5 Questions to Ask before Filing a Motor Insurance Accident Claim
If you’ve just bought a car or a bike for the very first time, or you’re just new to the world of motor insurance, you might be feeling a little overwhelmed with all the complicated Getting into an accident can be a traumatic experience for anyone.
While you are recovering from the damages, one of the most important steps you need to take is to file an insurance claim.
But this can often be a confusing process, especially when you’re already stressed out due to your current situation.
So, to make this process slightly easier for you – we've put down a quick list of questions you should ask yourself before filing a motor insurance claim, after an accident.
If you make sure that you ask yourself these questions and have all the answers ready, you will be following all the correct steps to file a claim and you can avoid making the common mistakes that can get your claim rejected.
So, here are some questions you need to ask yourself before filing a motor insurance claim:
1. Is your motor insurance policy valid?
A motor insurance plan basically covers you in case anything happens to your vehicle in the case of things like accidents, thefts or fire. In India, having at least a third-party policy (which covers you against any losses when you injure a third-party person or property) is mandatory according to the Motor Vehicles Act.
However, you may have opted for a comprehensive coverage which also covers damages to your own vehicle. In either case, you must make sure that your insurance policy has not expired, as if your policy is not valid at the time of the accident, no insurance company is going to accept your claim.
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2. What was damaged in the accident?
It is very important to note down whether you have damaged someone else's vehicle or property OR someone else has damaged your vehicle. This will make a big difference to which person needs to file the claim.
Sometimes it’s you who has caused the damage in an accident, and that’s okay. We all make mistakes. But in such cases, you will need to share a copy of your motor insurance policy with the third party whose vehicle or property you damaged, so that they can use it to make a third-party claim.
However, if your vehicle is the one that has been damaged, you will be the one claiming third-party insurance from their policy.
Anyway, in both cases, you will need to document all the damages to the vehicle and any injuries with photographs. It might even be helpful to note down the names of the witnesses present and their phone numbers.
Remember that this evidence can be used to decide a lot of information regarding your claims, such as its amount and validity.
3. Have you filed an FIR about the incident?
When your vehicle has been involved in an accident, one of the first things you need to do is to head to the nearest police station and file a First Information Report (or an FIR), only then you can obtain a charge sheet which will be needed for the claims process.
If you do not file an FIR, or if there is any delay in doing it, this can mess up the entire claims' procedure. 🙁
4. Has your insurance company been informed?
Another thing you will need to do immediately after an accident is to promptly report the incident to your insurance company. You should do this as soon as possible, as, without this, the required compensation can’t be made.
Also, remember that you must notify your insurance company before sending your vehicle for any repairs; just in case the insurance company needs to get any investigators involved or needs any verification.
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5. Do you have all the right documents?
When you prepare to file a motor insurance claim with your insurance company, you will need to submit a few important documents to them to ensure that the claims procedure goes along smoothly. These are some of the important documents you will need to have ready:
- A duly filled and signed claim form
- A copy of the FIR from the incident
- A copy of your valid Driving License
- A copy of the first two pages of your policy document
- A copy of your vehicle’s registration certificate
In case you were the one causing the damages (and that's we understand that it sometimes happens too), the third party can also hand in additional documents, such as photographs, and other proof of fault as well as medical bills, repair bills and surveyor’s reports.
Here at Digit, for most motor insurance claims, you don’t even have to fill out a form! Just call us on 1800-258-5956 and send us pictures of the damages through a Self-Inspection link and sit back and let us assess the situation and get back to you with an estimate.