Here’s a list of 5 documents which are included in your car insurance policy records that you must keep. Read further to understand why you must keep each of these documents, for how long you need to keep them & what will happen if you don’t keep these documents?
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| Car Insurance Policy |
Car Insurance Policy
Car insurance offers protection against any financial losses arising due to accident, be it with another vehicle or against any object, theft of the vehicle or parts of it, water or fire damage etc.
Having a comprehensive car insurance helps you protect against any liability arising out of an accident that involves a third party, person, or property. It also covers all kinds of natural and manmade calamities. According to the Motor Vehicles Act, India, it is mandatory to have a third-party insurance cover for your car.
Types of Car Insurance
Preferred
Comprehensive Car Insurance
A Comprehensive Car Insurance policy is the most extensive car insurance cover under which an insurance company is liable to pay for financial liabilities incurred towards a third party as well as for the own-damages sustained by the insured’s car. In addition to road accidents, the policy is applicable in the event of natural calamities, man-made disasters, self-ignition or lightning, explosion, fire, theft, etcView Quotes
Third-Party Car Insurance
Third-Party car insurance policy is a mandatory requirement for driving a car in India. It is the most basic car insurance plan and is thus also called Liability Only Car Insurance Policy. Under this cover, the insurance company is liable to pay for the bodily injuries, permanent disability, temporary disability as well as death of the third party caused by an accident involving the insured’s car. This plan also provides coverage for property damage incurred by the third party up to Rs. 7.5 Lakh.View Quotes
Own Damage Car Insurance
In September 2019, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) introduced the standalone Own-Damage car insurance policy. Under this plan, the insured gets insurance coverage only for the own-damages sustained by his/her four-wheeler in a road accident, natural/man-made calamity, fire, explosion, theft or any other mishap. A standalone own-damage car insurance policy aims at offering the insured the flexibility in terms of the insurance provider they want to choose.
5 Important Car Insurance Policy Records
01 Car Insurance Card
In case of an accident, you’ll need this card as it has your registration number, your insurance policy number & other significant information.
Hence, you must keep this card in your car all the time.
You must keep both, a digital copy on your phone & a printed one in your car.
You can even save a scanned copy of this card on google drive in case you misplace the physical document or lose your phone.
This document has detailed information about what is covered in your policy & what are the deductibles.
You should always keep a physical copy & a digital copy of this document to be aware about what’s covered & what is not covered in your policy.
Always remember to keep all your receipts, car repair invoices & other important information both as a physical copy and a digital copy when your claim process is going on.
Once your claim settlement process is over & you get the amount reimbursed to your account, you can dispose these documents.
For tax purposes, you have to keep your car insurance’s monthly billing statements.
In case you are audited, you are required to show all the bills from the past seven years.
Your car insurance policy pays for your car damages.
Your car insurance policy paper has all about what’s covered, what’s not covered, certain specifics & even the terms and conditions.
During claim settlement, the insurance company looks at all of these factors & then reimburses the claim amount.
Keeping a copy will not only help the claim process get faster but also will help you understand in case you weren’t reimbursed for something that is covered in your policy.
It will also help you to understand why certain claims were rejected because it wasn’t covered in your policy.
How To Keep These Documents Smartly?
You can keep a Xerox copy of all these documents in your car along with the originals.
You can scan all the originals and take proper colour printouts.
You can scan all these documents via any cam scanner mobile app and save the pdf file on your phone.
You can even save these scanned digital copies on your google drive or mail inbox, in case you lose the phone.
Disclaimer: The above content only provides basic information. Please get in touch with your car insurance agent for detailed information. You can even ‘request a call back’ & connect with our car insurance experts to know more about maintaining the documents, renewal and claim settlement.