Four-wheelers are among the most preferred methods of transportation among the citizens. They help you carry out long and stressful commutes with comfort. However, with a growth in the number of four-wheelers on the roads, accidents have also gone up. Therefore, you must get car insurance for your vehicle.
A car insurance plan is an insurance product that will offer you financial assistance if your car is either damaged or stolen. With a four-wheeler insurance plan, you can be at peace knowing that your four-wheeler is protected from unprecedented dangers. Insurers in the country have also begun offering online car insurance to help customers purchase a suitable plan from the comfort of their homes.
Purchasing a suitable car insurance plan can be beneficial if you wish to file a claim for the damages sustained during an accident. However, you must learn about the car insurance claim procedure if your car was damaged in an accident. It would be quite helpful to initiate the claim during a tough time.
Follow these Steps to File a Car Accident Insurance Claim:
- Contact your insurance company: To initiate the claim process after an accident, you must inform the car insurance company as soon as possible about the incident and its magnitude. Most insurance companies usually have a time limit under which you will have to inform them about the accident. If you don’t contact and inform them about the accident in the given time, your claim may get rejected.
- Submit an FIR at the closest police station: After contacting the insurance company, you must visit the nearest police station to file an FIR. The FIR is a crucial document that insurance companies need for settling the claim for damages to the car or any physical injuries you may have faced. The officials will assess the accident location to check if the accident occurred due to the car’s functional failure or not. The officials will also record the drivers, witnesses at the location and the passengers involved in the accident. You won’t need an FIR if there are only small scratches or dents on the car. However, you will need an FIR if there are third parties involved.
- Take videos or pictures for evidence: Car accidents can be quite scary and frightening. However, you must stay aware of the situation at these times and click as many pictures as you can of the accident and your vehicle to accumulate evidence. Providing proof about the accident and the damages to your car at the time of the incident can be quite helpful for your claim process. In addition, these pictures will help you validate your claims. You must also try to note down the name and contact details of the witnesses for your claim process.
- Provide all the required documents to the insurance company: Once you have filed the FIR and gotten a copy of the FIR, you can begin to initiate the settlement process by providing all the important documents to the insurance company. You must make sure that you submit copies of the necessary documents.
- Ask the insurance company for a surveyor: After you have filed the claim form, you must ask your insurance company to assign a surveyor to begin the inspection process. The surveyor will analyse the damages that your vehicle has faced, and they may also help you select the correct garage from the insurer’s network garage to fix the damage. The survey generally takes place after two to three days after you have initiated the claim process.
- Get the damages in your car repaired: After the surveyor has finalised the assessment, you can get your car fixed and finish the claim process. The settlement of the insurance claim can be done either through a cashless settlement or a reimbursement settlement. If you are getting your four-wheeler fixed at any network garages, your insurer will directly settle the damage repair bill with the garage. However, if you have a preferred garage for your vehicle, you will get a reimbursement for the amount to fix your vehicle.
Once you have filed the car insurance claim, you will need to wait for the insurance company to validate your claim and settle it. Usually, car insurance claims are settled in approximately 30 days. However, the duration for a claim settlement may vary based on a few factors. For instance, the type of claim you have filed will play a role in the settlement period. Physical damage claims are generally settled quickly compared to liability claims.
Conclusion
Accidents on the roads are quite unpredictable and unavoidable. However, with an insurance policy for your vehicle, you won’t need to worry about the damages to your vehicle. Once you have purchased an insurance plan for your car, you must learn about the car insurance claim process. Learning about the claim process will help you file a claim faster if your vehicle is damaged in an accident.
