As per the Indian laws and guidelines, it is mandatory to have car insurance in your kitty. However, most of the people who opt for car insurance claim the fact that no matter which car insurance they might opt for at the time of claim all tall promises fall short. These are the times when you wonder was it really worth to opt for a car insurance or not. Also, there are times when you might have made a claim but realized that the company will only pay you a part of the same and not the whole amount. What does one do in such cases? Does one simply keep quiet and forget about it or does one get smart and choose a prudent and smart insurance plan for themselves. Well, as a smart car owner here are the ways that one can actually prevent rejection of car insurance claims in India. Keep this checklist in mind, whenever you are trying to make a claim.

Stick to the timeframe

Most car insurance companies claim that in order to get the claim you need to submit the same within a stipulated timeframe. When you are taking an insurance policy, you need to ensure that you read through this clause with great care. Keep this in mind to ensure you file your claim within the permissible period. The best way to address this is by filing the claim the moment the accident occurs. You need to be extra careful as any delay in the same may result in rejection of your claim request.

Do not repair before submitting the claim

This is another important factor that you cannot negate. You need to remember that your car needs to be in the damaged condition for the insurance company to gauge the exact amount of damage and accordingly process your claim. If you start the repairing process from before then chances are you may lose out on the claim amount or your claim may also get rejected.

Keep the premium payment track intact

When you renew the insurance policy from the same vendor then it is important that you pay the insurance premium at the time. Many companies are known to give early discounts to those who pay their premium on time. Also, even if you delay by one day, your insurance policy might get lapsed so please be careful about the same and renew it with adequate time in hand.

Keep a tab on the driving license

This is another important fact that needs to be adhered to, to ensure that your car insurance policy does not expire in any manner. You need to ensure that your driving license is valid and not expired. In the case of a claim, if your driving license is expired then there are high chances that your claim will get rejected straight away. Companies are extremely stringent when it comes to this clause as they will always check first if the driver driving the car during the accident had a valid license or not. Remember, that you will have to submit this document at the time of the claim and there is no way of evading it.

Change of hand

If you have brought a second hand car then chances are that due to change of hands your insurance claim might get rejected. Similarly, in case you buy a car for you for personal use but use the same for business then again your claim will get rejected. Companies do a proper scrutiny of usage and hands. Also, motor insurance are different for both personal use cars and business use cars. So, in short, you can easily say that you need to choose your car policy as per the usage of the car and any deviation may cause rejection of same. Remember these needs to be declared at the time of buying the policy and cannot be altered.

Damage due to negligence

You need to ensure that your car does not meet an accident due to any kind of negligence on your or your driver’s part. In that case, the insurance company has full authority to reject your claim completely. That is not all, in the case of a police case or drunken driving the car insurance company may immediately reject your claim. So, accidents or damage caused under the influence of alcohol and drugs is exempted from claims.

Long procedures

Many of these insurance companies have tiresome long procedures involved while making a claim. The worst of the lot are those companies who involve manual insurance claim procedures. The processes are so tiresome and long that the claimant often loses patience and gives up the claim in between. There are so many documents and hassles involved that they prefer to forgo the claim rather than going through the ordeal of claiming the same.

Immature drivers

When you buy a car insurance policy you need to declare the names of the people who will drive the car. Be double sure that these drivers are good on the job. Also check, that these drivers have a clean and good track record. These factors are important to consider as any deviation might lead to rejection of the claim by the insurance company. Also, many insurance companies ask for the exhaustive list of drivers who will drive your car. They will only look into a claim if any of these drivers drive the car. In the case of any third party, they will not even consider the claim.

Fine print

Take a look at your insurance document with lots of care. There can be various disclaimers and exclusions in the fine print. The trick is to actually read through the document with extra care to ensure that the terms and conditions adhere to are favorable.

Here were a few things that you need to adhere to and keep in mind while making an insurance claim. Keep these facts in mind and you will be surprised to see that all your claims are getting approved in a jiffy.