Importance Of Renewing Your Car Insurance On Time

Ever since the pandemic paved its way into our lives, it has transformed nearly every aspect of our world. Working virtually, for example, which once seemed like a far-fetched idea has overtaken the personal and professional lives of people in an unexpected way. Because of this current situation, people are stepping out of their houses just to get their essentials or for emergencies. Owing to this many were skeptical about renewing their car insurance as it was barely put to use. 

Well, it is important to know that in case you miss out on renewing the policy, your policy will break. Break-in-insurance occurs when you do not renew your motor vehicle insurance on time leading to its lapsing. Your motor policy remains inactive during this time and if your vehicle faces any damage during this period, it will not be covered under the policy. In addition, according to Motor Vehicles Act 1988, you must have your vehicle insured with at least third-party insurance.  

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Also, as we have entered the unlock phase, there's no doubt that you should definitely get your car insurance renewed. Lockdown or no lockdown, it is your prime duty to keep your insurance policy free from the risks of lapsing. Besides the legality of keeping one, it gives you the support you need during uncertain and unfortunate damages, theft, or some other accident.

What happens if you fail to renew on time?

If you don't renew your car insurance policy on time, you will lose out on many benefits including:

1.  You lose no claim bonus benefits

Lapsed policies lose the benefits that you may have accumulated in terms of NCB (No Claim Bonus). NCB is a discount that you get if you don’t make any car insurance claim during the policy tenure. It works almost like a rewards system. You start by gaining a 20% NCB discount if you haven’t made any claims for your first policy year. Further, you keep gaining an additional 5% from your second consecutive year of making no claims. This can go about a reduction of 50% in your fifth year.  One must note that, during the break-in period, you are still eligible for a No Claim Bonus (NCB). However, once the window of 90 days closes, you will lose all the accumulated benefits. 

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2. Mandatory vehicle inspection is required

If you do not renew your insurance, you will also have to face the hassle of subjecting your vehicle for an inspection and verification. This inspection is done to document any pre-existing damages to the car. If in case there are some damages the insurance company won’t be covering it. Moreover, the insurance company may charge a higher premium for a vehicle whose policy has lapsed or may even decide to reject the insurance proposal.

3. Your car will no longer be covered in case of any damage

Lastly, it goes without saying that if you fail to renew your policy and your vehicle faces any damage during this period it will not be covered by the insurance company. For instance, if there is any damage because of natural calamities or your car gets stolen, you can't rely on the insurance company. Thus, it is better to renew it before the break-in period so that, even if it faces any damage, it won’t put you in a financially difficult situation, especially during Covid crisis when there is a lot of stress on finances. During the pandemic, the wisest way you can renew your car insurance policy is online, via policybazaar.com. This way you can get your policy renewed just by a few clicks without the hassle of going outside.

Benefits of renewing car insurance online

There are a lot of benefits of renewing your car insurance online. Some of these include:

• Online renewal is easy and fast as you don’t have to go to an insurance provider or call an agent for renewal.
• You can customize the policy according to your specific needs.
• Transparency is another important benefit. Also, this ensures that there is no ambiguity regarding the process.
• You can transfer your NCB easily. On the other hand, the offline process for the same takes a lot of time.
• You can switch to another insurer if you think another company is offering better features and benefits at the same price. 

If you want to renew your car insurance online, just, follow these steps below:

1.First, go to the renewal section and enter your car number. 
2. Enter the details required on the page, such as, full name, email, mobile number etc. and submit them  
3. Click on view prices.
4. Then, select the date of the expiry of your policy.
5. Select whether you made a claim in your existing policy or not. A list of insurers and their premiums will be visible to you then.
6. Now, select your plan type on the top panel. Choose comprehensive/standard insurance or third-party insurance option
7. Select your insured declared value (IDV) in case you have a comprehensive cover. IDV is the maximum sum assured provided by the insurer in case of theft or total loss of vehicle.
8. Choose the car insurance plan that you want to renew.
9. Select registration date, existing policy type, whether car ownership changes in the last 12 months, does the car have external CNG/LPG kit and car owner details
10.Then, you’ll see the total premium that you’ll have to pay. Click on the pay securely option
11. Enter your card details/UPI, net banking/wallet details, and click on pay
12. You can download a soft copy of your insurance policy immediately after payment.

To conclude, it's always better to be safe than sorry. As accidents by nature are unpredictable. An insurance cover protects you in any unforeseen situation.

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