Endorsement In Car Insurance

​Endorsements are an essential feature for existing policyholders who can amend or make changes to their existing policy due to their present circumstances. This can be due to several reasons, such as a change in address, ownership of the vehicle, added car accessories and more.

Let us understand the car insurance endorsement meaning and its role in managing your car insurance effectively.

What Is Endorsement In Car Insurance

An endorsement in car insurance is when you make amendments or changes to your current insurance plan. Changes can either be due to any mistake made at the time of application or due to any change in your current circumstances. Either way, these changes need to be made as soon as possible.

Endorsements vary from insurer to insurer. Some might cancel your current policy and issue a new one, while others might make all changes in your policy by asking you to issue an extended letter citing your concern.

Types of Car Insurance Endorsements

• Financial or Endorsement of Premium In Car Insurance: As the name suggests financial endorsements are changes that affect the price of your premium. These include:
  • Change of car model/variant
  • Adding a CNG kit
  • Transfer of Ownership
• Non-financial Endorsements: Non-financial endorsements refer to those amends that can be made to your insurance plan without any extra charge. These include:
  • Spelling correction of name
  • Email ID
  • Residential Address
  • Contact Number

What are Car Insurance Endorsement Charges?

Certain endorsements affect the price of your insurance premium. Such increases or decreases in policy prices are referred to as endorsement charges. Here are some changes that could affect your premium rates –

• Increasing Policy Coverage: Reducing voluntary deductibles, adding riders to your comprehensive insurance policy, or LPG or CNG endorsement on insurance charges can increase your policy coverage.
• Decreasing Policy Coverage: Reducing or eliminating add-ons or increasing the voluntary deductibles can result in a drop in your premium price.
  
• Changes Regarding Car Details: Installing various vehicle security devices such as anti-theft and more can reduce premium prices. Similarly, changing to a better car engine or sound system will increase your premium price.

Changes You Can Make In A Car Insurance Policy

Importance of Reliance Car Insurance Endorsements

Endorsements are essential as they help keep your Reliance General Insurance policy up-to-date and accurate for seamless claims at the required hour. Here’s how you benefit from various endorsements in car insurance:

• Claim Settlements: Keeping your insurance details accurate ensures a smoother process. Endorsements help you to rectify or change any information that you had submitted initially to keep your file up to date.
• Legal Compliance: Having an updated policy ensures that you are legally compliant with the insurance regulations.
• Flexible Adjustments: Car insurance endorsements allow you to modify your existing by adding or eliminating add-ons based on your requirements.  
• Updating your Details: Endorsements allow you to update or rectify your details in regards to your name, address, email address, phone number and more.

Reliance General Insurance Endorsement Validity

The insurance endorsement is activated just as your Reliance General Insurance policy is active and is valid throughout the term of your policy unless cancelled or modified. If you haven’t made any changes since your policy, then the endorsement will remain active till your policy expires.

However, you should check the terms and conditions of your policy from time to time to ensure that they still align with your current situation. Circumstances such as a transfer of ownership may automatically modify or extend your endorsement.

Frequency of Car Insurance Endorsement Validity

A very common misconception is that you can make as many endorsements a year as you want, but that is certainly not true. Multiple endorsements can only lead to more mistakes that would not be favourable for the policyholder, especially when filing a claim.

You can make endorsements either at the very beginning of purchasing or renewing a policy or mid-term and stick to only one or a maximum of two endorsements a year. This reduces paperwork and minimises all clutter during an insurance claim.

What is the Endorsement Process With Reliance General Insurance?

• Raise A Request:  The first step is to raise a request for endorsement with your insurance company. You can proceed by:
  • Contacting us – +91 22 48903009
  • Reaching us via email – rgicl.services@relianceada.com
  • Personally visiting our insurance branch office.
• Document Submission:  The next step is submitting the necessary documents. The need for documents depends on the nature of the endorsement.
• Payment:  After submitting the document, we will examine the endorsement request and determine if it is a financial or non-financial endorsement.
• Endorsement Certificate:  Once you have paid for your endorsement fee (if applicable), we will make the changes in our database and send you a letter with the new details made after the endorsement.

This letter is known as the endorsement certificate and helps you keep track of the changes you have made in your policy. You should store all the certificates safely. In case of any confusion at the time of a claim, you can easily refer to the certificate(s) to avoid confusion.

Auto Insurance Endorsement Turnaround Times

Endorsement Turnaround Time or TAT is the time taken by the insurance company in making the said changes to your policy. The TAT depends highly on the type of endorsement you wish to carry out. Ideally, a financial endorsement takes longer to be made compared to a non-financial one. Here’s roughly how much TAT is taken by insurance companies

Conclusion  

Car insurance endorsements provide flexibility to Reliance General Insurance policyholders, who can modify their insurance premiums as they choose. It also allows them to rectify their mistakes at the time of purchase or renewal. Always consult your insurer to understand how a car insurance endorsement might impact your coverage and premium.

FAQs

1. What is an example of an endorsement in car insurance?

   An example would be adding coverage for an anti-theft system installed or introducing a new LPG kit to your car. This requires an endorsement to update the policy coverage and adjust the new premium accordingly.

2. What is an endorsement certificate in insurance?

   An endorsement certificate is an official document registered by the insurance company that outlines the details of the endorsements made on your end.

3. What documents are required for an endorsement?

   The documents required for endorsements vary from one to another. Commonly asked-for documents include a registration certificate (RC) for your car, address proof and receipts for any newly purchased accessories.

4. Can I add a new driver to my car insurance policy through an endorsement?

   Yes, some insurers allow you to add additional drivers to your policy. However, it is likely to affect the price of your premium.

5. What should I do if I want to remove an endorsement later?

   To remove an endorsement, you need to contact your insurer and submit a formal request. Depending on the type of endorsement, the premium might go down.

6. What is an endorsement copy in car insurance?

   An endorsement copy is an updated version of your policy that records all your endorsements, including the recent ones.