How to Renew Car Insurance Online?

With the advent of technology, dependency on insurance intermediaries has been reduced and policyholders may now renew their car insurance online directly through the website of the insurance companies. With the reduction in the length of the distribution chain, insurance companies also get a scope to reduce the premium. So, along with quick renewal, a car owner may get a discount as well.

Steps for Online Car Insurance Renewal

Step I: Research About Car Insurance Policy

Insurance companies provide many incentives to car owners that not only promote safe driving, but also help the insurers reduce the car premium to stay competitive in the market. So, before applying for car insurance, a car owner should do online research to find the features offered by various insurers and compare the premiums to choose the most suitable one.

Step II: Finalize the Type of Insurance Policy

Motor insurance policies may be of two types – Third Party (TP) Insurance or liability insurance and Comprehensive Insurance.

Third Party Insurance is compulsory and no reduction is available on the government-declared TP insurance premium. The insured can’t claim any money spent on the repair of the car damaged in an accident.

Under Comprehensive Insurance along with the TP Insurance, Own Damage (OD) part is also available. So, claims are entertained for any damage in the insured car and liability towards any bodily injury or death of a third person due to an accident involving the insured car under this.

Based on his/her needs, a car owner may choose the comprehensive cover, or opt for just the TP part.

Step III: Enter Your Details

For a new policy, the car owner needs to enter details like car make, variant, engine number, details of the owner, etc. During renewal, however, the system will automatically capture most of the details from the existing car insurance policy number.

Step IV: Select Add-ons

There are several add-ons available with car insurance, benefits of which may be availed by paying some extra premiums.

Some of the prominent add-ons are –

Zero Depreciation Cover: Depreciation reduces the value of a car and its parts over time. When a damaged part is replaced, instead of paying the purchase price of the part, insurance companies normally pay only the depreciated value. So, in such a case the owner needs to bear the difference between the price of a new part and its depreciated value. To avoid such expenses, at the time of buying insurance, the owner may choose to pay some additional premium and opt for Zero Depreciation Cover, where the insurer will reimburse the cost of the new part, instead of paying its depreciated value.

Return to Invoice Cover is another similar add-on, that helps the owner get the original purchase price of the insured car in the case of total damage or theft, instead of depreciated value.

Engine Protection Cover: Even without meeting with an accident, the engine of a car may get damaged due to various reasons like overheating, leakage of lubricant oil, water ingression, or any other malfunction. In such a case, this add on helps the owner recover the repair cost from the insurance company.

Roadside Assistance Cover: This add on cover helps the owner get 24X7 assistance anywhere in the case of a breakdown of the insured car.

Some other useful add ons are No Claim Bonus (NCB) cover, Daily Allowance Cover, Passenger Cover, Consumables Cover, Tyre Protection Cover, etc, from which, a car owner may choose a suitable cover.

Step V: Payment

Once the details are entered and add on cover(s), if any, is/are selected, total premium payable will be calculated by the system. Depending on the payment capacity and requirements, the owner may add or remove some add ons to increase or decrease the amount of premium payable. After the amount is finalised, after ensuring that all the details entered are correct, the car owner may proceed to the payment page after selecting the mode of payment, which may be Net Banking, Debit/Credit Card, UPI, etc to make the payment. Once the payment is made, the policy will be issued and sent to the email ID of the car owner. The car owner will get the hard copy of the policy delivered subsequently.

Documents Required for Car Insurance Renewal in India

The following documents are needed to renew a car insurance policy –

The owner’s PAN or Aadhaar or passport or any other similar permitted government ID as identity proof
The owner’s Passport or driving license or bank passbook or any other similar document as address proof
A recent photograph of the car owner-driver
Driving license of the owner-driver
Registration certificate (RC) of the car to be insured
Pollution test certificate of the car of the car to be insured
Existing car insurance policy

Benefits of Renewing Car Insurance

It’s not permitted to drive a car without having at least the Third Party (TP) liability cover. So, a car insurance policy is a must to take a car out on the road. By timely renewing the car insurance, the owner may continue to use the car without any interruption, get the benefits of No Claim Bonus (NCB), and avoid the hassles of getting the car inspected before applying for insurance cover in case of any insurance gap. If the policy is renewed without any gap, minor damages suffered won’t get highlighted. However, in the case of an insurance gap, the car has to be inspected and an insurance company may refuse to provide insurance cover, unless the damages are repaired. So, to avoid unnecessary harassment, it’s better to renew car insurance on time.

Conclusion

To continue enjoying car rides, the owner needs to renew the car insurance without any gap. Renewing car insurance online is an easy process and even cheaper, compared to the offline mode.