[asitmonty]

Hi guys,

I got into an accident yesterday (17th Oct) while driving back from a trip. A goods lorry drove on our side of the lane and scraped the right side of my car. Everyone was ok since the overall impact was not high. This is in my own state, Odisha, but another district, approx 3 hours drive from my place.

Fortunately, I had invested in a dashcam (thanks to the forums here) and so have the incident, the number plate, etc on video.

I have filed an FIR online (Odisha is cool in that) on advice from my uncle (a high court lawyer). But I still have questions and hopefully anyone who has experienced similar situations (even if different state) can add to.

1. Do I provide the video to insurance when I make a claim? If it helps either with them pursuing on my behalf (like they do in US) or they take the evidence as no-fault from my side, then I am happy to do it. But if they are going to try and use the video to manufacture some sort of denial (for e.g. we were driving at 55, and that section of highway may have a speed limit of 50 even though we didn't see any sign for that), then better not give it at all.

2. Since this is a new car, I will have to give it to Mahindra Authorized service center. Any advice on do's and don'ts? I had never need to file an insurance claim. So this is a first for me.

3. I got the insurance through dealer. Should I call the dealer? or directly contact HDFC ergo?

4. Anything else that I should prepare before filing claim? I already have the photos and videos of damage.

5. Any advice in general?

Here is the video of the accident

https://youtu.be/0tAh9LUbfxI

Thanks in advance for any inputs

[JithinR]

Originally Posted by asitmonty

Hi guys,

Thanks in advance for any inputs

1. My personal opinion would be to hold onto the video. When a friend claimed insurance from HDFC Ergo he didn't really have to provide anything other than filling out a form. If needed you can provide the video later too. My concern is simply that even though the video clearly shows the other vehicle encroaching onto your lane some surveyor would argue that you didn't take any evasive action.
2. A lot depends on the quality of service provided by the service center and the service advisor himself. You see SA's who don't bother to even return your calls and others who will proactively update you on the status of the parts, job etc. See if you can find a good service center and SA from known contacts.
3. You can contact the sales advisor and they might help you raise the claim. But most insurance policies have a clear defined timeline within which you would have to call their service line and report the incident.
4. Don't really have any specific advice since I have not claimed insurance myself. But I would remove any valuables/documents from the car. Especially the dash cam and it's memory card in case the vehicle is going to spend a few days/weeks there.
   Also, make sure that you have some sort of commitment from the SA on the ETA and make sure that you actively follow up on the progress including visiting the service center in person to check up on the progress of the work done.
   Since there seems to be damage to the door make sure to check if there is any issue with the locking mechanism, child lock, window up and down functions etc. in case the surveyor pushes to repair the panel instead of replacing it.
   If you don't have experience dealing with service center folks in India then get a friend/family member to help you out.

[Vijin]

Unfortunately, I had already done this a few times ( once with my xuv300). However, I had outside insurance in all cases.

Bring it to the service centre as soon as possible and ask for a quote.

The next step is to notify the insurance company. I believe there is a deadline by which the insurance company must be notified. The SA himself will inform them if your service centre has a cashless tie-up with HDFC Ergo, else you have to notify them.

You are required to fill out a few forms (SA usually has claim forms of all the insurance companies with them). I've never filed a police report and have always repaired with my own insurance rather than using third party coverage of other vehicle (Will lose NCB though). I have sent only the on-the-spot photos from my phone, which also includes the second colliding vehicle's registration number (by email).

An insurance approver arrives at the following step and checks the quote with the damage that has been seen. Depending on the issue and the type of coverage you have, he may approve it entirely or only in part ( you have to pay reminder in this case).

A job item is then created and vehicle is repaired by SA. If you have a cashless tie-up, there isn't much to do; if not, you must pay and submit your bill, a copy of your RC and DL, and a copy of your cheque to the insurance team for reimbursement.

Link (Mahindra XUV300 AMT Automatic W8 : Ownership Review) to my mishap

[Nalin1]

Feel sorry for the hit. Hope you get this sorted out soon.

Why did you not steer at all to your left even one bit even as the tempo was getting too close? There was enough space there on the road or even off the road for a slight steer and then back on track. If you do not take evasive actions in such situations with thoughts like "I am in my lane, so I am right!. He is in the wrong lane so legally he is the culprit blah blah", then you will have a permanent relationship with your insurance surveyor and service center with a visit every few days.

[asitmonty]

Originally Posted by Nalin1

Why did you not steer at all to your left even one bit even as the tempo was getting too close?

unfortunately, I was in the car but it wasnt me. I had to get something done for work and was not on wheels.

[GTO]

Doesn't matter whose fault it is. The reason we pay insurance premiums is so that, we can get protection even if we caused the accident. Go ahead, claim the insurance and be happy . Glad all occupants were okay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU

[asitmonty]

Originally Posted by Vijin

Link (Mahindra XUV300 AMT Automatic W8 : Ownership Review) to my mishap

Those pics do look worse than mine. Seat belts - absolutely the key. My daughter wasn't in a car seat and was travelling in the front with mother-in-law. Ironically, we always make her travel in the back whenever we expect to cross 50 (mostly highways). And the one time we didn't .... lesson learnt. Fortunately, every one else in the car had seat belts.

XUV300 took that hit without any flinch. We kept on talking about what would have happened if it would have been our i10.

Thank you for sharing the details of your experience with claim. I guess 2 weeks is what I should prepare for as well.

Originally Posted by JithinR

If you don't have experience dealing with service center folks in India then get a friend/family member to help you out.

Thank you for providing so many good points. Really appreciate the detailed, organized response.

Originally Posted by GTO

Doesn't matter whose fault it is.

Agree with you. The insurance is why I didn't worry after the hit.

Though, I don't want to let that guy get away scot-free. If he gets away without any pain, he may do it again. I was fortunate. The next guy might not be. I think all of us in this forum like driving and we all make the roads safer to the extent we realistically can. One at a time. I have to try to get some sense knocked into this careless driver.

That said, it still depends on how much time it will cost me. I am less worried about expense than time. Mainly since any visit to the PS will cost me 8 hours including drive time, and an hour of that is horribly bad road. Time will tell if I pursue the FIR and get the driver to face consequences or close it. Hopefully, it is the former.

[anjan_c2007]

The mini truck was rashly driven and transgressed into your lane, brushing on the driver's side of your car. Luckily it was just some dents that your car suffered.

As regards the insurance claim, please only fill claim forms. No videos etc need to be shared with them. They would liberally change the door as that is more profitable for the dealer. And the insurer is best approached through your Mahindra dealer. Usually their mutual jugalbandi could put most other jugalbandi's to shame.

Most such claims are hassle free, but please check the damaged components for which the insurer compensates and those for which they don't fully compensate but deduct a part of the compensation. A transparent repair estimate is hence desired to disallow gremlins from popping up later on.

[Bailey]

In my experience FIR's are required only when there is damage involving a third party (person or asset), hospitalisation or loss of life.

Else all you need to do is go along with your original RC, DL, Copy of Insurance to the workshop where you plan to get your vehicle fixed.

Since its a new car and still under warranty you would be better off taking it to the Mahindra Service Centre that you purchased the car from. Since you have taken insurance from them as well, they should most probably have a cashless tie up with the insurer.

Fill the form that will be available at the service centre in which you will have to explain how the accident occurred, leave copies of your originals so that the insurance surveyor can verify the same.

Your contribution should not be more than the min excess, normally Rs. 1000 and the loss of your NCB at the time of next renewal.

If the service centre does not have cashless tie-up rather than pay and claim reimbursement, I would recommend that you ask them to hold on to the vehicle for a day more during which HDFC Ergo would make the payment to them directly. In Kerala it happens within a few hours.

[Aviator_guy]

As many folks have opined, you can just drop it off at the authorized service center, notify the insurance company, fill insurance claim form by providing accident details (brief) along with DL/RC/insurance copies and they will take care of the rest. I don't think so you will need to take the trouble of sharing videos etc as it is quite generic accident and claim for the insurance company which they deal with every day.

[Gildarts]

Since the insurance is taken with the ASC, they are generally very cooperative when it comes to claims. So I would advice against sharing the video proactively, since it may complicate things unnecessarily.

[chaitanyakrish]

Originally Posted by asitmonty

Hi guys,

It's unfortunate that you had to go through this. I would say, keep the video with you and use it as a learning. As there are no injuries to anyone, the added video evidence won't help much unless the repair cost is too high.

Its a right hand curve for you, and in right handed curves, there is always a risk of over-speeding vehicles coming from opposite side, veering into your lane due to centrifugal force towards the outer edge of the circle/curve.



At this stage itself, I am aware that, he will come onto you for sure, unless he is alert and corrected himself or by your honk( you didn't do in this case) or you moving to the edge of the road towards shoulder.

[Comrade]

I had asked this question once before but did not get an answer. This is classic situation of other driver being "at fault". So my question is when does our government-mandated "third-party" insurance come in play? I causually reviewed policy documents for one of my cars and following is applicable "Under section II-I(ii) of the policy -> Damage to Third Party Property : Rs. 7,50,000.00". OP has captured number plate of the offender. So can't he or his insurance provider file a claim against offender's insurance provider.

edit: Such third-party claims are so hassle free in the US. You just provide evidence, and offender's insurance guys will take care of the rest. If you don't have opposite party's insurance details, our provider will get the details for you based on license plate. If any insurance guy doesn't cooperate, there are 1000s of attorneys who are ready to take everyone to court!!

[AntPaul]

Are you planning to peruse your cars comprehensive insurance at the risk of losing NCB or planning to claim third party insurance of the other vehicle? Claiming own insurance is easy on mostly cashless. Claiming third party insurance from what I understand is not hassle free.

My dad once had an accident around 20 years back where the other party was able to use my dad's cars 3rd party insurance to pay for their damage while our car was repaired without insurance claim to preserve NCB. I have never seen/heard first party account of any other 3rd party settlements since.

In both cases, unfortunately the negligent truck driver might go scot free without having to pay up anything other than a traffic penalty at most for negligent driving, assuming his truck has a valid 3rd party insurance.

[ankushbansal]

Sharing video not at all necessary with the insurance company. It will only mess up things.

Keep the video handy only in case, if you want to go ahead with the FIR you have lodged and standup your claim / compensation in court...