[mally2]

Originally Posted by Ajitcherian2

I own an MG ZS EV. In my experience, the insurance agents have no clue about battery and motor protect add-ons. They say everything is covered in zero zep addon. But in reality it's not.
For an EV we need to take battery and motor protect add-ons. Some insurance companies sell these add-ons as one and some separately.

Why does the most basic thing of an EV such as the battery, need a separate add-on? What will slimy insurers do next! add on for doors, ORVMs, Roof rails, rear bumper, fuel tank.

[thanixravindran]

Isn't this Battery protection add on cover equivalent to the Engine and Gearbox protection cover of ICE vehicles? I think it specifically covers the flood and consequential damage to engine and gearbox which I always take. I still believe accidental damage to Battery is covered by regular Zero depreciation add on cover.

End of the day, insurance is essentially underwriting the risk. Given the floods happening across the country especially in metros, insurance cover for floods is bound to go up. Notwithstanding my poor opinion about insurance companies in general, here end user didn't do the due diligence. Generally the dealership 'negotiates' these type of cases given their relationship with user and insurer. For us, it is better to clearly understand the insurance covers and choose wisely.

[quickdraw]

I think the insurance guys are trying to pull a fast one on you. The battery cover is for accidental damage of battery, just like the transmission/hydrostatic/engine protect add on for normal insurance. In case of a flood loss this doesn't need to be invoked as the battery is not damaged during operation but due to a force majure flood event which should be covered.

Make sure all your communication is via email, and escalate this to internal insurance grievence department and make it clear that the battery cover has nothing to do with the flood loss situation that you have suffered. If you do not get help then I would get a good insurance laywer and file a claim with insurance ombudsman asap.

[aashishnb]

I have a contra view to most people here and agree with quickdraw.

When the insurance company sold insurance, did they take the Value of the vehicle/ IDV as per invoice? Most likely yes.
This IDV must've includes everything i.e. motor + battery also. Most likely yes.

In an ICE vehicle, the value of car includes, to put it bluntly,
body + interiors + suspension systems + (engine + transmission)

In an EV, an equivalent should be:
body + interiors + suspension systems + (motor + battery).

In an insurance contract, the standard clauses are protection against damages, subject to the standard depreciation requirements (for e.g. plastics & fibres are 50%, metal body at 15% or so, etc.). The add-ons are to enhance protection, for e.g. Zero Dep means these depreciations wont apply, RTI for eg in case of total loss they'll pay for new replacement vehicle cost instead of IDV, etc.
In case of accident, everything would've been covered, won't it?
Similarly, in case of flood (assuming this Act of God part is not excluded), everything would've been covered, won't it?

Now, in an ICE car, the 'hydrolock / engine water damage' is available for a very specific purpose i.e. you try cranking the engine & it goes bust. This is essentially, a damage caused by secondary/subsequent action by owner as against the primary 'Act of God'.

In a flood scenario, if as an owner, after the floods, one directly files a claim without trying to crank or do anything, all damages should be covered (subject to the depreciation, etc. clauses).

So:
If
1. the insurance includes IDV at full value of car i.e. including battery & motor.
2. Owner did not do anything post the event which caused further damage to the car.
then,
The insurer is liable to honour the claim even without the add-on battery protect so to speak, unless they put something in the T&C to say EV main batteries will be specifically excluded (but then they should've take a much lower IDV also as they're only covering body+interiors+suspension).

Having said that, this may still be a 'litigation' route, which will have its own cost & time impact. So Aditya can:
1. Sue them, OR
2. Discuss & negotiate for some compromise solution.

[Chrome6Boy]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Have you taken it? If so, how much do you pay year-on-year for the ZS? Is there a age restriction of how long you can take these addons?

Originally Posted by quickdraw

I think the insurance guys are trying to pull a fast one on you. The battery cover is for accidental damage of battery, just like the transmission/hydrostatic/engine protect add on for normal insurance. In case of a flood loss this doesn't need to be invoked as the battery is not damaged during operation but due to a force majure flood event which should be covered.

I bought Royal Sundaram insurance for my 2022 ZS EV. This was the first time I did not go for dealer insurance.

The quote I got was for 32,000 and this included Hybrid Electric Car Shield, even though this was an add on they list the cost of this as 0.

Their website includes the following coverages for this add on.

Add on : Hybrid Electric Car Shield
(For Private Car Annual/Bundled/SOD Policies)
COVERAGE
This add on cover is especially for Hybrid Electric Vehicles.
We indemnify the expenses incurred in repair or replacement due to enlargement of loss/damages
arising out of admissible perils as stated below:
1. Unexpected power surge
2. Water ingression
3. Short circuit
4. Spontaneous, unexplained, and uncontrolled exothermic electrochemical reactions resulting
in explosion of and or visible flames and or smoke.

The Add-on is applicable for maximum of 5 years from the date of sale of a brand-New Hybrid
electric

[jerk_free]

Any average customer is simply going to walk in and buy a car they like and feel is best suited to them. Along with it the mandatory insurance thinking insurance is insurance.

The customer came in with good faith and spent their hard earned money.

The sellers however, dealer and OEM are doing business without any reciprocation of good faith. Just dump something on the customer and leave them high and dry when they run into trouble.

This also highlights the lack of regulatory framework - like how it is mandatory to buy 3rd party insurance, it should be mandatory for insurance to cover key components of a car. Battery in electric or transmission/engine components in ICE.

[brraj]

Originally Posted by Doge

There is no car with a water proof battery, it simply isn't possible. The batteries are water resistant, upto a certain degree. Without any details of how much the car was submerged.

Byds hybrid SUV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xesmj621jYE

We also have Hummer, Rivian which is fully electric.
Dont know how reliable this will be.

[Guna]

If I am not mistaken, car insurance doesn't cover damages caused flood, earthquake, Cyclone etc (I think there is term used like ' natural calamity, act of god...) One has to take 'add on' to get coverage for all these.

[thanixravindran]

Originally Posted by Chrome6Boy

I bought Royal Sundaram insurance for my 2022 ZS EV. This was the first time I did not go for dealer insurance.

Did you enquired about below scenario -

Say, at 8 years, due to age, the EV battery is dead. Owner has to replace it with new battery. I guess new battery is very expensive at few lakhs.

How will the insurance IDV and premium handled? Now will there be increase in IDV and higher premium due to new battery?

Is there depreciation guidelines for new battery and all other parts of EV separately?

^ Guna - No, the listed perils like floods, natural calamities are covered. Only act of war, terrorism, riots, nuclear radiation is not covered.

[rahulkr14]

I am an insurance professional and have noticed that there is still a grey area around the matter of coverage of EV batteries leading to insurance companies utilizing this loophole.

The base policy insurance premium (own damage) for our cars is calculated on the IDV (Insured Declared Value) and the battery cost is a part of the IDV in case of EVs. For ex - Lets say the Punch EV costs 12 Lakhs out of which battery cost is 5 Lakhs. So, the the premium for base cover will be calculated on 12 Lakhs and not on 12-5= 7 Lakhs. In this case, the base policy should cover everything including the battery unless the base policy explicitly excludes the coverage for battery.

Now to the question of add on covers - On top of base policy one may select add on covers like Zero Dep etc. To understand the battery cover add on better, let us take the analogy of IC engine cars. If an ICE car meets with an accident or is flooded, the claim for the price of engine is also covered in the base policy itself (no need of add-on). But companies still offer an Engine Protect Cover as an optional add on. This is to cover "Consequential loss" to the engine. You may search the wordings of Engine Protect cover of various companies to understand better.

Applying this analogy to EVs and as per my understanding, the intention of battery protect add on cover is something similar - to cover "Consequential Losses" or Losses which were not defined in the base policy. Every company will have different coverage wordings to define these losses. But in case of direct losses like battery damage in accident or flooding of a stationary car, the battery should be covered in the base policy itself (again - unless explicitly excluded) as the customer would have paid the premium on full IDV.

However, having said this, I suggest all EV buyers to select battery protect add on cover to be on the safer side. Like I said, this is a grey area and better be safe than sorry! Experts may add their views. Thanks!

[rahulkr14]

Just noticed that @aashishnb has made a similar point and has explained the concept of IDV and coverages very well - both pivotal in the case being discussed here. If the IDV includes the cost of battery and there is no T&C excluding the battery, it should be covered in the base policy itself.

[Flechazo]

Originally Posted by brraj

The customer not purchasing the battery addon is one thing, but the battery should be waterproof, whether it's from BYD or Tesla. This reflects the quality of the product.

It could also be that there's no water seepage in the battery itself, but the connectors might have shorted which damaged the battery.

[jerk_free]

Originally Posted by Guna

If I am not mistaken, car insurance doesn't cover damages caused flood, earthquake, Cyclone etc (I think there is term used like ' natural calamity, act of god...) One has to take 'add on' to get coverage for all these.

Insurance generally does cover flood damage. Floods last year in Chennai for ex wrecked havoc for a lot of owners and many were able to claim insurance. Better to always check the fine print or add-ons required.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...4.cms?from=mdr

[linuxworld]

How do insurance or car manufacturers identify if water damage is due to floods or something else? There are many ways water can go inside the battery; flood is just one of the reasons.

I mean, if the owner takes his damaged car to the service center and says the car is not working. The team checked and found that the battery was damaged due to water. Now, there are two possibilities: 1) the service center proceeds with battery replacement under warranty, and 2) the service center takes the position that the battery is damaged due to flood and can't be covered. Now, in 2nd scenario, unless the owner confirms beforehand, how do they identify that the car was indeed flooded and the reason for the damage?

For example, if there is rain and I need to drive from 1 feet or more of water in some patches and it results in battery damage, will it be considered damage due to water or flood? If they consider it a flood, I should be able to challenge them because they haven't defined that cars should not be driven in certain water levels. They can't just treat every water damage case as a flood and wash their responsibilities.

[OffRoadFun]

How is this different from engine damage due to flooding? Which can manufacture covers that? I would be curious to know.

BYD should have nothing to do with it.