Car Insurance For Mahindra Car

Reasons to buy Mahindra Car Insurance Policy

If you are the proud owner of a Mahindra SUV, protecting your car against unforeseen occurrences like accidents, theft, natural calamities, or vandalism by a mob becomes extremely important. Car insurance can cover your financial losses in these situations. Here are a few reasons why you should buy Mahindra car insurance:  

This is the basic cover and is a legal requirement if you want to drive your car on the road. It ensures that you do not have to undergo any out-of-pocket expense in case a third party gets injured, disabled, or dies, or his property is damaged due to an accident involving your car. The expenses are borne by the insurer and include hospitalisation costs for the third party as well as repair charges for their car or property. Also, the insurance company will take care of any legal issues associated with the accident.

The third-party liability policy will not cover any damage or loss to your car. For complete protection for your car, you must get a comprehensive policy. It consists of two components – third-party cover and own-damage cover. While the third-party cover takes care of all third-party liabilities, the own-damage cover ensures the security of your car. The own-damage cover includes all financial expenses arising out of car damage caused by accidents, fire, loss, theft, man-made hazards, natural calamities, and so on. Under this policy, you can also choose from various add-ons to increase the extent of coverage.

Natural calamities like floods, tornadoes, landslides, and earthquakes are frequent and unpredictable. Floods or storms can damage your car to a great extent, especially if you are unprepared for the situation. You may not get sufficient time or a convenient location to shift your car if a storm arrives all of a sudden. Also, if you are located in coastal areas or mountainous regions, you are more vulnerable to natural calamities. An own-damage cover will be beneficial in taking care of the repair costs, which can be quite high for a Mahindra SUV.

The insurance companies have tie-ups with several garages and service centres pan India, and this is a very convenient feature if you buy Mahindra car insurance. You can call the helpline number of your insurer in case of any damage to your car, and you would get help such as car mechanic services, towing facilities to the garage, drop-off after repairing at the residence or workplace, among others. Moreover, you will get all these services free of cost if you opt for a cashless claim at any of the network garages. The insurer would settle the bill directly with the workshop.

Accidents are mostly unpredictable and fatal, causing severe injury, temporary or permanent disability, or even death. If you are the primary earning member of your family, you would want to ensure that your loved ones do not suffer from financial constraints due to your disability or absence. A safe option would be to opt for an owner-driver add-on policy or a personal accident cover. The insurance company would take care of your family's financial needs by paying a lump sum amount in these situations and help you remain stress-free as much as possible.

Types of Car Insurance Policies

You can pick between two types of car insurance policies for your Mahindra SUV – third-party insurance and comprehensive policy. Apart from these, you can also choose from various add-on policies to increase the extent of coverage if you buy a comprehensive policy.

Third-party liability insurance

This cover is a legal requirement for all cars if they are to be driven on Indian roads. Also known as a liability-only or act-only policy, it compensates for the death or injury of a third party and damages to their property in case of an accident where your car is involved. It is a basic cover that takes care of the legal liability and financial expenses that you have to bear. These liabilities occur when the third-party demands financial compensation for the damage cause by your car. The policy premium is affordable and is fixed by the IRDAI.

In this policy, the different terms that are used are related to the following:

This policy has two components – coverage for the third party and your Mahindra SUV. It has extensive coverage and is generally the best option for a brand-new car. As mandated by law, it will cover the third-party financial and legal liabilities towards property damage or physical injury.

Besides this, it will also cover the damages caused to your car in case of an accident, loss or theft, protection against fire, natural calamities, and man-made hazards to relieve you from any financial stress.

Comprehensive policies, although more expensive than third-party policies, offer better advantages. The cost for any repair or replacement of the parts of your premium Mahindra SUV would be quite high. If you have a comprehensive policy, you will not have to pay anything out of your pocket.

The above two types of policies are generally issued for one year, which means that you have to renew them within a certain deadline. Failure to do so would result in the expiry of the policy, and you would not get any further benefits. Also, you may be fined heavily if you are caught driving the car with the expired policy and even imprisoned due to the absence of a valid policy. To deal with the problem of non-renewal of third-party policies, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has introduced a requirement, under which all car owners will have to compulsorily purchase a multi-year third-party policy.

This multi-year approach has been introduced as the renewal of policies every year is tedious, and most of the time the policyholders miss the deadline, putting them at a legal and financial risk. Also, the hard copies of renewal notices sent by the company does not reach certain policyholders due to them being away at the time, or they didn't inform the change of address to the insurer. The email reminders and messages sometimes get ignored, overlooked or forgotten. There is no such requirement for a comprehensive policy, but you must choose a multi-year liability only policy.

Mahindra Car Insurance Policy Inclusions

Your Mahindra car insurance will assist you in getting financial compensation from your insurer under specific circumstances. The extent of coverage is known as inclusions of the policy and consist of events such as:

Third-Party Liability policy inclusions

The insurer would compensate any damage to the vehicle or property of a third party, which you caused, up to a specific amount.

If the individual is injured in an accident due to your fault, then the insurer would compensate the financial expenses for hospitalisation and treatment. The amount that would be paid depends on the decision of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal.

If a third party dies in a car accident involving your Mahindra, the insurer would pay a lump sum compensation to the family of the deceased.

In most accidents, the policyholder gets involved in legal issues made against him by a third party. Your insurer will also take care of all the legal liabilities faced by you in such a case.If you have only a third-party or liability-only policy, any damage to your vehicle will not be covered. For additional protection of your car, you must buy an own-damage motor insurance policy.

Inclusions under Own-Damage (OD) policy

In case of an accident, you can get the car towed away to a network garage for repair. Under a cashless claim, the insurer will directly pay the workshop for the repair cost. Or you can get the bill reimbursed in case of a non-network garage.

Natural disasters like floods, landslides, rockslides, severe weather conditions like storms, cyclones, or earthquakes can damage your car to a great extent. Under the OD policy, the Mahindra car would be financially covered against such incidents.

Damage caused due to man-made incidents like riots, strikes, civil disturbances, torching the car and vandalism is covered under the OD policy.

If your car is stolen, you will be compensated up to the Insured Declared Value (IDV) specified in the policy document.

If the car gets damaged during transit by rail, road, lift, or waterways, you will be compensated for the cost of repair or replacement of parts.If you feel that you require increased coverage beyond what a standard OD policy provides, you can opt for some add-on covers. However, some of the optional covers are only available for cars up to 3 years old. These would be mentioned under the car insurance exclusions. Some add-on covers are mentioned below:

Mahindra Car Insurance Policy Exclusions

Exclusions provide a list of what is not covered by the policy and are mentioned in the policy document by the insurer. Before purchasing your Mahindra car insurance, you should carefully read the exclusions so that there are no surprises during claim settlement. Exclusions may vary between insurers, but some of the standard ones are:

If there is an accident at the time when your driving licence has expired, or a minor is driving the car, then the claim would not be settled. Since a proper licence is mandatory when you drive, it would be the first thing that your insurer would check when you file a claim.

Drunken driving is an offence. So, an accident caused under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other intoxicants is not covered. Since it is a crime, the insurer would not pay for the claim.

Motor insurance is not applicable beyond the boundaries of India. So, you will not be able to get any compensation if an accident takes place outside the country. Accidents or damage to the car occurring outside India will not be covered.

These losses result from any deliberate action on your part. They may not be due to normal or natural causes. For example, if you try to start the car during flooding or in a water-logged area, it may damage the engine and require repairing as a result. That damage was due to your negligence. Also, accidents or damage caused by driving on the wrong side of the road will not be covered as these were caused by your carelessness.

Normal wear and tear, any form of mechanical or electrical breakdown, failure of chassis or parts, and rusting due to weather conditions are losses that occur due to continuous usage and ageing and are not covered. The insurer deducts the depreciation from the repair costs during claim settlement and pays the balance.

There are certain guidelines for using the car when it is first purchased, and refusal to follow them will lead to claim rejection. There are separate motor insurance policies for commercial and private cars, and using personal vehicles for business purposes will lead to rejection of the claim.

If you fail to renew the policy on time, it is expired and is called a lapsed policy. If you make any claim with this lapsed policy, it will result in being rejected outright.

The policy will not cover any contractual liability that you may have towards your car. You may have pledged the car to an individual against a loan for a certain period, and the car may get damaged during that period. These damages would come under the car insurance exclusions.

If there is any damage due to war, bio-chemical attack, nuclear explosion, mutiny, invasion, bio-chemical attacks, then it will not be covered. Also, damage caused by racing and speed testing is not covered.

These components can get damaged due to regular use, short circuit, rodents or severe weather conditions and are not covered. Also, the screws, nuts, bolts, and springs, known as consumables, are generally excluded from coverage. So, you will not get any compensation for the same.

Add-On Covers for Mahindra Car Insurance Policy

You can go for additional covers if you feel that the standard policies are short of the required protection. There are many add-on covers available, but you have to pay additional premiums for them. So, choose your add-ons based your needs for your Mahindra car insurance. The different add-on covers include:

Insurance companies do not provide coverage for regular wear and tear of the car under a standard car insurance policy. During policy renewals, the Insured Declared Value (IDV) of Mahindra is adjusted downwards, and depreciation is deducted. Insurers do this to exclude the loss in value of the car due to ageing. This cover would not depreciate the value of the damaged parts before the claim, and you will get the entire reimbursement for the replaced parts.

For the own-damage cover, the maximum amount that you can get is the IDV of your car minus depreciation. IDV is the current market value on the basis of the manufacturer's selling price of the car. It is provided by the insurer for theft, total loss, or damage beyond repair. For full IDV also, the amount is much less than the original car price. The invoice cover would help you claim the full amount that you paid while buying the car.

The engine of a car is the most valuable part of it but it is not covered for malfunctioning or for failures other than accidents. If your car is submerged due to flooding, starting the car can result in the engine getting damaged. Under standard policies, you will not get any cover for it. An engine protection add-on provides the cover for all non-accidental damages to the engine.

While purchasing an insurance policy, a basic personal accident cover for the owner-driver is mandatory. However, this cover does not protect the passengers or a hired driver. You can opt for separate add-on personal accident covers for your driver and the other passengers for overall protection.

Generally, there are several deductibles in a car insurance. These deductibles are parts of the car, which are not covered by the insurer, so you have to bear some of the expenses. The balance amount is paid by the insurer. You can get an additional discount on your premium by adding a voluntary deductible amount, particularly if your car is old. This will give you a good deal on the premium amount through the car insurance add-ons.

Damage to the tyres and tubes are not covered under a standard policy unless there is an accident. If the tyres of your car need to be replaced or repaired for any other reason, you will have to pay for it, which can be quite expensive. An add-on cover would pay for damage to the tyres or tubes even if there is no accident.

During monsoon, driving becomes risky. The waters can damage the car parts, cause oil leaks, and so on. Since the standard policy does not cover these, you can purchase an Aggravation add-on cover. It will pay for damage to the engine, gearbox, transmission or differential, power steering, pump, and internal parts caused by leaking lubricating oil or coolants while driving on waterlogged roads.

The windshield glass is vulnerable to breakages for several reasons other than accidents. Since a standard policy will not cover it, you can get a windshield cover, which will reimburse you for repair or replacing the windscreen without affecting the No Claim Bonus.

How to Buy and Renew Mahindra Car Insurance Online

Since all insurance companies have their websites, buying or renewing your Mahindra car insurance policy online from the comfort of your home and at any time of the day is most convenient for you. The benefits of online transactions include the absence of hard copies or paperwork and instant issuance of soft copy of the policy along with various payment options like credit or debit card, net banking, etc. As there is no agent involved, it saves the insurer's time and cost, so you get discounts on online purchases and renewals.

Process of online car insurance purchase:

How to Renew car insurance policy online

​The process of renewal of car insurance is similar to purchase. You have to put in the required details after logging in to your account with the ID and password:

How to Claim Mahindra Car Insurance and the Documents Required

Before filing your car insurance claim, you should carefully read the inclusions and the exclusions. This will make the claim process smooth and hassle-free. There are two types of claims – cashless claims and reimbursement claims. Let's take look at each of them in detail.

Cashless Claim Process

The steps for the Cashless claim process are more or less the same for all insurers, although there may be some differences.

Reimbursement claim process

Documents required to file the claim:

For an online claim, you have to submit scanned copies of all documents and hard copies for an offline claim. These include: