When you buy a car insurance policy online, you enter into a contractual agreement wherein you have to pay a specified amount as premium to your insurance provider in return for the protection the company provides you against damages to your car. In case your car meets an accident, the insurer is liable to pay you the compensation as per the contract but to get that compensation you need to file a claim with the insurance provider. The insurance claims are generally classified into two types:
1. Cashless Claim - If the customer has a cashless claim, the customer will not have to pay any amount upfront for repairs at any of the network car garages of the insurance provider. It will be the job of the car insurance provider to settle the claim with the workshop on behalf of the policyholder. In such a claim, the insured has to get their car repaired at the partner workshops of the insurance company
1. Reimbursement Claim - For a reimbursement claim, the insured has to pay for the repair of the damages to the car and later depending on the terms of the car insurance policy, the reimbursement claim is made. In such a claim, the insured does not need to get their car repaired at any of the partner workshops of the insurance company, but all the bills have to be produced at the claim.
To raise a cashless claim, you need to follow certain steps in case your car meets an accident: -
Note down the license number of all the vehicles involved in the accident and also get the names and contact details of the witnesses, if possible.
In case there are third-party damages such as injuries/deaths, property damage, or any other such critical issue, you should file an FIR at the nearest police station.
Contact your insurer and report the accident, and you will receive a claim number.
Ready all the documents as told you by the car insurance company, which you will have to present before the company representative.
Take the vehicle to a network garage whose details will be provided to you by the insurance company to get your vehicle repaired.
A Customer Service Manager will get in touch with you within 24 hours, and you will have to show him all the documents related to your car and its insurance.
If the Customer Service Manager is satisfied with your papers, he will give the go-ahead for the repair work and you can get your vehicle repaired.
Once the repair work is completed, the insurance company will make the claim payment to the garage for the repair costs.
You will have to pay the deductibles which will be intimated to you by your CSM once the repairs are done.
You can also make a Reimbursement claim if you need to get your car repaired after meeting a severe accident:
Take a note of the details of all the cars involved in the accident and if possible, try to get the contact details of some witnesses.
Report the accident to your insurance provider immediately through a toll-free number provided by the company.
A Customer Service Manager or CSM will get in touch with you within 24 hours and will tell you to submit all the bills and invoices to the company to get the claim.
Once the claim is approved, the company will start the claim settlement process.
The claim amount is sent directly to the customer according to the terms and conditions of the contract.
If you have proper documents, you will get your claim, but your claim can also get rejected if you were driving without a valid driving license or if you were drinking and driving. Once you buy a car insurance policy online, make sure to read the policy documents completely, so that you do not face any issues while filing a claim for the damages to your car.
