[asitmonty]

Hi team,

I am wondering if any of you have experience with the claims process of Oriental car insurance. How does it compare with private players like HDFC Ergo, SBI General and Royal Sundaram?

I am about to purchase a new insurance policy for my XUV 300 (new) and based on claim settlement ratio, 4 of the insurers (the above mentioned ones) look good.

But within those Oriental has the best price at 23k. I am still hesitant because of my impression of public entities. I know that some have improved, for e.g. SBI, but not everyone. So, I am not sure if their claim settlement process is smooth using today's technology (claim submits through phone apps instead of paper submit at their office).

I really value the time and energy saved in a speedy settlement than saving 5k.

Please share your experience with respect to
1. process submitting a claim - paper based or through apps like whatsapp? How many days does it take Oriental to respond? How many back and forth for small claims (<1L in repairables)
2. repair options - limits on garage that the vehicle owner can choose?
3. final payout - physical check collection and deposit vs direct deposit by insurer
4. ease of premium payments (though I assume this is probably online by now)


I would really appreciate any details related to this. Thank you all.

[GTO]

Some data will surely help:

Originally Posted by asitmonty

The 5 insurers listed below are the top insurance companies based on the number of claims settled. They are pricier than the rest, but IRDAI (insurance watchdog) data shows it is worth it (see the link below for more details)

• Bajaj Allianz
• HDFC Ergo
• Oriental
• Royal Sundaram
• SBI General

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post5189927 (The 2020 thread: Your preferred car insurance company & why)

GoDigit, Acko have poor settlement ratios. With Acko worse that GoDigit. For every 100 claims filed, GoDigit pays 83 claims as opposed to 90 claims paid by the above listed 5 insurers. So, shop around within these 5 and pick whoever is the lowest.

Two BHPian reviews. There are several more on the forum:

Originally Posted by procrastinator

We have got Oriental, New India assurance, Bajaj Allianz and Tata AIG.

Once the claim has been filled with Oriental.
This insurance was bought from outside.
The amount was reimbursed after we paid the bill. Decent experience overall.

Just like other bhpians, I have renewed this year insurance with Acko.
Not only they offered better IDV for lesser amount but a zero dep with standard deductible of Rs.5000/- in case of claim’s premium was slightly more the Comprehensive policy and cheaper than 0dep of other insurance companies.

As smartcat pointed out on best claim settlement ratio, I was inclined towards Iffco-Tokio while renewing the six year old machine.
They covered all garages of Hyundai at my location and offered both options of Zero Dep and comprehensive.

The deterrent was price. It was slightly expensive in comparison to others.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Voted for Oriental Insurance.

My current policies are from them for all the below reasons -

1. Rates are competitive.
2. Have heard good feedback regarding claims. Also not a fully private company - so hopefully can expect good payments in return, although there might be typical delays.
3. Have known agents to handle the process.

That said - I do not have a BIG preference of insurance provider and would be willing to switch (And I do switch between Royal Sundaram and TATA AIG too, depending on the rates offered).

Only main criteria I have - No ICICI Lombard.

[asitmonty]

Thanks GTO. I did search for Oriental insurance reviews on the forum before posting the question. These two hadn't showed up in the search. Would be still good to know some more experiences with Oriental.

[ike]

Originally Posted by asitmonty

Hi team,

I am wondering if any of you have experience with the claims process of Oriental car insurance. How does it compare with private players like HDFC Ergo, SBI General and Royal Sundaram?

My mom in law is an agent for oriental but asks me to not get oriental car insurance because they do not have cashless facility. She says oriental is OK if you are looking for just 3rd party coverage.

I had a recent large claim from Royal Sundaram and the experience was OK.

[asitmonty]

Thank you ike. That first hand experience helps. Oriental and National definitely have the best price. Will probably pick up either Royal Sundaram or HDFC.

[Storm.Rider]

@Mods: This is the latest thread on Oriental Insurance, so posting my experience here. If you think this is not relevant here, please move it to the appropriate thread. Thanks.

I am writing here to apprise people of what I went through and how a KIA dealership and Oriental Insurance came together to deceive me (albeit everything was legal, and technically as per process). I have submitted the Discharge Voucher and I expect Oriental to release the payment in a couple of days. This is not meant to be any allegation or a defamation of any of the parties involved.

For reference, this is Delhi NCR.

Prologue to the Prologue

I bought a new Kia Seltos in January 2020, primarily for highway journeys (~500 kms each way, to be done 10-12 times in a year). In March 2020, Covid struck, and the car was essentially grounded. Even after lifting of restrictions, the number of trips was drastically reduced and the car only covered ~3000 km till Dec 2020. Therefore, at the time of Insurance renewal in January 2021, I decided not to renew the dealership bought ICICI Lombard policy, and shopped around for a cheaper policy. I decided on an Oriental Insurance policy through PolicyBazaar, with all the bells and whistles (Zero Dep, Max IDV, Engine Cover, Driver + Passenger cover, etc.) with just the caveat (as I understood) that any claim will not be cashless. The year passed uneventfully and the car covered a further 8000 Km during the year. In Jan 2022, happy with the cost savings, I decided to renew the Oriental policy.

Mistake 1: Instead of renewing through PolicyBazaar, the miser in me decided to renew through Oriental’s website, to save another thousand bucks.



Prologue

In March this year, I had taken the car out for some errand, and while coming back, I hit a dog. I was at about 70 kmph, and the dog darted out of nowhere across the road. Even with the braking and ABS, there was a substantial hit. Seeing the dog get up and go on its merry way, I continued home, expecting minimal damage. However, after reaching home, I saw there was substantial damage to the front right fender panel, and the Fog light was hanging by just the wires, with the housing (or the clips holding it in place) were broken. No worries I thought, I had a good cover, and so was not too stressed about the damage. I had to leave for a work visit for a couple of weeks, and I thought this would be easy.



The Beginning

After coming back towards the end of March, I reached out to PolicyBazaar (knowing that my renewal was not with them), and asked for advice on what to do. They offered to share the list of Cashless garages with me but could not help any further. When I asked for the process to get a claim from Oriental, they were happy to share the process and also shared the claim form along with all the documents that would be needed. The list of documents as needed are:

1. Current Insurance Policy document

2. Claim Form

3. DL of driver

4. Aadhar and PAN of Owner

5. Copy of Cancelled cheque

6. RC of the vehicle

7. Repair Estimate from the workshop that I intend to go to.

The repair estimate I figured is going to be a problem. I went to the KIA dealership / service station, and asked them for an estimate. The service manager at the dealership attended to me politely, and told me upfront that he will make a rough inflated estimate. This is because 1, they will not be able to put the car on the lift to inspect the damage, and 2, if the damage is more, then the insurance company has already pre-approved a higher amount so this is not a problem. I was told that this is standard practice and all insurance companies accept that. A handwritten estimate of Rs. 53,000 is given to me. I am told that if the amount would have been less than Rs 50,000, then probably Oriental would not have appointed a surveyor. I ask that if it can be done, and I am told that this will not be possible.

Mistake 2: Getting a rough inflated estimate and submitting it to Oriental.

I gathered all the documents and submitted them to Oriental. A surveyor was appointed and I was asked to send the car to the workshop. The surveyor visited the service center and approved the items on the estimate. Naïve me did not check if the amount was approved or only the items.

A week into the repairs, and I am told that the right side headlight will also need to be changed, because the clips holding the light in place have sheared off. The service advisor promptly sends across a supplementary estimate to me and verbally tells me that he will share it with the Service Advisor. This estimate is another Rs. 25000 approx and contains only the Headlight.

Mistake 3: Not checking with the service advisor if he has shared the supplementary estimate with the surveyor.

It is mid-April, and the car is now ready for delivery. The total bill amount is Rs. 55,000 which includes the headlight change. I get an itemized bill from the service station and clear the amount. The car is promptly delivered to me. For precaution, I take two copies of this bill from the service station. Also, I told that a copy of this bill will be sent to the surveyor.

Now starts my long ordeal of getting this claim.

I wait for a week to hear from the surveyor, and I ask about the claim to be processed. He tells me that he is yet to receive the bill. I am surprised but not shocked at this, I promptly visit him on the next weekend and share the hard copy bill with him. He says he will go through and let me know. I ask to go through the file that he has made for my claim, in terms of the documents that he has and what else he would need from me. While going through the file, I see that he does not have the supplementary estimate in the file. I ask why and he tells me that this is the first that he has heard of it. I call the workshop service manager and ask about this. He tells me that he shared it with me. I ask why was it not shared with the surveyor and I am told this was not to be done by them.

I ask the surveyor about the process to get it included, and he tells me that it will be a call to be taken by the company and he cannot do anything. I request him to try his best and leave.

A month passes. I continuously follow up with the surveyor every week, and I am told that this is not yet submitted to the company. There are n number of excuses given by the surveyor (I have no way of affirming) and finally at the beginning of June, I decide to escalate. I write back the team at Oriental essentially complaining that the car has been delivered for over a month and the claim is not yet submitted. 2 days after my escalation, I get an email from Oriental that my claim has been assessed for Rs. 17000 and will be processed once I submit the discharge voucher document to them.

To say that I am shell-shocked will be an understatement. I immediately call the surveyor and he has stopped taking my calls. I have no option but to write back, asking why the amount is not cleared. My calculation says that even if they did not clear the headlight, I should be getting Rs. 30000 from the insurance company, but that is not the case. Oriental washes its hand and says that it was assessed by the surveyor and include the surveyor in the email chain, asking him to share the survey report with me.

The person at Oriental is very persistent at reminding me to send the discharge voucher. It had been a month since they had asked the surveyor to respond. I reply back to him that I haven’t heard back from the surveyor. Lo and behold, I get a response from the surveyor with the excel sheet of the calculation. I ask the surveyor as to why the items are not considered, and he washes his hands off saying that he had asked the company and the claims person there refused these claims. I ask for a meeting with the claims person and do not get a response.

Epilogue

I started doing research on what I can do next, went through IRDA and several blogs, also went through team-BHP on the options available (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ettlement.html (Oriental Insurance - Wrongly trying to push total loss settlement as a repair settlement)) and (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...insurance.html (Claims experience with Oriental car insurance))

I have spent a month reading about all possible options available to me, and to cut things short, I will say that I have resigned to what has happened. I have been taken advantage of, conned, and I cannot do anything else. I have submitted the discharge voucher, and will suck it up and move on. However, going forward, I will do the following and will encourage anyone reading this to:

1. Purchase the Insurance which has a Cashless facility with your service station.

2. Stay away from Oriental (dare I say, all PSU insurers) as if they were a rotting dead rat.



TL, DR:

1. My car meets with an accident and I ask for an estimate of repairs.

2. Kia gives me a rough estimate, over inflates parts and labor costs. Mind you, after telling me.

3. I think when they realize that my bill will not be near the estimate, send me a supplementary estimate for a major part replacement. Cleverly, they do not send the supplementary estimate to Oriental. (I suspect collusion, but have no means of proving this).

4. The car is repaired and the bill is given to me. I pay the bill.

5. I submit the claim to Oriental, and they take their own sweet time to submit the bill for processing.

6. The surveyor, literally only clears the items that were part of the original estimate, and that too for the prices given in the final bill.

a. Nothing done on the car which was not part of the estimate was covered. It could be something as simple as support clips, absolutely nothing was covered.

b. For everything done on the car which was in the estimate, the price on the bill was taken, and I realize the inflation done on some parts is only done to inflate the bill beyond Rs 50000. For example, on the estimate, the Front Skid plate is given as Rs. 7500. The actual cost on the bill is Rs. 660.93 + tax.

7. I am given the bill for clearing which is barely 35% of the total amount that I paid.

8. I go through my options, decide to suck it up and move on.

[ghodlur]

Dont be fixated with the Oriental Insurance process as you yourself have mentioned that you want a reliable claim processing rather than saving a 5k. Oriental Insurance is a PSU and the change in midst of strong private player competition hasnt seem to have woken them up as yet. Another sad part is that some branches are really proactive and customer oriented whereas some are super lethargic. You will need to take an informed decision here.

Suggest to check with Mahindra Workshop where you intend to service your car and find out 1. Who is the national tie up insurance co 2. With whom does the workshop have a cashless tie up 3. How's the claim process coz the workshop are the place to get this first hand information. There are chances that workshop and insurance co are hand in glove but atleast the processing would be faster. You can then decide accordingly.

[The Mechanic]

Originally Posted by Storm.Rider

I decided not to renew the dealership bought ICICI Lombard policy, and shopped around for a cheaper policy. I decided on an Oriental Insurance policy through PolicyBazaar, with all the bells and whistles (Zero Dep, Max IDV, Engine Cover, Driver + Passenger cover, etc.) with just the caveat (as I understood) that any claim will not be cashless. The year passed uneventfully and the car covered a further 8000 Km during the year. In Jan 2022, happy with the cost savings, I decided to renew the Oriental policy.

Mistake 1: Instead of renewing through PolicyBazaar, the miser in me decided to renew through Oriental’s website, to save another thousand bucks.

Here's my recommendation to anyone who asks about which company to take policy in, it doesn't matter as long as you are competent enough to squeeze their head in the event your genuine claim is rejected, otherwise be careful in choosing insurer.

In theory all insurer's have to follow identical rules. The key words being "in theory"

Originally Posted by Storm.Rider

1. Current Insurance Policy document

2. Claim Form

3. DL of driver

4. Aadhar and PAN of Owner

5. Copy of Cancelled cheque

6. RC of the vehicle

7. Repair Estimate from the workshop that I intend to go to.

Add the following also,

1. Any additional estimates in case of other damages were seen after work has started.

2. Final Bill - Sealed and Signed from dealership.

3. FIR in case 3rd party damage is involved.

Originally Posted by Storm.Rider

The repair estimate I figured is going to be a problem. I went to the KIA dealership / service station, and asked them for an estimate. The service manager at the dealership attended to me politely, and told me upfront that he will make a rough inflated estimate. This is because 1, they will not be able to put the car on the lift to inspect the damage,

So they have X - ray vision to look at internal damage ??

In your case what if there was impact damage on your inter-cooler??

Originally Posted by Storm.Rider

and 2, if the damage is more, then the insurance company has already pre-approved a higher amount so this is not a problem. I was told that this is standard practice and all insurance companies accept that.

From my understanding that is not how it works.

Originally Posted by Storm.Rider

A handwritten estimate of Rs. 53,000 is given to me. I am told that if the amount would have been less than Rs 50,000, then probably Oriental would not have appointed a surveyor. I ask that if it can be done, and I am told that this will not be possible.

This is because as per regulations, all Motor claims above Rupees fifty thousand and all NON Motor claims above Rupees one lakh has to be settled based on report by insurance surveyor.

Originally Posted by Storm.Rider

Mistake 2: Getting a rough inflated estimate and submitting it to Oriental.

I gathered all the documents and submitted them to Oriental. A surveyor was appointed and I was asked to send the car to the workshop. The surveyor visited the service center and approved the items on the estimate. Naïve me did not check if the amount was approved or only the items.

A week into the repairs, and I am told that the right side headlight will also need to be changed, because the clips holding the light in place have sheared off. The service advisor promptly sends across a supplementary estimate to me and verbally tells me that he will share it with the Service Advisor. This estimate is another Rs. 25000 approx and contains only the Headlight.

That was a slip up on your part, you or your Service advisor should have informed the surveyor about the new issue and shared the updated estimate.

Originally Posted by Storm.Rider

I ask the surveyor about the process to get it included, and he tells me that it will be a call to be taken by the company and he cannot do anything. I request him to try his best and leave.

This could be true, however this could have been avoided if the damage to headlight and its estimate was shared to surveyor when the damage was first found out.

Originally Posted by Storm.Rider

A month passes. I continuously follow up with the surveyor every week, and I am told that this is not yet submitted to the company. There are n number of excuses given by the surveyor (I have no way of affirming) and finally at the beginning of June, I decide to escalate. I write back the team at Oriental essentially complaining that the car has been delivered for over a month and the claim is not yet submitted.

That is poor TAT, most insurance companies ( Key Word = MOST ), require reports of small motor claims to be submitted within 24 hours of getting the final invoice by the surveyor.

Originally Posted by Storm.Rider

2 days after my escalation, I get an email from Oriental that my claim has been assessed for Rs. 17000 and will be processed once I submit the discharge voucher document to them.

What was deducted??

Originally Posted by Storm.Rider

To say that I am shell-shocked will be an understatement. I immediately call the surveyor and he has stopped taking my calls. I have no option but to write back, asking why the amount is not cleared. My calculation says that even if they did not clear the headlight, I should be getting Rs. 30000 from the insurance company, but that is not the case. Oriental washes its hand and says that it was assessed by the surveyor and include the surveyor in the email chain, asking him to share the survey report with me.

The person at Oriental is very persistent at reminding me to send the discharge voucher. It had been a month since they had asked the surveyor to respond. I reply back to him that I haven’t heard back from the surveyor. Lo and behold, I get a response from the surveyor with the excel sheet of the calculation. I ask the surveyor as to why the items are not considered, and he washes his hands off saying that he had asked the company and the claims person there refused these claims. I ask for a meeting with the claims person and do not get a response.

Again very poor TAT and response for your queries.

Motor claim settlement is pretty straight forward, the surveyor or the officer at your insurer should have explained the assessment to you.

Originally Posted by Storm.Rider

1. Purchase the Insurance which has a Cashless facility with your service station.

2. Stay away from Oriental (dare I say, all PSU insurers) as if they were a rotting dead rat.

Re-posting my earlier recommendation

It doesn't matter which insurer you choose to go with, as long as you are competent enough to squeeze their head in the event your genuine claim is rejected, otherwise be careful in choosing insurer.

[Storm.Rider]

Originally Posted by The Mechanic

In your case what if there was impact damage on your inter-cooler??

I actually do not have an answer for that. I’ll be frank, I have had brilliant experiences across this and 3 other Kia service stations and I trusted them.

Originally Posted by The Mechanic

That was a slip up on your part, you or your Service advisor should have informed the surveyor about the new issue and shared the updated estimate.

I was verbally told by the service manager that he will share the supplementary estimate with the surveyor. I know this is a mistake from my end.

Originally Posted by The Mechanic

What was deducted??

a. Nothing done on the car which was not part of the estimate was covered. It could be something as simple as support clips, absolutely nothing was covered.

b. For everything done on the car which was in the estimate, the price on the bill was taken. For example, on the estimate, the Front Skid plate is given as Rs. 7500. The actual cost on the bill is Rs. 660.93 + tax.

[The Mechanic]

Originally Posted by Storm.Rider

a. Nothing done on the car which was not part of the estimate was covered. It could be something as simple as support clips, absolutely nothing was covered.

I would blame the service center for that, neither the customer nor the surveyor will have the information as to what all needs to be changed, it is the duty of the service advisor:-

To go through the damaged vehicle and make estimate containing all items to be replaced.

Then if required explain the need for each item to the surveyor and the customer.

Originally Posted by Storm.Rider

b. For everything done on the car which was in the estimate, the price on the bill was taken. For example, on the estimate, the Front Skid plate is given as Rs. 7500. The actual cost on the bill is Rs. 660.93 + tax.

I am assuming you paid the amount mentioned in the bill and not the estimate, thus it is correct.

[jna4cob]

I had a very bad experience with Oriental. My car suffered a windshield damage. I had taken the policy through Policybazaar. I immediately intimated the claim and they asked for a set of documents to be submitted. I have windshield sunfilm installed in my vehicle and have also taken a non-electrical accessories cover for the same in my policy.

I got estimates for Windshield and Sunfilm (2 separate pdfs). I sent all the documents to Policybazaar.

Now, the surveyor has approved only the windshield estimate. He is not approving the estimate for sunfilm in spite of me having an exclusive cover for it.
When I ask the reason for rejection, he gives multiple reasons every single time, like,

1. Both estimates should be in a single pdf and not separate pdfs.
2. Non-electrical accessories does not cover sunfilm.
3. He cannot see non-electrical accessories mentioned in the policy document. (I sent him a screenshot of the policy and he finally agreed).

It has been more than 15 days and more than 30 calls to Policybazaar. I have got no useful response. All I am asking for is a written communication mentioning reason for rejection.
The surveyor is pointing fingers at Policybazaar and vice versa.

Lesson Learnt: Always take policy through ASC. Negotiate with them and ask to match the online price. Go for it if the difference is only a few hundreds or thousands. No ASC in my area honors cashless claims for policies taken through Policybazaar. It is a hell of a job to get approvals and get it reimbursed.

Can anyone help me on how to handle this, please?