[ganesc]

Ah, it’s that time of the year and back here for advice.

Have a Zero-Dep with Royal Sundaram for a 2013 Ertiga ZDI with IDV around 5.9Lacs.
With NCB 25%, RS wants 24.5K(same as last year) for Zero-Dep with IDV of 5.7L. Does it make sense to continue?

Saw a few quotes in Coverfox and most show non-zero-dep comprehensive for way less IDV as expected.

Acko costs <10K for comprehensive and IDV up to 6.1L. Have seen a few discussions around small claims made with no trouble but no details on how would they respond for big claims and total damage scenario.

Confused between expensive Zero-Dep, higher IDV vs cheaper comprehensive, high IDV. Given the age of the vehicle, I think I am ok with a cheaper comprehensive that provides higher IDV just in case. Am I missing something? Is Acko ok to go with for a TIER II city Car mostly driven by my father? or some other slightly expensive, established co with Low IDV?

[ganesc]

Originally Posted by ganesc

Ah, it’s that time of the year and back here for advice.

Acko costs <10K for comprehensive and IDV up to 6.1L.
Is Acko ok to go with for a TIER II city Car mostly driven by my father? or some other slightly expensive, established co with Low IDV?

Alright, trying out acko. Hope I don’t have to make a claim though. Let go of zero-dep :sadface

[Gansan]

I renewed the policy for my 2000 model Splendor yesterday. It had a comprehensive policy till last year, but now they refused comprehensive and gave act policy only. I was informed any vehicle older than 20 years will get act policy only. Is that correct?

[suzuki san]

Hi Guys,

Three days ago, a friend of mine was driving his 2014 Maruti Zen Estilo Lxi from Poona to Goa.
Just short of Kolhapur, a piece of metal fell off the underside of a truck in front of him. It hit the underside of his car. A couple of minutes later the oil warning light came on. He was unable to stop immediately but did so within 4 to 5 minutes. There was a trail of oil behind the car and a puddle underneath. Car refused to start. Called for help from Sai Auto in Kolhapur. They were quick to respond on a Sunday. Car was towed to Goa and the friend and his wife completed the journey by taxi. The car is now with Sai Auto at Porvorim, Goa. They say the engine is seized and are quoting Rs. 60 to 65,000 for repairs. Is there any way at all that this can be called an "accident" and he can claim on Insurance (Iffko Tokio). As of today, the Insurance representative has refused point blank.
Any advice or helpful pointers would be much appreciated.

Regards,
SS

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by suzuki san

Is there any way at all that this can be called an "accident" and he can claim on Insurance (Iffko Tokio). As of today, the Insurance representative has refused point blank.

If there is a shear due to which the oil leaked, then this will be held as an accident and not a normal wear and tear. You will need to argue a bit animatedly with the surveyor, Invoke the IRDA gods. What is the workshop take on it? Have they not confirmed that the leak was due to the metal hitting? Any chance there was a camera on board which captured the incident, this can be used to show the cause of the oil leak.

Alternatively you can ask the Insurance co to assign a different surveyor. Sometimes the surveyors and workshop are hand in glove.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by ganesc

Ah, it’s that time of the year and back here for advice.

Have a Zero-Dep with Royal Sundaram for a 2013 Ertiga ZDI with IDV around 5.9Lacs.
With NCB 25%, RS wants 24.5K(same as last year) for Zero-Dep with IDV of 5.7L. Does it make sense to continue?

Saw a few quotes in Coverfox and most show non-zero-dep comprehensive for way less IDV as expected.

Acko costs <10K for comprehensive and IDV up to 6.1L. Have seen a few discussions around small claims made with no trouble but no details on how would they respond for big claims and total damage scenario.

Confused between expensive Zero-Dep, higher IDV vs cheaper comprehensive, high IDV. Given the age of the vehicle, I think I am ok with a cheaper comprehensive that provides higher IDV just in case. Am I missing something? Is Acko ok to go with for a TIER II city Car mostly driven by my father? or some other slightly expensive, established co with Low IDV?

This year's IDV should be 10% less than last year, get the quote for the correct IDV i.e 5.4L approx. Zero dep for an older vehicle is always a costly affair but should be taken for that extra piece of mind. Dont let the cheap quotes from Insurance cos let you falter on your decision. If you are so confident about your driving then you should think of comprehensive insurance without zero dep. However in case of any claim you will need to be ready to shell out the entire repair cost from your pockets. Take an informed decision.

Have you got quotes apart from RS? Check on the Insurance cos own websites too apart from the comparator websites.

[ganesc]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Have you got quotes apart from RS? Check on the Insurance cos own websites too apart from the comparator websites.

Thanks for the helpful post as always, much appreciated.
Ya, I tried a few insurer's own sites, they allowed an IDV of ~3.7L which I felt was less.

Just to sort it out ASAP before I forget and let it lapse, I had actually taken Acko last night. Wish I had waited a bit. Had RS come back on my request for comprehensive ins quote, I would have gone ahead with them this year too. Now, I just hope and pray I don't get to test acko's way of dealing.

[self_driven]

Policy bazaar says that in the event of a total loss claim, insurers consider IDV to be 10% less than previous year policy or as per depreciation norms of Indian Motor Tariff.

My bike's IDV was overvalued by 7-8k in 2018 when it was 2 year old. I've been strictly following 10% less rule since then which means that technically it is still overvalued by a few thousands.

I assume that insurers won't outright reject a claim (citing overvaluation of IDV) but limit the pay-out to what they believe should be right IDV. Am I understanding this correctly?

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by suzuki san

Hi Guys,

Three days ago, a friend of mine was driving his 2014 Maruti Zen Estilo

Is there a damage to the oil sump which caused the leak? If so, he can't refuse. Tell him politely to refuse in writing so that you can take it up with the insurance ombudsman. That will do the trick.

[Aviator_guy]

I would like some feedback on insurance for my yet to be delivered car (Creta). I have received quotes from the dealer and directly from ICICI/Bajaj from their online portals. They are in the ballpark range for the same IDV and add-ons like zero dep, engine protection, RTI, RSA etc. However based on some of the posts by fellow BHPians, I also explored Policybazar and the quotes from companies like Kotak/Royal Sundaram/Digit etc are significantly lower for similar IDV and add-ons. This seems to good to be true. So would like to get feedback how is the experience with the claim process/fine details for companies listed on Policybazar? I don't see major players like ICICI /HDFC and I don't have experience with the companies listed. I hope the service levels and fine prints are not a shocker later during claim process hence soliciting feedback here. Is there any catch here or anything I need to be aware of? My main requirement is of course competitive pricing but not at the cost of poor claim process.

[blackbandit]

Hello

I ended up hitting a raised curb today and there was significant damage to my ford Figo. It includes a broken end rod. Some major dents on the left footboard and front left door. Apart from this I lost both the tyres on the left side front and back (front sidewall is fully torn back has a chip on the sidewall and it too lost air in the process). The tyres were brand new yokohama s drives. I do have 0 dep insaurance which is again a ford preferred insaurance as well and almost everything would be covered. Now coming to the doubts. Since the tyres are not standard ford supplied brand what are the things that I can expect ? The service advisor told me generally tyres get 50% coverage but since the current tyres are yokohama he told ford doesn’t supply it. Is there anyway I can procure the tyres from outside and get 50% of the cost reimbursed or any other alternatives ?

[suzuki san]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

If there is a shear due to which the oil leaked, then this will be held as an accident and not a normal wear and tear. You will need to argue a bit animatedly with the surveyor, Invoke the IRDA gods. What is the workshop take on it? Have they not confirmed that the leak was due to the metal hitting? Any chance there was a camera on board which captured the incident, this can be used to show the cause of the oil leak.

Alternatively you can ask the Insurance co to assign a different surveyor. Sometimes the surveyors and workshop are hand in glove.

Thanks Ghodlur and Gansan.

To answer your question, the car is not fitted with a dashcam.

After several days delay due to rain/festivals/non availability of surveyor etc. etc., the Insurance Company, Iffco Tokio, have finally inspected the car and rejected the claim.

Their "defence" is that the damage inside the engine is due to "consequential loss" and no Insurance Company is liable for that. They say, if the sump was damaged, they would have paid for the sump replacement but not for the damage caused to the engine.

As the oil filter is damaged, they will pay for the oil filter!!

Another point they mention is that, as per their experience in similar cases, the car was driven for at least 4 to 5 minutes or 4 to 5 kms resulting in this damage to the engine. If the driver had stopped the car immediately, this would never have happened. This would come under the heading of "negligence" and not driving with "due care and attention" (maybe he did not observe the oil low warning light in time).

I spoke to the (independent) Surveyor and later to the head of "Iffco Tokio" for Western India. Both the gentlemen were extremely courteous and seemed ready to help but, as they said, in a case like this, it was out of their hands. For such a large claim, the paperwork would have to go to the higher-ups where it would eventually be refused due to the reasons above.

I tried invoking the IRDA gods and customer relations/ good will etc. but no success.

Regards,
SS

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by suzuki san

After several days delay due to rain/festivals/non availability of surveyor etc. etc., the Insurance Company, Iffco Tokio, have finally inspected the car and rejected the claim.

Their "defence" is that the damage inside the engine is due to "consequential loss" and no Insurance Company is liable for that. They say, if the sump was damaged, they would have paid for the sump replacement but not for the damage caused to the engine.

SS

Not sure if you have already mentioned this, did you have the engine protection add-on cover? Looks like this particular add-on is for the situation you have encountered. AFIK, consequential loss to engine is not generally covered in the regular own damage clause.

[suzuki san]

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy

Not sure if you have already mentioned this, did you have the engine protection add-on cover? Looks like this particular add-on is for the situation you have encountered. AFIK, consequential loss to engine is not generally covered in the regular own damage clause.

Hi Aviator_Guy,

No. Sadly, there was no "Engine Protection Add on" in the Policy. No "Add ons" at all in fact. OP was not even aware of such a thing. Was just blindly paying the premium demanded by the agent every year.
I have now educated him on Insurance Premium payments.

Regards,
SS

[nikhil.sikka]

Hello,
I have Skoda Yeti that'll be completing 9 years in November. Currently the vehicle is in Zero Depreciation Policy but upon getting quotes from Policybazar, Coverfox etc, I can't see Zero Depreciation for the 10th year. If I recall, one can avail Zero Dep for 10 years.

Can anyone please enlighten me on this? I will be selling off Yeti in mid 2022 but confused on getting Zero Depreciation as parts are quite costly Eg: Headlight Unit Cost ₹16k each, Tail Light ₹7.5k each etc.