Natural calamities have a catastrophic effect damaging the not only life, but also property worth billions. This damage cannot be estimated, and it is better to stay prepared for it. For accidents there is health insurance, for your homes there is home insurance cover and accordingly for vehicles, there is vehicle insurance. When you have an insurance cover, you need not worry about the expensive repairs that are required for your car or bike followed by a natural disaster.
In the recent past, two cyclones had a devastating impact, Tauktae and Yaas, landing on the west and east coasts of India, respectively. Not only human life was impacted, but also property in form of homes and vehicles. The regions of Orrisa, West Bengal, Gujarat, Goa, Maharashtra, Daman and Diu were some of which where the impact was heavily felt. With reports from all over these regions about trees uprooting damaging vehicles a comprehensive car insurance policy is the one that covers these damages.
Among the two types of vehicle insurance policies, third-party and comprehensive plans, a third-party policy is the minimum requirement. The Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 makes it mandatory to have this coverage as bare minimum. However, due to its limited coverage, a comprehensive policy is preferred by many. In situations like cyclones or other natural calamities, a comprehensive policy is the one that offers coverage for all necessary repair costs. Moreover, these comprehensive plans can be customised using add-ons that help to extend the coverage of your insurance plan.
Here’s how an insurance claim can be raised for damages due to cyclones and other natural disasters:
Step 1: Start with intimating your insurance company about the damage caused to your vehicle. This intimation can either be via a telephonic conversation or via an e-mail. It is critical to inform about this damage to your insurance company as early as possible, nevertheless the time limit is also mentioned in your policy terms.
Step 2: Once you have informed your insurer about the damage, you need to provide evidence about such damage. This includes relevant documents along with photographs evidencing the damage due to cyclones and other perils of the nature.
Step 3: Depending on your insurance policy features, your coverage will either be a cashless policy or a reimbursement one. For cashless claims, the repairs only need to be carried out a network garage. For such cashless claims, no repairs should commence before the inspection by the insurance surveyor. Any lapse in such procedure for a cashless claim must be avoided. For the reimbursement claim, there is no such requirement and the repairs can be done at any preferred service facility. However, all repair bills need to be kept for submission to the insurer at time of claim.
Step 4: After completion of the repairs, the insurance company directly pays the network garage in cashless claims. Any repair cost exceeding the policy terms shall be required to be paid from your own pocket. On the contrary, reimbursement claims need to be evidenced with all necessary invoices only after which the insurance company compensates for the admissible expenses.
This is you can make an insurance claim for damages to your vehicle due to natural disasters. Whether you have purchased a private or commercial vehicle insurance online, the process remains more or less the same. So, make sure you read the terms of the insurance contract and understand the claim procedure thoroughly. Insurance is the subject matter of solicitation. For more details on benefits, exclusions, limitations, terms and conditions, please read sales brochure/policy wording carefully before concluding a sale.
