HOW LORRY RECEIPT USEFUL IN CASE OF ACCIDENT CLAIM?
Answers
News is filled with reports of various kinds of road accidents – vehicle knocking another vehicle, damaging property or killing or injuring people. We ourselves have a story or two to tell, bad experiences that might have cost us a bomb. Yet, not many seem to have clarity on how to make a claim when they or their vehicle are hit by another vehicle. In case of damage to our car we either usually settle it ourselves or depend on our car insurer to pay for the damages even if it means losing the accrued No-Claim Bonus (NCB) for no fault of ours. How about learning a bit more about third-party motor insurance, the mandatory cover which we have been paying premiums for so long?
What’s covered under third party motor insurance
A comprehensive motor insurance policy typically has two insurance covers bundled together –the third party insurance and the own damages cover. Some also come with a built-in personal accident cover. As the names suggest, the ‘own damages’ and ‘personal accident’ insurance components are to cover your losses i.e. damage to your car or personal injuries, disability and death, respectively.
While the above two are optional covers, third-party insurance is compulsory for all vehicle-owners as per the Motor Vehicles Act. For this reason, standalone third party insurance policies are often called ‘Act only’ insurance. Your third party insurance does not cover you and your motor vehicle. It covers your legal liability for the damage you may cause to a third party only - bodily injury, death and damage to third party property - while using your vehicle.
Beneficiary of third party insurance is the injured third party. The insured or the policy holder is only nominally the beneficiary of the policy.
In a third party insurance policy the first party is the insured and the second party is the insurance company. The third party here is any third person. . Under your third party insurance, a third party can file a claim for compensation for injury, death, property damage caused by your car. The case for claiming compensation under third party will be filed against you and your insurer. While there is no limit on the liability covered for injury or death, the cover for third-party property (usually the third party’s car) damage is capped at Rs 7.5 lakh. “In case damages exceed the upper limit, the balance has to be paid by the policyholder himself,” says Sanjay Datta, Chief Underwriting & Claims, ICICI Lombard General Insurance.
If you are the third party hit by another’s car then you can claim damages from the other person. In case of injury you can claim medical expenses, compensation for physical disfigurement and also for loss of earnings if you are unable to work after the accident. In case of death, the dependents of the deceased can claim compensation on the basis of the income lost. Medical expenses can also be claimed for treatment of the injury that was the cause of death. For property damage, surveyor's report, original bills from an authorised garage and motor vehicle inspection report are required to quantify the loss. If you are successful in your compensation claim then you would be paid (up to the limits in the policy) by the other person’s insurer under his/her third party insurance.
The premium rates for third party insurance are fixed by the IRDAI and are the same for all insurance companies. However, the amount you pay as third-party premium may differ according to the engine capacity of your car. For instance, while a smaller Hyundai i10 owner has to pay around Rs 1,500, for a Toyota Altis, the annual third party insurance premium is around Rs 5,000. This fixed third party insurance rate is reviewed by the authority annually and adjustments, usually an increase, are made if needed.
Complex Claims Process