[manipal]

Hello Dr, What happened to the vehicle and its RC? Were you able to get the RC/NOC cancelled?

Hello Sir,

The vehicle is being used by someone else at Bangalore, the police inspector from my place found it out. I consulted my lawyer and realized the onus of taking action against the people involved in this situation was on the RTO. The police inspector here did call up the RTO for a meeting, which they did not turn up. I then met the RTO and gave a letter (attached) to him and sought a suitable acknowledgement. It was here when the file pertaining to my vehicle was retrieved, someone from the department had suitably removed all the papers related to the road tax refund and total loss process, forged my signature on forms 29 & 30, this put me in a fix as tomorrow RTO could sue me stating I sold the vehicle after taking a road tax refund. I insisted them to seize the vehicle, with the police inspector willing to cooperate, as the vehicle was running with no road tax, park it at the RTO office, to set an example to all doing such illegalities. But he was unwilling to this as his office was also involved. Hence, I did not pursue it ahead as I had an acknowledgement for my communication. They have blacklisted the RC card as reflected in the Vahan website.

[1985Darkkid85]

Hi Dr Arun.S.Urala,

What is the final outcome of this ordeal after your letter to RTO?
I'd normally expect the car to be impounded and the new owner issued a notice, but i guess i am asking too much off the Indian Bureaucracy.

How can this unfit car be even deemed road worthy on our already scary/god-forsaken roads?

Suggest proceeding with a legal notice to the KA20 RTO, if no relief found after your written letter/complaint.: ad:

Shudder to think of the consequences if the said Xuv500 meets with another accident, being in this deplorable state as is.

[lsjey]

Dr. @manipal Please accept my heartfelt thanks for posting this on TBHP. I discovered this thread today and read through this in one go. Such a treasure trove of information.

I applaud you for your persistence in upholding the law against all odds!

@mods I again request you to create a car ownership life-cycle thread to bring together all the key and important aspects of car ownership and the threads that discuss those aspects. If you require any help in doing the legwork for this, please don't hesitate in asking me for it.

Regards,
lsjey

[goenkakushal]

My friend's vehicle met with and accident (No injuries to self or third party). Vehicle is with ASC, he was informed that vehicle will go for a Total Loss case.

Vehicle: Mercedes B Class
IDV: 14.2Lacs
Manufactured: 2014
Insurance Type : Comprehensive regular (No Zero dep)
Insurer: Kotak

Repair expenses- not shared yet, but SA said engine cost itself will be 15 lacs

For this case :
Should we expect full IDV of 14.2 lacs?
Should we agree for deduction of salvage value?
Is the RC to be surrendered to insurance company or cancelled?
Will the settlement amount differ if RC is cancelled viz a viz surrendered?

[lsjey]

Originally Posted by goenkakushal

My friend's vehicle met with and accident (No injuries to self or third party). Vehicle is with ASC, he was informed that vehicle will go for a Total Loss case.

For this case :
Should we expect full IDV of 14.2 lacs?
Should we agree for deduction of salvage value?
Is the RC to be surrendered to insurance company or cancelled?
Will the settlement amount differ if RC is cancelled viz a viz surrendered?

I'm not an expert in this topic. Per my understanding of this thread, the moral is:

1. Claim the residual Road tax. Road tax is calculated based on a life of 15 years, and you can get back 50% in your case.
2. You should de-register your car with RTO. After this the RC will be cancelled.
3. The insurance companies typically take signature on RC transfer forms, and sell the car to unscrupulous dealers, who repair the car and sell to unsuspecting buyers.
4. You should get the IDV value. But there may be terms and conditions to this. It will depend on the insurance company and the type of insurance you have. Do cross post in other threads on insurance as well to get more answers

Regards,
lsjey

[manipal]

Originally Posted by 1985Darkkid85

Hi Dr Arun.S.Urala,

What is the final outcome of this ordeal after your letter to RTO?

Hi
There was no follow-up by the RTO from then on. I did seek a legal opinion, even my lawyer advised me since I have intimated the RTO in writing and taken an acknowledgment from their office, I would not be held responsible for any incidents that may occur in the future. RTO website initially said 'blacklisted as per owner request', now it shows the RC in my name. I finally gave up, it's a hopeless system in place at the RTO. Ironically both the RTO and United India insurance company had a press release on total loss claims in the local newspaper edition recently, It is just preaching and nothing in practice.

[goenkakushal]

Originally Posted by goenkakushal

My friend's vehicle met with and accident (No injuries to self or third party). Vehicle is with ASC, he was informed that vehicle will go for a Total Loss case.

Vehicle: Mercedes B Class
IDV: 14.2Lacs
Manufactured: 2014
Insurance Type : Comprehensive regular (No Zero dep)
Insurer: Kotak

Repair expenses- not shared yet, but SA said engine cost itself will be 15 lacs

For this case :
Should we expect full IDV of 14.2 lacs?
Should we agree for deduction of salvage value?
Is the RC to be surrendered to insurance company or cancelled?
Will the settlement amount differ if RC is cancelled viz a viz surrendered?

Insurance co has agreed to pay full IDV (11 Lacs from Insurance Co and balance from Salvage value by selling to 3rd party)

We informed our intent to cancel the RC as it is a total loss.
Surveyor said they are not treating it as total loss and the vehicle shall be sold.

Insurance co want us to sign consent note for claim settlement on stamp paper, which also states that we should pay the parking charges and estimation charges to workshop.

I would like to know your views..
1. Should we sign and give all docs as reqd by Insurance co as we are getting full IDV?
2. What about the Parking Charges and estimation charges? Who is responsible to pay it? Insurance co has taken 2 months already to reach this stage after lot of follow up.

Thanx

[manipal]

I would like to know your views..
1. Should we sign and give all docs as reqd by Insurance co as we are getting full IDV?

If you have a return to invoice policy, then your settlement amount would be comparable to the market value, so you could sign and settle. If not you will lose the road tax which was paid for 15 years. The company has to state to you in writing on what basis your claim is being settled, oral communication does not hold value (hope you have acknowledgements for all your submissions and communications so far), So write to them and ask what is the nature of the settlement they're offering you.

2. What about the Parking Charges and estimation charges? Who is responsible to pay it? Insurance co has taken 2 months already to reach this stage after lot of follow-up.

These charges the insurance company refuses to pay though the delay is from their side.

However, the motor vehicle act holds the owner responsible for the cancellation of registration if the vehicle is beyond repair. So ask the company to either repair the vehicle or declare it as a total loss. This will give an idea of how to proceed from there.

The hard truth is if we don't wish to be victimised/lose money then we have to fight legally. Hence, it's worth confirming from a known RTO broker as to what is road tax refund one can expect for the vehicle. This would guide one to cut a loss and settle or fight against the insurance company if the amount is decent.

[hserus]

Send a copy of the paperwork to the RTO where you registered your car with a note that the car has been sent for salvage with full IDV paid. Attach Form TCR - this one is from the Maharashtra RTO but the format is the same pan India .. https://transport.maharashtra.gov.in...R/form_tcr.pdf

Then add a paper letter asking them to cancel the registration of the vehicle and initiate road tax repayment. Include a copy of the original road tax invoice for the car if you have it, or you will need to get it from the dealer if they paid road tax.

Originally Posted by goenkakushal

Insurance co has agreed to pay full IDV (11 Lacs from Insurance Co and balance from Salvage value by selling to 3rd party)

We informed our intent to cancel the RC as it is a total loss.
Surveyor said they are not treating it as total loss and the vehicle shall be sold.

Insurance co want us to sign consent note for claim settlement on stamp paper, which also states that we should pay the parking charges and estimation charges to workshop.

I would like to know your views..
1. Should we sign and give all docs as reqd by Insurance co as we are getting full IDV?
2. What about the Parking Charges and estimation charges? Who is responsible to pay it? Insurance co has taken 2 months already to reach this stage after lot of follow up.

Thanx

[goenkakushal]

Thanx guys for your revert.
The insurance co called it total loss but when we asked them to cancel the RC they said its not a total loss but settlement. They assured that full IDV (Part of it will come to us directly from the Salvage car buyer and remaining from the Insurance company) will be paid to us.

We have gone ahead and closed the matter and received full IDV.

I am sure the vehicle will be repaired and sold at a good price.

[kdp95]

Dear Tbhpians,

Need some help with regard to an insurance claim made by me.

I have a Ford Ecosport Titanium Diesel (2018 model) which has run about 90k kms. While travelling on a highway, due to heavy rains and mud on the road I could not stop my car in time and banged a still container trailer from behind. I tried to minimize the impact by going sideways due to which the car's RHS had an impact on the Trailer's LHS. Both the Airbags got deployed and i sustained certain minor injuries and a hairline fracture on my left hand (as I am a Lefty). Thankfully no major injuries. This happened about two months ago. I was able to come out of the car and call the Roadside Assistance who took the car to the ASC. In the meanwhile, i took necessary medical treatment. The pictures of the accident are attached below.





Some days later, went to the ASC, made the insurance claim and the SA told that the car may go for a total loss and collected the required documents. My insurance policy is a zero dep + RTI + Consumables policy with IDV of 6 lakhs. Two days later I learnt that they sent an estimate of Rs. 6.69 lakhs to the Insurance Company ICICI Lombard. My invoice value of car is Rs. 9.5 lakhs + 1.5 lakhs towards RTO. It was informed that within a week, the approval for total loss would come.

After almost two weeks, the surveyor inspected the vehicle and orally asked the SA to open the vehicle and re-estimate the repair costs as according to him, there is no major damage and the car is repairable. After a lot of follow-ups with the SA and a delay of about two weeks, the SA dismantled the damaged portion of the vehicle and informed that the surveyor has given oral approval of Rs. 4.35 lakhs to repair the car. I was surprised as now the SA says the car can be repaired with an estimate of Rs. 4.35 lakhs. The pictures of the same are as below:











After almost a month of follow-up with the SA and Insurance Co, they have given me two options:

1. Get the car repaired at ASC for which the Insurance Co will pay an estimated amount of Rs. 4.35 lakhs
2. Opt for Cash Loss settlement wherein Insurance will pay Rs. 4.35 lakhs and Salvage buyer will pay Rs. 3.5 lakhs as and by way of final settlement in which case I would get Rs. 7.85 lakhs. The car would be transferred to the salvage buyer who would then most probably repair and sell it. In this case, the Insurance Co wants me to settle the estimate and parking charges of around Rs. 20k-30k although they have caused the delay.

As far as I recollect, the ASC has sent the detailed estimate of 6.69 lakhs to the Insurance Co (which is shared with me too) but the revised estimate of 4.35 lakhs is not sent to Insuance Co.

I have following queries/concerns:
1. Would it be logical to repair the car when there is serious damage to the A pillar as well as the dashboard and various other internal components which may not be visible?
2. What would be the resale price of the car after such major repairs and Ford exiting from India?
3. Is it possible that the Insurance Co is avoiding to declare it as total loss due to RTI in which case it may be liable to pay the invoice amount+RTO charges and hence asking ASC to repair within 4.5 lakhs?
4. Whether the Cash Loss option is a reasonable option?

[akg7091]

This needs to be escalated to the insurance ombudsman as it seems to be a fit case for total loss. The surveyor is acting smart because you have RTI cover and they are liable to pay you the on road cost for this exact model / variant if it is still being sold ( or in your case the last on road price for this variant before Ford stopped selling it )

Ask the dealership to give you a detailed breakdown of the new estimate and compare the old / new. For every revision, ask in writing from the dealer and ford CC to confirm that this will not affect structural safety and stability. If they refuse to confirm that the new repairs at 4.35lac will be as safe as before the accident, then force the insurance company to ensure you are "indemnified" for your loss and they make good to restore your vehicle to a condition "as it was insured". Also, very important, if and when the insurance company insists you go for repairs which are not deemed safe by the dealership / ford, reply that you believe the insurer is "not acting in good faith" - keep repeating this on every email you send. Once you have followed up for the minimum period required for the ombudsman ESCALATE IT and lodge an official complaint with the ombudsman. You WILL get the entire amount you are owed once the ombudsman is involved as long as there is no wilful fraud / hidden facts from your end

Forgot to add : In your reply to the insurance company give a reasonable deadline of 30/45 days from the date you filed the claim and then ask for interest @9% / 12% / 15% to compensate you for the lost time value of money ( whatever rate you can justify - if you have any car loan running use that as the benchmark. If any other loan such as personal loan etc then claim that amount). Also, don't forget to deregister your vehicle and get the road tax refund from the RTO. Engage an agent so it's not much work for you.

[thanixravindran]

Originally Posted by kdp95

Dear Tbhpians,

Need some help with regard to an insurance claim made

I have following queries/concerns:
1. Would it be logical to repair the car when there is serious damage to the A pillar as well as the dashboard and various other internal components which may not be visible?
2. What would be the resale price of the car after such major repairs and Ford exiting from India?
3. Is it possible that the Insurance Co is avoiding to declare it as total loss due to RTI in which case it may be liable to pay the invoice amount+RTO charges and hence asking ASC to repair within 4.5 lakhs?
4. Whether the Cash Loss option is a reasonable option?

First, please report your own post and request mods to create it as new thread. It will have more visibility and you will get better response.

I believe the insurance company is playing foul to avoid RTI cover as you mentioned in point 3. You will lose a significant money after paying for RTI in point 4. Hope you have the original repair estimate. Please demand the surveyor report copy since you are affected party through email or registered post. It is your legal entitlement. You can compare the estimate and report and get response from SA why those are needed to restore the car. I believe knowledgeable forum folks can chip in.

If they deny, please escalate to nodal officer and insurance ombudsman formally.