Why car insurance policy is so important in India?

An importance of car insurance is felt the most when you're at a workshop, getting your car repair because of an accident or at the police station when it gets stolen. In both cases, a proper insurance cover would have helped you come out of the financial crisis due to such unforeseen events. Insurance cover helps individual to take care of financial crisis if there is any damage done to your car due to the accident, fire, theft, or other natural perils else if it gets stolen.

In India, there are two types of cover - third party & comprehensive cover. A third party insurance cover takes care of the damage done to the third party in terms of property or health loss, a comprehensive cover will take care of the damage done to both party i.e. third party damage and your car damage or injury. Standard car insurance will reimburse your loss; however, if you still feel the pinch in your pockets then there are add-on covers that come into the picture.

All general insurance companies offer a range of optional cover that gives additional protection to your car along with the base car coverage. So, here are some tips to consider about different types of add-on covers and how useful they prove to provide that extra financial cover for your car.

Road Assistance Cover

It proves a very useful cover, especially when your car runs out of fuel, gets a flat tyre or break down due to any reason. The insurance company will arrange for fuel refilling, change the flat tyre or get it towed to nearest workshop.

Zero depreciation

A standard car insurance policy will reimburse the depreciating value of the car parts damaged during an accident. The insurer will deduct the depreciated value from the claim. Although it may not be a problem for low priced cars the high-end cars will go for a toss. This is where zero depreciation comes into the action. A zero depreciation add-on cover will reimburse the full value of the part. Bear in mind that if you have made a car cover claim in the past few years, zero depreciation cover doesn’t make sense.

Engine Protect

When you read fine prints carefully of any car insurance policy, you will discover that own damage doesn’t include damage caused to the engine because of any negligence of wear and tear. Suppose there is car standing in a water-logged area and you turn on the ignition, chances would be the engine gets damaged or if your run car without engine oil, it will damage your engine. At this point for such careless mistakes, it's an engine protect add-on cover that comes to savior for the people. It covers engine damage not caused by an accident. Insurer expert suggests it's worth buying it as the cost of repairing the engine can be quite high.

Consumable Cover

After an accident, car repair takes up a lot of consumable like engine oil, brake settings, fluids, coolants, minor nuts & bolts. These small expenses can push your bill quite significantly. A consumable cover will help you keep the expense under control and pay up for the costs.

Accidental cover

An accidental cover provides compensation to the passengers in case of death or permanent disability caused due to an accident. The coverage amount varies across insurers. You can call up the customer service team of the relevant insurer and get things clarified before including this add-on in your car insurance policy.