[Sam Kapasi]

I've never claimed auto insurance. Never had to, those who know me, know well how I keep my cars.

Which is why you can imagine what happened when The Yeti® found out that the driver had crashed his Skoda Superb. That's right, don't do a double take. Crashed my Skoda Superb into another car.
No it was not Akbar, it was my wife's driver.

But that is material for another story. I am here to tell you more about insurance.

The air bags didn't go off, but the bonnet was damaged slightly. Neither headlight was broken, but the brackets that hold the headlights in place were broken. I was guessing new headlights.
The bumper looked damaged too, as did the show-grille in front holding the logo.

In addition, the plastic parts holding the bumper and stuff in place was broken. To be honest, it was all quite repairable, but I knew, as well as you do that plastic parts and headlights are only covered 50% by insurance.

So if you drive an expensive car and the adaptive headlights cost like 30 or 40 thousand per beam and you end up with a bill of a lac+ for plastic and rubber parts, the insurance pays only 50% of that amount right? And you end up paying the remaining 40 or 50 thousand right?

Right??

Wrong!

Read on.

[taranonline]

i think we can always have 0% dep insurance and its covers 100% for plastic parts.

[Sam Kapasi]

So, the Superb is insured by TAIG.

They have a standard policy that everyone takes. This policy includes (in bold) the statement that the policy is

Subject to a deduction for depreciation at the rates mentioned below in respect of parts replaced:

1. For all rubber/nylon/plastic parts, tyres and tubes, batteries and airbags - 50%
2. For all fibre glass components - 30%
3. For all parts made of glass - Nil

So, to be honest, I was not terribly surprised when the inspector from TAIG informed me quite clearly:

"Sir, Maximum damage is done to cosmetic parts, plastic, headlights etc. My company will pay only 50% of the cost. This is going to cost you dearly."

No I was not surprised. I was prepared for a cost in excess of 50,000 for the change of my headlights and grille and the repair of my bonnet.

What made matters worse was the confirmation from Skoda - they were going to change the bonnet and bumper and headlights and grille and a few other parts.
The bill would be in excess of 1.10 lacs and yes, insurance was going to cover only half of it.

But that's not what happened.

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by taranonline

i think we can always have 0% dep insurance and its covers 100% for plastic parts.

Absolutely correct. My insurance consultant had taken an insurance on the insurance.

The endorsements on the insurance included

• TA01 - Reibursement of all depreciation
• TA02 - Daily Allowance
• TA09 - Loss of personal belongings
• TA10 - Emergency transport and hotel expenses
• (TA15) - Key replacement

What did all of this mean to me?

> TAIG has agreed to pay 100% of all plastic and glass parts to the service centre.

> TAIG has agreed to pay me Rs. 2000/- per day to rent a car to go to work while the car is at the garage. (Only for 10 days though)

If I'd had an accident outside Mumbai and needed a hotel room, TAIG would have paid for the hotel room too and for the transport back to Mumbai (within reason)

These were all endorsements insisted upon by my insurance consultant, that brought the basic insurance of the superb UP by about 10 or 12K.

Today I understand the intelligence behind paying that additional amount.

I'm sorry if that sounds naive to some of you experienced people, but I used to look for the cheapest insurance earlier and never take any add-ons. I won't do that every again.

I'd also like to add that the experience with TAIG has been painless, convenient and quite delightful.

The End.

[ghodlur]

@yeti,

Good for you that the add on packages of your Insurance helped you at the right moment. So finally what was the total repair cost for the Skoda and was it completely borne by TAIG.

BTW what was your premium amount, curious to know.

[praful]

Pardon me if this sounds like a noob question. But what is this insurance on insurance?

A few details on how? how much? how to? etc please!

[kaushikr]

So, the additional premium has been justified. It must be a nice feeling , though an injured car is not!

I found these add-ons being sold as gold/platinum/premium packages while shopping for insurance, but did not take them as i was hunting for the lowest premium. Just hoping it does not come back to bite me!

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

@yeti,

Good for you that the add on packages of your Insurance helped you at the right moment. So finally what was the total repair cost for the Skoda and was it completely borne by TAIG.

BTW what was your premium amount, curious to know.

The repair is still on. It will cost about 1.10lacs. It will 99% be borne by TAIG. There are some minor charges of some fees and consumables that will be paid by me.

The premium was about 54000/- in the first year.

Originally Posted by praful

Pardon me if this sounds like a noob question. But what is this insurance on insurance?

A few details on how? how much? how to? etc please!

Endorsements. Endorsements that are added onto a standard insurance policy, stating that certain terms and conditions apply.

In my case: My terms clearly state that all plastic parts will be depreciated by 50%. There is no way around that. This is the law for all auto insurances.

However I have paid for an additional insurance (Codename TA01) that promises to pay for all depreciation. Thereby making the above clause meaningless. That additional insurance is noted as an endorsement on my policy and costs about 6000 rupees additional on my premium.

Originally Posted by kaushikr

I found these add-ons being sold as gold/platinum/premium packages while shopping for insurance, but did not take them as i was hunting for the lowest premium. Just hoping it does not come back to bite me!

Believe me, most of us consider insurance as a mere formality. Or even prefer not to claim it, choosing the no-claim bonus and wearing it like a medal.

While that may make sense for cheaper cars, on premium cars like the superb - where plastic and glass and garnish parts cost hefty amounts, these small endorsements save the day.

The additional few thousands I paid saved me about 60,000 rupees today.

[dar3dev|l]

I took the TAIG 0% Depreciation plan recently for my new car. Althou i had to pay a couple of thousands more than the basic one which the dealer offered, but i really do feel safe incase of any event like the above.

Thanks to TBHP

[TaureanBull]

Sam thanks a lot for the wonderful information. I never knew that such a thing ever existed. Long time back had to pay quite a bit for such kind of damages.

I think you have enlightened many guys here. So, as I understand you paid an additional 6k for those 3-4 extra clauses. Some more questions:-

1. Is it a one time amount?

2. If not, then how much this additional cost comes down as the value of car depreciates and we renew the policy?

[ghodlur]

I had a similar offer from Royal Sundaram who offered me a host of addon packages during my annual Insurance renewal and if I were to select all of these it would set me back by approx 5K over and above the regular premium. But me being me, declined the same which after reading Sam's post felt that I had a big mistake. Royal Sundaram does not offer the add on packages mid year hence will have to wait for the next renewal to go for it. My bad luck.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

I didn't know this! Thanks Sam.

Time to call my insurance agent.

A few queries to whoever that can answer them:

- Do other companies offer this facility as well?
- My car policy expires in June 2011. Can i take this add-on midway or do i have to wait for renewal?

[pankaj_sachdeva]

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

I didn't know this! Thanks Sam.

Time to call my insurance agent.

A few queries to whoever that can answer them:

- Do other companies offer this facility as well?
- My car policy expires in June 2011. Can i take this add-on midway or do i have to wait for renewal?

-Bajaj allianz offer this and so does Royal sundaram.
-I believe you need to wait till renewal.

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

The additional few thousands I paid saved me about 60,000 rupees today.

I neglected to mention. TAIG will also pay me Rs. 20,000 to hire a car to take me to work for 10 days.

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

So, as I understand you paid an additional 6k for those 3-4 extra clauses. Some more questions:-

1. Is it a one time amount?

2. If not, then how much this additional cost comes down as the value of car depreciates and we renew the policy?

All in all, all the additional clauses/endorsements cost Rs. 14,000/- As I have mentioned, these include emergency transport, hotel stay, lost key and more.

(You may laugh at lost key, but do you know what a Skoda Superb key costs? It is a key made by Hella in Germany)

1. It is a yearly amount. I guess it will be lower next year.
2. I don't know. Maybe the more experienced can inform us.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

1. Is it a one time amount?

2. If not, then how much this additional cost comes down as the value of car depreciates and we renew the policy?

@TaureanBull

1) This is not a one time amount and can be renewed upto 3 years only as far as zero depreciation is considered as per Royal Sundaram, dont know about TAIG. But there should be a time frame for sure.

2) The premium including the add on covers will depend on car IDV, Engine size, Age & Make.