[shashi792]

I've been thinking about this for sometime. This question has stemmed from few posts which I read on the forum under different threads.

I'm not considering scenarios wherein a human life was damaged (hurt or deceased).

How do members of this forum handle their insurance/repair bill issues during an accident where your vehicle gets damaged. This might be when you were part of the accident or the other scenario wherein your vehicle was stationary/parked.

Since the primary purpose of an insurance is to help you with the repair bills, I think its the No-Claim-Bonus (NCB) part of the insurance that acts as an devil mediating between the parties that were involved in an accident.

[GTO]

Nice thread, Shashi! Thanks for sharing.

Voted for "I use my insurance - I don't want to haggle". I pay an insurance premium exactly for the purpose. If my car gets damaged, I want the insurance company to cover the repairs. Have absolutely no time or inclination to get out of my car and haggle with the other party.

Interestingly, "whose fault" it was in the accident isn't for you or the other party to decide. Nor is it the police's. The final judgement on the "fault" is from the court.

Also, do note that even if I crash into your car and it was my fault, I am not personally obligated to pay you. That's why we have the "3rd party" component in the insurance policy. If it has to come to that, the matter goes to court and worst case, my insurance company will pay for the damages to your car. That matter usually takes so long & costs so much money / patience that neither the car owner nor the insurance company bother with it.

[Jagann13]

I have been through the situation recently when an old man hit me from behind while idling on a signal. Not my mistake though!

What happened? I asked him to cover my NCB and he told me to take his number and the story goes. Finally, I managed to get a sum half of NCB and claimed one to repair the boot.

I thought, it was better to not take an aggressive stance as he was old and opted for this. Not very happy, but atleast problem free!

[Keeleri_Achu]

I've voted for the 'other' option. Let me explain. For me, who pays what kind of depends on the attitude of the second party. If he/she acknowledges the mistake (assuming that there is no fault from my side), I'll be more than happy to let my insurance cover the expenses. I won't ask for any compensation from them even if it's going to make a hit on my NCB. We did the same when our Ritz was rear ended by a learner driver in a Wagon R. The car was 5 years old at the time and the insurance was never used until then. But we decided to let it go as the the other person realized their mistake and was genuinely concerned.

On the other hand, if the other gentleman/lady starts giving me attitude, I'll make sure that they end up paying for the damages either fully or at least in part. Just enough to shave off the ego. I did the same when I haggled a middle aged uncle who tried to scoot after hitting my parked Ritz when I was 18. He tried to take off even after noticing the damage and when confronted started brushing it off as a minor issue. While the damage indeed was minor, I was not ready to let it go. I stood my ground and made him pay for the entire panel re-paint job.

Note: These responses are completely under the assumption that I won't be at fault.

[V.Narayan]

Voted for the 4th alternative. Two reasons - (i) I am very poor at haggling, bargaining and arm wrestling the other side. This is unlike most of my fellow Indians. (ii) I am, so I'm told by my wife {hence it must be so }, very good at saying no at the start. This I believe is something most of us Indians find difficult to do. In my 38 years of owning a vehicle only on one instance, literally, has someone else other than my drivers or children or me driven my vehicles. Better to nip the matter in the bud. Of course each one of has has his/her own unique circumstance.

[Thanos-VV]

I voted for trying to get the NCB from the other party. This is what I did a couple of months back.
The usual story of getting rear ended at traffic signal. The other party accepted the fault without much fuss and gave me his number and his address. Since both parties were from the same locality where this happened, it was ok to trust him and leave. I got everything repaired through claims with total amount coming to around 10k and I had to pay 3k in that. The NCB lost was another 3k.
Other party was a gentleman and was ready to pay whatever I wanted him to pay. I liked that attitude and took 4K and that was it. I know for sure that, all accident episodes doesn’t end like this, especially if it is happening far outside your locality and in that case, own insurance is what can save us from all the headaches.

[2000rpm]

I voted for option 1, as if we start with that, in India we will end up with Option 2 or Option 3 in the bargaining process.

[arvind71181]

Option 4 - Because I can't haggle

And the accidents for which I have claimed Insurance have been cabs hitting me from behind or 2 wheelers brushing the side. The 2 wheelers scoot before I even have a chance to look at the accident. The one cab guy when he rear ended me, his radiator conked, coolant was all over the place and he was trying to start the car !! So advised him to push the car to the curb and went my way

[drmohitg]

Voted for "I use my insurance - I don't want to haggle".

I sincerely follow the principle of "Self preservation" while driving on Indian roads, most of the driving being in NCR area for me but I would follow this across the country. Do not, and I repeat, Do not get into a fight, verbal or otherwise, with anyone on the road. NCB does not matter here for me. We have numerous threads on the forum and elsewhere about road rage incidents which escalate within seconds. The damage incurred in such instances can wary from pure monetary one to varying degrees of mental and physical harm. Why to risk that?

My formula is simple:
1. Repair amount </= NCB amount: I would not claim insurance for this repair.
2. Repair amount > NCB amount: I will file a claim.

In the case number 1, we have further options available where I may ignore the damage for sometime and make a claim towards the end of my policy period just to ensure that in case there is any additional repair work needed then I would get it covered in a single visit to the workshop.

[ghodlur]

Writing after a long time.

When I was looking at the options, I was struggling to choose the correct options. What ideally I would do is to start with option 1 and then proceed till option 4 as long as I am satisfied with the output. The biggest pain for anybody owning a car is the Insurance premium at the end of each year of ownership which keeps increasing and NCB is the only guaranteed discount I can get on the premium cost. Nobody would like to lose that. Imagine a 1 yr old car gets rear ended by a 10 yr old car. Who loses the most?

As GTO right said the final verdict on whose fault lies with the court or Motor tribunal but its a known fact that courts take their own sweet time to conclude matters. Unless the fast track courts are introduced and streamlined, every incident will involve haggling, arm twisting etc to save their NCB's.

[ChiragM]

It depends on the damage for me. If its minor, I wouldn't bother with insurance. I would opt for it only if the damage is severe and would cost a significant amount to repair.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Two reasons - (i) I am very poor at haggling, bargaining and arm wrestling the other side. This is unlike most of my fellow Indians.

Me too. But will try to get something from the other party, how much ever I can.

[shashi792]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

The damage incurred in such instances can wary from pure monetary one to varying degrees of mental and physical harm. Why to risk that?

True. Because, the idea of having 1) Personal Insurance 2) Vehicle Insurance 3) Dashcam and 4) Health Insurance is to not get into a situation which is not under your control.

[Vasuki]

I was in a similar situation in 2011. I was waiting in the junction, when a Ritz hit the boot of my Elantra. FIR was registered and I took up the case with MACT.

To be fair to the system , till now the case has not moved an inch. Went for my own insurance, did not get any NCB loss from the other party.

What I've learned is that, it is better to settle for something then and there, than go through the legal process.

[Visaster]

The choice top to down mostly is directly related to reduction in time and increase in experience.
I will go with claiming insurance, as clearly it is the safest option.

Back in the days I have fought, shouted, screamed, taken a punch, won arguments, even managed to make the other person pay(once), most often forgiven novice drivers.

Insurance companies has changed so much from back in its monopoly days, pathetic paper work, sluggish movement of claim and 80% rejection of claim. Now we have multiple options and things are effortless.

Who wants to stand in the middle of the road fighting, blocking traffic, sometimes even risking your life or body parts?

Since few years, I most often don't even get off the car, not even roll down the window for an argument of, who is right. Not worth proving your point to some stranger.

Money you can earn, not time or life.

[vikramvicky1984]

Voted for “I use my insurance - I don't want to haggle” or pay for repairs. My idea is- don’t own a car or anything else that one cannot afford to get repaired/ replaced.
Who’s mistake is relative thing in every aspect of life.
Don’t get into arguments with those willing to fight after a mishap and also don’t bully the shareef decent ones

“No man who is resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention, still less can he afford to take the consequences, including the vitiation of his temper and the loss of self control, yield to larger things to which you show no more than equal rights, and yield to lesser ones though clearly your own, better give your path to a dog, than be bitten by him in contesting for the right, not even killing the dog, will cure the bite”
Abraham Lincoln