Bringing home a new car is an extremely joyous and exciting experience. You spend years and months thinking about and saving up for your dream car and when you finally bring it home, you simply do not want to part with your beloved vehicle. Although most people spend a lot of time taking care of and maintaining their car, they often forget about the importance of buying an appropriate insurance policy for their car. While it is mandatory to buy a third-party liability car insurance, people often make a hurried decision and end up buying just a basic policy. This serves to only protect them legally but fails to cover other damages. However, there is more to four-wheeler insurance than just legal compliance! Here are a few pointers to keep in mind before you decide on a car insurance policy.
#1. There are different types of insurance policies to suit your needs
It is important to know before you set out to buy a car insurance policy that you can buy insurance policies with varying coverage for a new car, in accordance with your needs and preferences. You can opt to buy a comprehensive policy which provides you options for add-ons like engine protector, accessories cover, medical expenses, zero depreciation cover; or you can opt for a third-party liability only policy.
Buying third party insurance is mandatory by law. Third party liability coverage caters to issues related to events whereby someone else is at the receiving end of an accident caused by your vehicle. It covers when you damage somebodys property or cause somebodys injuries or death and have to deal with legal responsibility.
On the other hand, in the case of a comprehensive car insurance policy, not only do you have third-party protection but it also covers you and your vehicle. It is highly advisable to opt for a comprehensive insurance policy because of how susceptible roads are to accidents. Liberty Car Insurance offers you complete protection through robust coverage against any damages to your vehicle caused by accident, theft, even personal accident coverage and any third party liability you may incur. Not only this but with Liberty four wheeler insurance, you can avail the benefits of a hassle-free and quick claims process. You get cashless claim services at more than 1900 network garages across the country and your claims will be settled within 7 days after all the documents have been received.
#2. You can avail a no claim bonus (NCB) on your policy
Car insurance policyholders are often unaware of the discounts that they can avail on their policies. One such discount is the no claim bonus (NCB) which allows a policyholder to avail a discount on the annual premium that they pay in the coming year (or insurance period) given that they have not filed any claims during the previous policy year. Depending on your insurance provider, this discount can be anywhere between 20-50% of your annual premium. In order to avail this benefit, policyholders can opt to not file a claim for minor repairs, as the discount you will receive will be higher than the cost of such repairs. Hence, file your claims wisely.
#3. Opt for add-on covers to make your car insurance policy more comprehensive
Following from our distinction of a comprehensive policy versus a third-party liability only policy, heres how you make the most of the former. Having opted for a comprehensive car insurance policy, you can include add-on covers to enhance your coverage and reduce your financial liability in case of any damages. There are several add-on covers available including zero depreciation cover which enables you to get rid of the deprecation factor of your vehicle, consumables cover which covers the cost of consumables such as nuts and bolts, screws, washers, grease and others. Other add-ons also include engine protection cover and key protection cover.
#4. Deductibles
It is the amount of the loss or damages that has to be paid by car insurance policyholder before the insurance company pays for the claim. The deductible amount is fixed at the time you buy car insurance. When you decide on a deductible, you are shown the premium discount and the claim amount that is reduced. A deductible serves the purpose of keeping recklessness in check because often people might take it for granted that their vehicle is insured. A higher voluntary deductible, an optional limit set by you to meet a part of the claim from your own pocket before raising it to the insurer, is a great way to lower the premium.
Buying the right car insurance policy is critical to protect you and your vehicle against any liability. Since it is mandatory to buy car insurance, we might be tempted to simply buy the cheapest plan available, however, having insufficient coverage is worse than having no coverage. Ensure that you remember the above facts before deciding the right policy for you and your car.