Vehicles are prized possessions for people around the world. You might have that bike you really love to ride or that car you saved up for months at a stretch. However, as careful as you might be, the possibility of an accident isn’t low enough to be ignored all at once.
You must have often heard the news about people’s vehicles getting damaged due to accidents of various kinds. In fact, vehicle theft is also on the rise and has become a nightmare for a lot of people.
Getting your car insured seems to be a sensible idea in such cases. Vehicle insurance helps you cover the cost of your vehicle in case of a mishap that might cause harm to your vehicle or even to yourself. By the way, if you happen to stay in Ontario and are looking for a cheap, but reliable vehicle insurance option, make sure to check out the plethora of options available on Surex!
Insurance And Vehicle Fires
Vehicle fires are pretty common and have been rising constantly along with the growing number of vehicles on the road. As common as vehicle fires are, they are equally deadly. Hence, keeping your vehicle insured against fires is always recommended.
Pro Tip: Make sure to check the grounds of rejection of a claim in case of vehicle fires—so that you don’t get disappointed later.
Here is how you should go about the claims process in case of fire:
- The first thing to do is to contact the police to begin a report. You should contact your insurance provider simultaneously as well. The reason behind reporting the incident immediately is that it helps you get a spot survey. The report of a spot survey can speed up the entire process for you. This is the best way to prove that your vehicle fire was a genuine one and was not fabricated in any way.
- Once the survey is complete and you get the final report from the authorities stating that the vehicle fire was a genuine accident, you would need to submit the FIR and the survey report, together with a signed copy of your claim form to your insurance company.
- The other documents you need to be attaching in case of vehicle fires are copies of the first two pages of the insurance policy, newspaper cuttings of the fire incident (if any), a report of the fire brigade (if it was called), and the original bills of replacements or repairs (if any).
However, your insurance claim can also be rejected in some cases. For instance, if it is proven that the vehicle fire was intentional, your vehicle insurance company can reject your claim, and rightly so. Most vehicle insurances cover the damage caused only by accidental fires and not intentional ones. Intentional fires also include fires caused by people in riots.
So if your vehicle was set ablaze in such a scenario, your insurance company is highly likely to reject your insurance claim! Also, make sure to keep your insurance policy active to safeguard your car against fires.
Insurance And Theft of Your Vehicle
In case of thefts, if your vehicle is insured by an insurance company, you don’t have to worry a lot about claiming your insurance money. The process is not much different from that of vehicle fires—only simpler!
- In case your vehicle gets stolen, the first thing that you have to do is lodge an FIR at the police station nearest to you. The FIR is an important part of the whole process.
- Secondly, make a call to the customer service of your vehicle insurance provider to fill your claim form. You would be asked details about the insurance policy and your vehicle like your policy number, vehicle number, etc. Also, you’d be required to state the day, date, and time of the theft of your vehicle.
- Next, you will have to submit all the documents required for claiming your insurance, which also includes a signed copy of your claim form. The other documents you would need to submit are copies of the registration certificate of the vehicle, copies of the first two pages of the policy document, a letter to the RTO wherein you describe the incident of theft of your vehicle, and the FIR that you lodged earlier.
- After accomplishing all this, your claim would be approved once the police submit their final report stating that the vehicle is non-traceable and has been stolen for real.
- Upon approval, you would be required to transfer the registration certificate of your vehicle to the insurance company and return all the keys to the vehicle that you might have to the car. You would also have to submit any and all bills of replacement and repairs made to your vehicle—to get a reimbursement for the same. Moreover, a letter of subtraction needs to be issued by you, addressed to the insurance company.
Much like insurance for vehicle fires, your claim may be rejected by your insurance company in vehicle thefts as well. For example, if you left the car windows open, or left the vehicle unattended without locking it properly, the insurance company shall not be bound to give you the insurance money. Also, if you are too late in informing the police and/or the insurance company about your car theft, the company can again turn down your claim.
Conclusion
Vehicle insurance is a great way to safeguard your vehicle and free yourself from a lot of liabilities that you’d have to otherwise bear yourself. Many countries have made insuring the vehicles a compulsion because of how handy they are in case of accidents.
However, the problem is that most people do not understand how these insurances work and hence fail to trust the insurance companies. We hope that this article about insurance for vehicle fires and theft helps you believe in the powers of insurance. Get your vehicle insured today!
