With so many private insurers having entered the market,there is a lot of competition among general insurance companies. While buying your car insurance cover,you can use this competition to your advantage both to reduce the premium that you have to pay and to get the most comprehensive cover possible. As many as three months before your car insurance cover is about to expire,brokers and agents will begin calling you. Do not succumb to their hard sell. Instead,do proper due diligence,find out which is the best offer,and only then write out a cheque. Compare quotes. Compare the car insurance premium rates of different insurers. You can do this easily through an insurance aggregator such as policybazaar.com. You can save as much as 55 per cent on insurance premium by doing this. In addition to prices,also compare features. Watch out for sharp practices. Unscrupulous agents and brokers have many tricks up their sleeves. They may offer you what seems like an attractive premium rate by compromising on the quality of the cover. Here are three things you must watch out for: IDV: This is the maximum amount of money you can get in case of total loss. To reduce your premium your agent could reduce this amount. Voluntary excess: In case of an accident,if you opt to pay the first,say,Rs 5,000,in return insurers will reduce your premium. Sometimes agents hike the voluntary excess amount without informing you. You thus have an unpleasant surprise waiting for you in case of a claim. This happens quite often,so watch out. No claims bonus. Make sure that the amount of no-claims bonus you are entitled to is actually given to you. At the same time,make sure that you do not get more than you are entitled to. If this happens,the insurer may not process your claim. Get cover note and policy document. The cover note is valid for the first 60 days. After that you must get the final policy document. If you do not receive this,you may not be insured. Please ensure that your broker or agent provides you this. Cashless settlement. Do not get overexcited about this. Today most companies have a cashless settlement process with multiple partners in every city. Buy from an insurance company that has a cashless settlement tie-up with a garage near you. Advantage of broker over agent. Brokers are paid the same amount irrespective of which companys policy they sell. So they are not likely to be biased towards any particular insurance company. An insurance agent,on the other hand,can sell the policy of just one company. Hence he will always push that companys policy. Ask for the brokers licence number and cross check it at the IRDA website (www.irda.gov.in). Fringe benefits. You can get additional personal accident insurance for passengers and the driver. This is a great way to insure the people who travel in the vehicle with you. Be truthful. Make correct declarations in the proposal form. If your declarations are found to be false,you could be denied a claim by the insurer. There is a lot of mis-information in the market. So get everything in writing or cross check it on a website like policybazaar.com. Drive safely. Never drive under the influence of alcohol. Over time this will help you reduce your premium. Switching insurers You need to regularly review your car insurance coverage to make sure that you receive value for money. Many a times,premiums for identical policies vary widely among different car insurance companies. The reasons for this price variation can be different and quite complicated. Car insurers usually bring all the claims experience with policyholders in a coverage group,for example,people of similar age group,number of accidents,type of vehicle,and so on. If a large number of people in a coverage group file claims during a given year,the premium rates for this group are likely to rise. When this happens,better discounts and lower overall premiums may be available at other insurance companies. As policies change and new players enter the market,new and attractive car insurance schemes become available. Shopping around for a better deal every three years can help you reduce your premium liability. The author is chief executive officer,policybazaar.com
