Is Cashless Car Insurance Beneficial for Car Owners in India?

Posted on: Jan 5, 2022 | | Written by:

Is Cashless Car Insurance Beneficial for Car Owners in India?

Published on January 03, 2022. EST READ TIME: 3 minutes

Car insurance ensures that in the event of an accident, you do not have to pay the full cost of repairs which, depending on the severity of the damage, could be significant. However, even with a car insurance policy, you might have to spend out of pocket for repairs if you do not have cashless claim facilities. What exactly is a cashless claim benefit and is it worth it for Indian car owners? Let’s find out.

What is cashless car insurance?

In the event that you meet with an accident, there is a claim process that you have to follow in order to get the repairs done to your car. These repairs will have to be carried out through a garage. After you make your claim and opt for repairs to your car, having deposited it at the garage, you will have to contact your insurance company to make a claim for your insurance. This can be done in two ways; Through a cashless insurance claim, or through a reimbursement policy.

Through a cashless car insurance claim, you are not required to pay the cost of repairs to the garage. Instead, after the claim has been approved by a surveyor, the insurance company transfers the cost of repairs directly to the garage that carried out the repairs.

In order to provide cashless car insurance, insurance companies have to tie up with garages, making them affiliates with the insurance company. Each time a garage becomes an affiliate, it is added to the network of affiliate garages the company has, and you can visit this garage to get cashless car insurance claim benefits. Since insurance companies have to venture out to make these affiliate agreements, it is likely to factor into the car insurance price. A company with an extensive garage network might have a slightly higher car insurance price.

Cashless Car Insurance Claim Process

Regardless of the car insurance price, the cashless claim process for a car is similar to a reimbursement claim, with a few variations. This being that in the event of an accident when you have to make a claim, in order to get the benefit of making a cashless car insurance claim, you will have to deposit your vehicle at an affiliate garage, else the cashless claim might not be possible. In order to make a cashless claim, follow these steps.

1. Ensure that you have checked your car insurance price and have kept your premiums up to date.

2. In the event of an accident, inform your insurance company at the earliest.

3. Once the company has received intimation, they will dispatch a surveyor who will assess the damage and whether the claim is valid.

4. If the claim is approved, proceed to deposit your car at an affiliate garage.

5. Once the repairs are complete, you can collect your vehicle, and your insurance company will complete the payment to the garage from their side.

Benefits of Cashless Car Claim

There are a number of benefits to having a cashless claim facility in your car insurance plan, which might make it worth paying a slightly higher car insurance price for your premiums. Here are some of the benefits.

1. Priority service: Since your vehicle is deposited with an affiliate garage, they have certain service stands they have to meet, resulting in prompt repairs and timely service. With a third party garage, this might not be the case.

2. A hassle-free experience: With a cashless claim benefit, you can sit back while the repairs and payments are taken care of.

3. No out of pocket charge: Even with car insurance, without a cashless claim you will have to pay the cost of repairs before you receive reimbursement. This is not the case with cashless claims, making the slightly higher car insurance price arguably worth the convenience.

Can You Visit Any Garage to Avail Cashless Facility?

Insurance companies spend considerable amounts of effort vetting and training garages to provide services that are upto the mark. As a result of this, however, you will not be able to make a cashless claim at any car garage, and can only do so at affiliate garages.

Conclusion

Cashless car insurance claims allow customers the convenience of not having to make any out of pocket payment in the event of an accident. Though having cashless claim facilities might increase your car insurance price a little, it might be worth the premium to avoid the hassle of reimbursements. If you are looking for a good car insurance price, the HDFC Ergo website has a number of offerings.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purposes only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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