The car inspection process is among various Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that the insurer undertakes when you raise a car insurance claim. The insurance company’s surveyor examines your car to assess the extent of the damages to process the claim further. Through the process, the insurer can verify whether the accidental damages are genuine and have been caused by an unforeseen event, as stated in the claim.
Primarily there are two types of car insurance
inspection — pre-policy and pre-claims. A thorough examination of the insured
car is executed in both situations.
Meaning:
The pre-policy car insurance inspection occurs before the car insurance
policy is issued or renewed.
Pre-claim inspection
Meaning:
The pre-claim car
insurance inspection occurs when a claim is raised against the insured vehicle.
Typically, the assessment happens in case of significant damages or
losses.
Pre-claim:
In case of significant
damages to your car, the insurer assigns a surveyor to investigate the damages
to your car to settle the claim according to the terms and conditions of the
policy. Here are the steps of pre-claim car insurance inspection. This also
depends upon the severity of the damage. For example, this process might not be
required for minor damages.
·
Step 1: The surveyor examines the damages to the car and
understands the extent and authenticity of the damage.
·
Step 2: The inspector takes pictures and videos to document the damages
as visual proof.
·
Step 3: The surveyor notifies the insurer about the assessment to
process your claim further.
Based on the inspector’s
examination, the insurer settles the claim as per the terms and conditions of
the policy.
INVESTIGATION OF CAUSES OF ACCIDENT
·
Thorough examination of road incident/case/crash.
(From an injury prevention perspective)
·
Vector (Vehicle)
·
Host (human being)
·
Agent (Energy‐ speed)
·
Environment (Weather, road condition)
Steps for thorough investigation
• Road death investigation
• At scene investigation
• Site investigation
• Vehicle examination
• Witness identification/interview
• Driver investigation
• Charging/court/legal
• Compensation assessment of
extent of damage to different components
For paint jobs, nylon,
rubber, plastic parts, tyres and tubes, batteries and airbags depreciation at
50 percent is applied on the material cost, while 30 percent is applied on
fibre glass components. This depreciation in value is fixed irrespective of the
age of the vehicle. "However, if something happens to your car's glass
parts, no depreciation is applied,"
EXTENTS OF DAMAGE OF VEHICLE COMPONENTS
MINOR DAMAGE
As the name
suggests, this type of vehicle damage is the easiest to deal with. In some
cases, you may not even feel compelled to repair the damage at all.
Things like
small scratches, scrapes, and dents are all examples of minor damage. However,
this category also includes things a bit more serious in nature, such as a
damaged headlight.
This type
of damage more than likely will not cause any issues with your vehicle’s
function and is purely cosmetic. If you don’t mind how it looks, don’t bother
spending money out of your own pocket.
MODERATE DAMAGE
Large
dents, deep scratches, and similar structural damage to your car are often considered
moderate damage. As a rule of thumb, you most likely have moderate damage to
your vehicle if the collision caused your airbags to deploy.
Since the
physical damage in this category is more significant than minor damage, you may
experience further complications. For example, deep dents could prevent you
from opening your car’s doors, hood, etc.
Moderate
damage is often too significant to avoid repairing.
SEVERE DAMAGE
Ideally,
you’ll never have to deal with this category of vehicle damage.
In general,
severe damage includes:
- Broken/bent
frames
- Broken/bent
axels
- Missing
pieces of the vehicle
- A
significant part of the vehicle has been crushed
In these
cases, the airbags are virtually guaranteed to deploy, and these types of
collision are likely to pose a significant threat to your health. Common
injuries are head trauma, broken bones, whiplash, etc.
Rolling
your vehicle or getting T-boned in an intersection are often scenarios where
severe vehicle damage occurs.
VEHICLE INSURANCE CLAIM IN PRESCRIBED FORMAT
How to file
a claim under vehicle insurance?
If you have
a vehicle insurance policy, then you need to make sure that you file a claim
immediately after your vehicle is damaged or if you meet with an accident. The
procedure to file a claim differs as per the circumstances that caused the
damage. Following are three major situations in which you can file a vehicle
insurance claim.
1. In the
case of own damage claim –
Inform
the insurance company by calling on their customer services number or
other modes and intimate a claim.
Submit the
duly filled and signed (only by insured) claim form along with copies of
Registration Certificate and driving license
Get the
help of the insurance company in finding an appropriate garage to repair your
vehicle
Do not
start repairs or dismantling of the vehicle until it has been inspected by the
insurance company (or a representative) and type of settlement has been
finalized.
Other
documents such as FIR copy etc. may be requested by the company
For
cashless claim, once the repairs have been completed, you may collect your
vehicle after paying your portion of the repair amount.
For
non-cashless claims, you may pay the repairer in full and submit original
repair bills to the insurance company for appropriate reimbursement.
2.
Third-party claim:
Informing
the nearest police station is a must
Intimate
the insurance company as soon as possible
Submit a
duly signed claim form, along with FIR copy, RC copy and Driving License copy.Other
documents that are requested by the company must be submitted at the earliest
3. Theft
claim:
Firstly,
inform the insurance company and the police about the theft.
The
insurance company will be sending a detailed process along with details of the
investigator.
Submit all
documents requested by the insurance company.
You must
cooperate with all investigations of the insurance company (or a
representative).
If the
vehicle is not traced, obtain the Non-Traceable Certificate from the police and
173Cr.PC issued by a criminal court
If your
claim is approved, submit any remaining documents before the settlement of the
claim.
Things You
Need to Know While Making a Vehicle Insurance Claim –
The claim
should be filed with the insurance company immediately with all the policy
particulars.
Duly
filled-in claim form, signed by the insured, needs to be submitted to the
insurance company. Driving license and original registration certificates need
also be submitted for verification, along with photocopies.
You need to
file an FIR where third party injury, death or property damage is involved.
