Learn the number of claims allowed in a car insurance policy in India

Buying a car is a significant investment in India. While you may take utmost care of your vehicle to safeguard it from any kind of damage but there may be times when your car faces damage.

When your car suffers damage or it is stolen, you may end up with a financial loss. Such unexpected expenses can be avoided if you have comprehensive or third-party car insurance wherein you can claim for the damages. A claim helps to get reimbursement for the loss you have suffered. Have you raised more than one car insurance claim in a year? Then you need to know how it may affect your insurance policy.

How many claims can you file in a year?

There is no such limit on the number of claims you can raise in a year. However, if you are filing more claims in a year, your NCB gets affected. Moreover, your premium gets more expensive. Here’s how multiple claims during the policy tenure can impact your car insurance policy:

Higher premiums

With multiple claims, the car insurer would presume that you may pose a high risk. This would compel the insurance company to increase the premium rate on the policy when you are planning to renew the policy. Thus, making the policy more expensive.

No Claim Bonus

No Claim Bonus (NCB) is the discount on the premium rate you would get if you are filing no claim in a year. If you are filing multiple claims, you will lose NCB benefits. To avail of the benefit, you will have to start accumulating from the start.

Depreciation cover

If you purchased a Depreciation cover as an add-on cover, the insurer would not consider providing the depreciation benefit for your car when settling the claims. However, there may be a limit on the number of claims you can raise in a year.

Claims can be made when your car suffers major damages; however, one should avoid raising a request for reimbursement in case the vehicle has minor dents. In simple words, if your vehicle has small scratches or dents, you should refrain from filing a car insurance claim. This will help to save a lot of money. On the other hand, if there is a car accident that involves injury/death of third-party or third-party property damage, then it is obvious to request a claim.

There are two scenarios during which you can avoid the raising claim:

• When the repair expense is less than the deductible amount mentioned in our policy

• When the NCB benefit is more than the car repair expenses

Typically, insurance companies do not approve the claim if the damage is due to wear and tear, mechanical breakdown, war or alcohol influence.

Take away

Only register a claim when the damage is major. Also, you should be cautious while filing a claim so that you do not lose NCB or any other benefits. If you own car insurance from Zurich Kotak General Insurance, it is easy to start the claim process, which can be either cashless or reimbursement.