Karnataka: Claims, demand for vehicle insurance & add-ons rise

BENGALURU: For the last three days, Prateek Madhukar, a resident of Whitefield, has been waiting for his car to be examined, after the Tata Altroz got stuck in waterlogging. Madhukar has not touched his vehicle since then.
"My insurance company needs to get the vehicle examined at their authorised dealership. But they are all full right now and not accepting more vehicles. They said it will take time. The sad part is that since my vehicle is under warranty, I cannot take it to any other workshop...," he told TOI over phone.
Madhukar is among many citizens in Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka who are trying to claim their vehicle insurance following the recent floods. They are also trying to make sure their insurances are in place.
Insurance firms say while the actual impact will be known in the next couple of weeks, they are already receiving more queries about add-ons to existing insurances.
Bajaj Allianz General Insurance said while both motor and non-motor claims have gone up, motor insurance claims have risen more.
"Claims are predominantly due to vehicles breaking down or getting submerged in water. We anticipate additional claim intimations to be reported within the next few days," Sasikumar Adidamu, chief distribution officer - institutional sales at Bajaj Allianz General Insurance told TOI.
The insurance company said people should not try to crank or push-start the engine in case it is stuck in a waterlogged area. That can invalidate the insurance claim.
Insurance policy aggregator PolicyBazaar witnessed an increase in demand for add-ons like zero depreciation and engine protector cover over the last two months. An engine protector cover helps in case of water-related damage to the engine.
"Overall, there is a 28% increase in attachment of engine protection add-ons from May 2022 to date, whereas, in Karnataka, the numbers have gone up by 55% in the same period," said Ashwini Dubey, head of motor insurance renewals at Policybazaar.
KN Arun, a professor at the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai, says the best thing to do is to call the service engineer to examine the vehicle on an as-is-where-is basis. "If it is done by a local service engineer, s/he can help you explain the extent of damage to the insurance company. But firms will want it examined by their authorised service engineer before letting you claim the insurance," said Arun.