Five tips to pick the cheapest insurance for your car

Mumbai: Probus Insurance Brokers has entered the top five among the insurance brokers in Kerala.

Probus, listed among the leading insurance brokers in India, hosts a complete set of life and non life insurance policies, displayed along with the applicable GST rates.

The company deals with coverage for health, car, life, travel and home.

With its products offered both offline and online and a highly competitive club of risk managers manning its verticals, the company's online presence has burgeoned.

The company has over 1,200 plus insurance plans and has dealt with over Rs 230 crore in insurance premium in 2016-17 alone, said Mr Rakesh Goyal, director of Probus.

Goyal spoke to Onmanorama giving tips on how best to pick insurance covers for cars.

" Till a few years ago, buying a car was a significant event in the life of an individual. But with rising incomes and easy credit, cars have climbed up the ladder of essentials. Apart from choosing the right car and manufacturer and opting for the right model within the budget, policyholders should also pick the right insurance cover for their vehicles. There are multiples ways to choose the right car insurance policy, he said.  

Compare premium and purchase policy online

Your car dealer could have suggested a not-so-cheap insurance policy. However, if one spends little time to look around, they might get the better deal.

The best way to get comparable rates is to look at insurance premiums on web aggregators like Policybazaar and Probus. The biggest advantage of buying policy from web aggregators is the seamless process and options to choose from across the insurance companies.

One can sit at home and compare various features of the policy and buy the one that suits them the best. However, one should also look at the premium prices-whether it is inclusive of the goods and service tax (GST) or not.

Opting for high voluntary deductible with care

Investors might come across the term 'voluntary deductible.' If policyholders opt for a higher voluntary deductible this can bring down the premium amount.

For example, if you have a claim of Rs 25,000 and your voluntary deductible is Rs 15,000. But insurance will only pay claims of Rs 10,000 and you must pay the balance Rs 15,000.

Saving on premiums for the sake of it is not a good idea and it is important to have comprehensive cover for everyone.

State the right Insured Declared Value (IDV)

As the name suggests, IDV is the declared value of your vehicle set by the insurance companies. Lower IDV, though it might save you a bit in the premium heft than the market value might result in higher loss in an unfortunate event of claims or theft of vehicle.

Try to accumulate No claim bonus (NCB)

NCB typically means that, insurance companies reward the policyholder for a claim free year. If the policyholder has no claim in the previous year, then he gets certain percentage discount at the time of renewals. One can claim a starting NCB of 20% on the first renewal, 25% for the second renewal and thereon-of the policy provided there has been no claim during the past years. This discount increases steadily with every claim free year up to a maximum of 50% at the end of five claim free years. So, if you want to get discounts under NCB drive carefully.

Renew the policy before it lapses

Understand the perils of not renewing the policy on time. First, all the no claim bonus will be forfeited if the policy is allowed to lapse for more than three months.

But one of the most significant consequences of not paying the premium on time is that the risk exposure of the policyholder shoots up.