saver.
Apart from that, impressive management resulting in hassle free processes and quick settlement will only work in favor of the policy holder. This will further foster the association between the policy holder and the insurance company.
Coverfox Insight: Important Tips Before Filing a Claim
Before filing a car insurance claim form, do assess the extent of damage caused to your car. If you feel that the abrasion will result in just a minor outgo, take a call on whether the claim needs to be filed at all.
This is because, every claim-free year entitles you to a NCB (no-claim bonus), which may not be worth losing for a small claim. Also remember that NCB accrues every claim free year.
Conclusion: Mr. Sen’s Claim Process
So, Mr.Sen…that must have been helpful. If you still have queries, do call Coverfox car insurance experts. They will counsel you correctly. With Coverfox, all you have to do is enjoy your trips…..we will take care of the rest!
