Accidents can happen with anyone and at any time. You can never predict when your car will meet with an accident or get damaged. It does not matter whether you driving to work for an important meeting or are visiting your friends for a brunch. All you can do is to stay adequately prepared for an emergency situation with the help of a car insurance policy. Moreover, you can ensure additional coverage by adding essential motor insurance add-ons, such as garage cash cover, to your policy and avoid facing any inconvenience resulting out of the emergency.
Car insurance is a type of motor insurance policy that provides financial assistance in case your four wheeler gets damaged in an accident, natural disaster, fire or manmade calamity. It also pays for your third party liabilities and helps you to recover your losses in case the car gets stolen. Moreover, 4 wheeler insurance also provides compensation in case a car accident leads to the death or disability of the owner-driver.
Every car owner has the freedom to choose whether he wants to buy third party car insurance or comprehensive car insurance. Third party car insurance provides coverage for all third party liabilities of the car owner for causing accidental bodily injuries, death or property damages to third parties. Similarly, comprehensive car insurance provides a blanket cover by providing coverage for third party liabilities along with damages caused to the four wheeler due to natural calamities, accidents, fire, manmade disasters or theft. It also comes with a personal accident cover for the owner-driver of the vehicle.
In India, buying car insurance is not a conscious choice but a legal mandate. According to the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, it is mandatory for all four wheeler vehicles plying on public roads to be covered under a valid third party car insurance policy. The rule has been imposed to ensure that all third party victims get compensation for their bodily injuries or property damages and no car owner goes bankrupt in doing so.
Comprehensive car insurance is truly comprehensive given the wide range of coverage it offers to a car owner and his vehicle. In addition to the third party car insurance cover and the own damage cover, a comprehensive car insurance policy also comes with a wide range of additional covers for the car owner to choose from. These add-on covers provide additional benefits or protection to the insured four wheeler in exchange for an extra premium.
Some of the most commonly available car insurance add-on covers are engine protector cover, return to invoice, zero depreciation cover, roadside assistance, NCB protection and garage cash cover.
Garage Cash cover is an additional benefit that enables a car owner to get a daily allowance from the motor insurance company to cover the daily cost of transportation in case the insured car is at a garage for repairs. Also known as the Downtime Protection or Conveyance Benefit, it enables you to get compensation for the cost of hiring an alternative transport in the absence of your car. With this cover, your insurer will be liable to pay for your daily travel expenses unless your car is repaired and out of the garage.
When a car gets damaged during a mishap, it leads to a loss of inconvenience apart from the damages to the car. The garage cash cover aims to reduce the inconvenience that you face while your damaged car is getting repaired at a garage by covering your daily travel expenses.
For example, imagine a situation where your car gets damaged after a tree falls on it during a storm. As a result, you had to send your car for repair work at a garage. Since you were completely dependent on your car for your daily commute to the office, you are now forced to use public transport/ cab to travel. This is where garage cash cover steps in and your motor insurer reimburses the expenses incurred on travelling daily to and from your workplace.
The garage cash cover comes with its own set of terms and conditions. Take a look at the various terms and conditions that you must keep in mind if you are planning to buy garage cash cover under your car insurance policy:
Here are five major benefits of buying garage cash cover under your car insurance policy:
In case your car is being repaired at a garage, the only option left for you to travel from one place to another is to use public transport or a cab. This will result in incurring additional travel expenses which could have been avoided if only your car was available. But with the garage cash cover, you don’t have to worry about these additional expenses as it will be easily covered under the daily allowance paid by your insurer.
Buying the downtime protection cover may appear as an unnecessary expense as you will have to pay a higher premium for it. However, the cost of buying this cover will be easily recovered with the travel allowance paid by your insurer provided your four wheeler is being repaired at a garage.
For example, suppose you spent Rs 700 to buy the garage cash cover, which provides a conveyance benefit of Rs 500 per day. An accident sends your car to a garage for 10 days and you end up spending Rs 400 every day in the cab to travel to your workplace. This way, you end up spending Rs 4000 on alternate transport in the absence of your car. Since your insurer will pay a total of Rs 5000 for 10 days, you still end up saving Rs 500 after eliminating all the expenses.
Hence, the garage cash cover provides value for the money spent on buying it.
In the absence of a garage cash cover, you may have to opt for the most affordable mode of transport, such as metro or bus, to commute if your car is at a garage. But with garage cash cover, you can choose an alternative vehicle of your choice, such as a cab, to travel daily without worrying about the expenses as it will be covered by your motor insurance provider.
If your car is being repaired at a garage, you may avoid going out of the house to prevent travel expenses. For example, people may take leave from their office or avoid a trip to the supermarket with their car not around. However, if you have downtime protection cover, you won’t have to hesitate in stepping out of your house for important things as the travel expenses will be covered under the allowance paid by your insurer.
The conveyance benefit prevents you from incurring a loss in the absence of your car. With your car at the garage, you will have to spend money to travel every day to your office which will lead to monetary loss. But with the garage cover, the loss will be prevented as the spent money can be reimbursed with your motor insurance company.
In a Nutshell
When your four wheeler is being repaired at a garage, it can result in incurring unwanted expenditure on your daily commute. Garage cash add-on cover allows you to conveniently forget about your daily travel expenses by paying a daily allowance. So if you don’t have another car to come to your rescue, the garage cash cover can be your knight in shining armour in the absence of your car.
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09 Jan 2023
Yes, your comprehensive car insurance policy may cover the damages03 Jan 2023
As per the IRDAI guidelines, all motor insurance sectors including09 Dec 2022
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No, any damage to the nut bolt or any other consumable of your05 Dec 2022
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*Savings are based on the comparison between the highest and the lowest premium for own damage cover (excluding add-on covers) provided by different insurance companies for the same vehicle with the same IDV and same NCB.
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