GENERAL INSURANCE BLOG

Standalone own-damage car insurance is optional, unlike third-party car insurance. However, you must buy your standalone damage car insurance since it will help you get coverage for damages to your car during an accident or a natural or man-made disaster like a fire outbreak, theft, flood, etc.

What is covered under standalone damage insurance?
By looking at what this policy covers, let's better understand how standalone car insurance functions. A typical own-damage policy will protect from the following:

● Accident-related damages or total loss

● Vehicle theft

● Damage that is beyond repair as a result of fire, lightning, explosion, or self-ignition

● Natural calamities such as landslides, earthquakes, or floods can cause damage

You can file a standalone damage car insurance claim with your car insurance provider if your vehicle is damaged as a result of one of these events. Nowadays, raising a standalone damage car insurance claim is simpler than ever before. You can visit the insurer's website, log in, complete a form, evaluate the damage to your automobile, and then make repairs after the claim is approved.

Factors that affect standalone car insurance premiums.

Your standalone car insurance premium can easily be impacted by a change in any of these variables.

1. Insured Declared Value:
Your car's IDV, or insured declared value, is its current market value and a key component in calculating its own-damage premium. If you decide to give your car a greater IDV, your standalone car insurance will be expensive.

2. Age of the vehicle:
Your vehicle depreciates with time and loses value. As a result, if your car is older, your car insurance premium will decrease.

3. Your location:
If you drive in an urban, congested area, such as a big city, your own-damage auto insurance rate will go up. This is because there is always a chance that the car will be stolen or damaged. The danger is also lower, and the premiums are lower in smaller towns and villages.

4. Car safety:
Installing safety features on your car reduces the possibility of damage. For instance, airbags reduce the likelihood of your vehicle sustaining damage, minimising car insurance premiums.

5. Model of the vehicle:
Any damage caused by an accident to a pricey or luxurious vehicle could be very costly. Due to the high risk associated with such a vehicle, the standalone insurance policy premium for own damage will also be expensive.

6. Engine cubic capacity:
Your car's engine cubic capacity significantly impacts your premiums. Compared to vehicles with engines under 1500cc, the damage premium for vehicles with an engine capacity beyond 1500cc will be higher.

7. No Claim Bonus:
When you renew the policy, your rates will be reduced if you haven't made any claims for auto-related damages during the policy year. As a result, avoiding these claims allows you to pay lesser premiums for your standalone own damage insurance.

Who should buy standalone damage insurance?
If you just have third-party auto insurance at the moment, it is advised that you purchase your standalone damage coverage. It increases the range of protection for your vehicle during emergencies like a car accident, a man-made disaster, or a natural disaster.

Here is the formula to calculate standalone damage car insurance premium:

You must know your car's Insured Declared Value (IDV). Using the formula below, you can easily determine your four-wheeler's IDV:
IDV= (showroom price - depreciation cost) + (cost of any car accessories - depreciation cost)

Once you know your car's IDV, you may use the following method to determine the cost of standalone own damage insurance:
Standalone Damage premium = IDV X (Premium Rate) + Add-on Covers - Policy Discounts and Benefits

Check for new car insurance rates before investing in standalone damage insurance. Contact your insurance provider to get the desired answers if you have any queries.

Click HERE to buy a car insurance policy.

Disclaimer: The information provided above is for illustrative purposes only. To get more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before purchasing a policy.

The onset of the pandemic initiated an active interest in maintaining health and ensuring health insurance policy renewal. However, the quarantine brought with it several other challenges. Schools, colleges, workspaces, and other leisurely spaces such as parks, gardens, and malls were closed. The average person was stuck in a difficult predicament.

Even post normalisation, the main barrier to fitness is the lack of time in an individual's busy schedule. Be it a student or a working professional, going to the gym may only sometimes be possible. Finding the time and an easy-to-access nearby gym within your budget is strenuous. The one-stop solution to all these problems is working out at home. It seems like an arduous task, but once you can take out some time for your workout during the day, these hacks will significantly help.

In this article, we will explain how an effective equipment-free workout routine is perfectly attainable!

Before we start, here's a pro tip: You can use household items for greater resistance training. Getting stronger, fitter, and leaner is achievable without regular gym equipment like dumbbells. Use standard cans instead of hand weights and your laundry basket as dumbbells. A pile of your books works too! Creatively use weighted household items to enhance the effectiveness of your workout.

Exercises to start with when working out at home

1. Body weight squats
Bodyweight squats are a staple across all home workouts, irrespective of fitness ability. Depending on the variation you engage in, you can strengthen your back, glutes, calves, core, and thighs and maintain great posture. Start with a basic squat and gradually take on advanced forms of the humble squat.

2. Push-ups
Push-ups are one of the most common yet tricky exercises. They are an all-in-one solution if you are short on time and need to get your blood pumping quickly. With variations suitable for different age groups and fitness strengths, push-ups are a universal favourite for fitness freaks. It engages the chest, arms, shoulders, and core and improves overall balance. Being one of the most effective yet challenging exercises for your upper body, it is a must-try.

3. Walking lunges
This works best with an open space, like a long corridor. It targets the midsection of your body effectively and helps maintain posture. Always keep your back straight to avoid injuries.

4. Plank
Simply the starting position for push-ups, this exercise will engage your core and abs extensively if done in 45-second intervals. Make sure to keep your back straight. A simple online search will help visualise the exercise. However, do not be fooled by its simplicity. It is challenging to maintain this position, irrespective of your current fitness abilities. Start slowly in 5-10 seconds and gradually increase your plank duration.

Once you're comfortable with the exercise, look up variations that can help engage multiple muscle groups, making for a comprehensive workout. Before participating in such intensive training, consider health insurance policy renewal to protect yourself against the medical costs of any health emergency or accident.

Lastly, but most importantly, don't forget to warm up before each workout by doing a couple of jacks, marching on the spot, and knee bends. This will prevent you from injuring yourself by pulling a muscle. However, injuries are unpredictable while doing a high-intensity workout. Therefore, health insurance policy renewal should be a top priority to avoid losing on to the financial benefits.

Click HERE to know more about health insurance policy renewal.

Disclaimer: The information provided above is for illustrative purposes only. To get more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before purchasing a policy.

While purchasing a car is a huge deal, that is not all. You also need to invest in the upkeep and maintenance of your vehicle to increase its longevity. The car manufacturers have a set of rules and regulations regarding the servicing and maintenance of your car, like the distance limit before the first servicing, availability of the original parts, the fittings, etc.

Do you need clarification on authorised service centres and local garages to ensure your car is in its best condition? Here’s all you need to know.

1. Professional mechanics:
Authorised service centres provide you with the best-seasoned persons and specialised mechanics to service a particular company or type of car. These mechanics can have a closer look and understand any unusual issue that might pop up in your vehicle. They can provide the best insights and the accurate method to rectify the problem.
Local garages have mechanics, but their professionalism might require validation. They have a reputation for using the quickest methods or resolving issues using trial and error without actually having a deeper understanding of the working and what consequences the current problem might have. Lack of proper servicing can lead to a decrease in the life of the car, hefty costs of damage repair, and cause more troubles in the functioning of your vehicle.

2. Latest gears and equipment:
The authorised service centres always ensure that they have the latest equipment as prescribed by the companies for various models of their cars. As the brands are manufacturing vehicles with advanced technologies and upgrading their features, the spare parts and other gears should be upgraded without meddling with the warranty, even if there is a problem with your vehicle.
Whereas, with local garages, this is a massive issue. Usually, they do not have the latest manufacturer-recommended parts for repair, which might end up voiding the warranty and causing further damage to the circuits and other systems of the car.

3. Time consumption and quality of services:
Authorised service centres take complete responsibility for customer care and quality services. While this is a massive plus against the local service garages, the waiting time is quite a factor that acts as a con for these service centres. There is a huge waiting list and a time taking procedure you must go through before you can get your car back in good shape.
If you approach a local garage to fix the issue with your vehicle, you will get your car back in no time. However, regarding the quality, even if it is a coat of paint on a small area that was hit against a harsh surface, you will be able to mark the difference between the fixtures of an authorised centre compared to the local garage.

While local garages provide quick, budget fixes to your issues, it is very evident that the authorised service centres are the smarter option of the two. Your vehicle is a massive investment, so it is wise not to cheap out regarding the maintenance, servicing, and compromising its safety. And you might end up in consequential trouble, which burns a hole in your pocket due to your reluctance to opt for quality service.

So always make an intelligent decision, one of which is to ensure that you purchase the best car insurance in India to stay financially stress-free during any unfortunate situations that might cause damage to your car. You can now buy the best car insurance in India, which is suitable for your needs, from the comfort of your home.

Click HERE to learn more about purchasing the best car insurance in India.

Disclaimer: The information provided above is for illustrative purposes only. To get more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before purchasing a policy.

If you have ever randomly searched for road safety statistics relating to India, you would be concerned. According to data provided by many research firms, the road crash severity, i.e., the number of deaths per 100 road crashes, was 38.6. This implies that over a third of road accidents lead to fatalities. Our numbers are also the highest amongst all countries, making this an issue that requires immediate attention.

While infrastructure and planning of roads are partly to blame, so is driver negligence. Considering that over half the vehicles on roads are 2-wheelers, it becomes necessary to practise safe driving since 2-wheelers do not have the bare minimum safety that cars provide and lead to more significant damages if in an accident. With increased regulations, the demand for 2 wheeler insurance has risen steadily.

Still, riders continue to take unnecessary risks in the form of 3 or more riders, underage driving, and helmet-less pillion riders. While your 2 wheeler insurance covers the driver and vehicle, does it also cover pillion passengers? Read on to find out all about it.

Inclusion of a passenger in 2-wheeler insurance:

2 wheeler insurance is considered a comprehensive cover but is not in reality. By carefully reading the fine print, one can find multiple exclusions which can be added to the cover as an add-on facility. One such cover is to protect your passenger.

If you are considering whether or not to purchase the add-on, we strongly urge you to do so. Since two-wheelers are more vulnerable to accidents, minimal damage to the riders is inevitable. While your comprehensive plan covers you and your vehicle, buying an add-on will insure your pillion rider's life.

Inclusions of the add-on:

The add-on primarily lightens your moral responsibility towards your pillion passenger to keep them protected as long as you're responsible for their safety. In the following events, the insurance company approves the claims filed:

● Compensation for the death of the passenger to their legal heirs

● Payment in case of partial or permanent disability to the passenger

● Reimbursement of hospitalisation expenses incurred to treat the passenger

Who should consider buying the add-on:

While 2 wheeler insurance is mandatory for all, we recommend considering a pillion-passenger add-on as the same. However, suppose any of the following cases apply to you, then consider purchasing it at the earliest to minimise the extent of the financial burden you may have to face.

● If you regularly have a pillion passenger travelling along

● If your regular passenger happens to be a child or a senior citizen, it is best to cover for contingent mishaps

Exclusions to consider before filing claims:

This add-on is undoubtedly helpful in insuring your fellow rider’s life. However, before filing a claim, you must ensure that the following:

● The driver has a valid licence

● The driver was not under the influence of any substance

● The driver must be the owner of the vehicle and must purchase the policy and add-on in his name

● The accident must not be intended to be an act of self-injury by the driver

These are generally excluded conditions that reject a claim. Since making 2 wheeler insurance mandatory, its penetration has significantly increased. Authorities should also consider making policy equipped with comprehensive benefits to cover all related parties and ensure maximum protection of the riders and vehicle.

Click HERE to buy a reliable 2 wheeler insurance.

Disclaimer: The information provided above is for illustrative purposes only. To get more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before purchasing a policy.