While an auto insurance policy that contains comprehensive coverage typically helps protect you in case your car is stolen, or may help pay for repair costs if your car is damaged when someone breaks into it, a car insurance policy usually doesn’t pay to replace personal property stolen from your car. You need to make a smart car theft claim. Check out the step-by-step procedure and ensure you play your part well in the process. When you possess a car, parking becomes a huge hassle. You may go shopping, or to a pub or restaurant, it’s natural to worry about your car getting burgled. However, if you have a copy of your car insurance papers in place, you need not worry.
What does theft cover include and how you can put it to use in case your car is stolen? Car theft is an urban plague that hassles every metropolitan city in the world. Of the approximately 22,000 vehicles reported missing in 2014, only 2,322 were ultimately recovered. The grand total of stolen vehicles was 26,330 in 2013. Nationwide more than 36,000 cars were stolen across India in 2013, out of which 3,800 were from Mumbai.
Though, as a crime, car theft occurs frequently, it’s by no means any less stress-inducing than any of the others that are of a more grave. You did know that your comprehensive policy covers third party liability, as well as damages and losses caused to your car and you. Apart from natural disasters, it also covers man-made calamities from which theft is considered to be a major one. All the coverage you’re eligible for will be deemed valid when the claim that is made is suitable, convincing and complete. In the event of car theft or burglary, you need to keep calm and handle the situation with a strong presence of mind.
FIR: File an FIR (First Information Report) at your local police station. The police will ask for relevant details to register a complaint. You will receive a copy of your FIR, which you will need for filing the claim.
Contact Your Insurer: After filing a police complaint, the next step for filling insurance claim in case of car theft is to inform your insurer about the incident.
Inform Your RTO: As per the Motor Vehicle Act, you must inform your RTO (Regional Transport Office) about car theft.
Submit the Required Documents to Your Insurer: Your insurer will require you to submit several documents for a successful car theft insurance claim. The documents include: copy of insurance documents, original FIR copy, claim forms, driving license copy, RC book copy, RTO transfer papers and relevant RTO forms. Apart from these documents, you also need to submit your original car keys (two sets) for successful claim filing.
Collect No-Trace Report from Police: In case if your car cannot be traced for a particular duration, you are entitled to receive a no-trace report from the police station. This document is mandatory to get the claim sanctioned by your insurer. Without this document, your car theft insurance is unlikely to be processed. Remember that the police needs almost a month from the date of the incident to generate this report.
Whether it is the case of third party liability, theft or of own damage, inform the insurance company as soon as possible after the incident happens. You should intimate the insurance company by reaching out to them on their Toll-free number which is available on their website. In case of own damage, you need to take an appointment with the surveyor, and submit the required documents to the surveyor. Thereon, on acceptance of your claim, you can get your car repaired at their authorized garage to opt for a cashless facility else you can get it repaired from any garage and produce the repair bills to get a reimbursement.
Inform the insurance company
You must intimate your insurance company about the accident as soon as possible. Actually, the sooner the better. Most insurance companies follow stringent timelines (which are mentioned in their policy wordings). All companies have a number that you can call on to make a claim. It is important to do this before you make a claim because it just eases the entire process. If you’ve bought your motor insurance policy through coverfox.com, you can call us on as well. We’d help you with the entire process. Besides of course, cheering you up about the sad, inconvenient situation you’re in. We’re friendly folks like that!
Evaluate Status of Damage
Once you’ve called the insurance folks, an inspection will be scheduled. A representative will come and evaluate the damage to your car. You will also be guided to the right network garage nearest to you and your car would be towed there. Don’t tow the car yourself. This is just to avoid any further consequential damage to your car. Most car insurance companies will schedule the survey within 1-2 days of the car insurance claim intimation.
Settle Claim
After the survey & scrutiny of your claim request, your insurer will send you and the garage an approval for the estimated repair costs. Now you can ask the garage to start the repairs! Once they’ve evaluated and agreed on the damage and the timelines involved in the repair, you can go home and relax. In every car insurance claim, certain repair costs have to be paid from your pocket. Once you settle these expenses, you are free to enjoy your drive.