Clarity needed on Comprehensive vs Zero Depreciation Motor Insurance

[Yajur_Mahendru]

I bought a Toyota Corolla Altis last year and now its insurance renewal date is coming within the next 7-8 days.
So can anyone out here please tell me what these two policy types mean. I am also looking to know that what kind of insurance should I buy?

[Arjun]

Yajur_Mahendru Comprehensive insurance is the one that covers your own vehicle and the third party (other vehicle in case of an accident) However, when it comes to repairs, the entire cost is not covered as your vehicles value depreciation is calculated and you would have to pay a percentage of the charges, where as a major portion would be covered by insurance. This is where the Zero depreciation insurance comes into picture. This is only offered for the initial few years of a car's life and is costlier than a regular comprehensive insurance policy. In zero depreciation insurance, the entire cost at theworkshop is covered by insurance and you have to pay nothing at all. This comes into use in case of airbag deployment, where the comprehensive insurance may cover only half the damages. It is suggested to go for Zero depreciation insurance as long as it is offered for your car as even the small percentage of cost which you may have to pay otherwise would be higher than the difference in the zero deep and regular comprehensive insurance policies. You can compare insurance prices in sites like policybazaar.com or coverfox.com and compare the offers and prices of different insurance providers.

[AJ112015]

Arjun
Minor correction here. In case of zero dep insurance, the customer has to pay the file charges which varies depending on the engine cc from 1000-2000 rupees.

[Arjun]

AJ112015 Thanks for the correction. I knew there is a processing fee but didn't know the amount and fees name. Thank you.

[Alaukik_Bhatnagar]

Arjun AJ112015 Another interesting thing to note here is that, some company offers One free insurance claim per policy year, some two and some as many as they happen. So choose for such company, which offers more Free claims. Royal Sundaram provides more.

[Nîsànd_Màrquéz]

Zero depreciation cover promises comprehensive coverage without factoring in for depreciation. If your car is damaged following a collision, for instance, and you file a claim, the insurer will cover the entire cost.
Go for bumper to bumper i.e Zero depreciation

[kaiserketkar]

I bought a Toyota Corolla Altis last year and now its insurance renewal date is coming within the next 7-8 days.
So can anyone out here please tell me what these two policy types mean. I am also looking to know that what kind of insurance should I buy?

Most of the details of the Zero Dep policy are already covered here. Just a couple of quick points:

• Zero dep is an add on over the standard comprehensive policy and it's value is calculated as a percentage [for eg 0.7-0.8 %] of the Insurers Declared Value [IDV] of the car. This percentage however goes on increasing every year, so that although the IDV decreases, the Zero Dep costs actually increase.
  [Just to give you an illustration, I am paying roughly the same amount for my XUV's Zero Dep policy for the past 3 years [year 3, 4 and 5 of the vehicle. This premium should ideally reduce every year, but it stays the same because of the increased Zero Dep cost]
• Typically these are the parts which are only partly covered in Comprehensive and completely in Zero Dep.
  -Plastic/ Fiber parts [50% v/s 100%]
  -Paint cost [50% v/s 100%]
  -Metal parts [95%-65% v/s 100%]
  -Battery, tyres in accident [50% v/s 100%]
  -Airbags [50% v/s 10%]
  And in case of an accident, plastic parts & paint are usually the first to get damaged.
• As AJ mentioned there is a compulsory payment of Rs 1000-2000 to be borne by the customer. Sometimes it can be as high as Rs 5000. Also consumables like oil, coolant, etc may not be covered.

Bottom line, take the Zero-Dep coverage for as long as it is available, even at a higher cost. Consider the alternative- God forbid, if you indeed need to make a claim, the amount that you will have to shell out might end up being quite a lot. Better to pay a little extra and buy peace of mind instead.

[Harsh Agarwal]

AJ112015 Hi Arun, File charge is mandated by IRDIA for all claims irrespective of type of insurance one buy

[Harsh Agarwal]

Yajur_Mahendru
Hey Yajur,
As your car is a year old I suggest you should go for a Zero Dep insurance reasons are already suggested by others.
Infact on Zigwheels you can buy insurance. Try http://www.zigwheels.com/insurance

[Yajur_Mahendru]

Thanks everyone for helping me out here. I did research a bit more and got to know that apart from zero dep cover, there are even more add ons which one can go for like key protection. I would surely go for the key protection thing as well since I had lost my key last year and it costed so much.

[Roshun]

Shreyans Always go for zero dep insurance for as long as the facility is available. You get full coverage of any and every part and you only pay a fixed processing fee of Rs 1000-1500. I have had my City's notorious front bumper replaced 4 times under zero dep insurance, no questions asked. Also, it makes sense to opt for additional hydrolock cover. This means that all expenses will be covered if the engine takes in water while driving on a flooded street. Another useful add-on covers your car's remote key. The full price for a new key will be paid by the insurance company in case you misplace or damage it. A new one costs anything between 10-20k.

The more expensive the car, the better it is to go for a Zero-Dep insurance policy, and keep renewing it for at least 5-7 years, after which, the market value of the vehicle would have dropped and you can save on some premium by opting for a standard comprehensive or even basic third party once it's beyond 10 years old.

(EDIT: Reposting Shreyan's comment that had mistakenly replaced Yajur's original question)

[KPR]

There are many useful add ons like Spare car allowance, Spare key cover, Return to invoice price other than the zero dep alone which none of the agent will tell you. Research on such add ons will only help a prospective insurer.

[Vinod_g_2]

which company covers airbag 100% under zero depreciation?

[rahul_khanna]

Bike insurance refers to an insurance policy taken to cover any damages that may occur to a motorcycle and/or its riders due to an event like an accident, theft or natural disaster. <a href=&quot;https://www.policyx.com/two-wheeler-insurance/bike-insurance.php&quot;>bike insurance online renewal</a>

[Nishu_Rai]

Hi Yajur_Mahendru, I have gone through many websites to know the difference between Comprehensive and Zero Dep Insurance. Comprehensive Motor Insurance is a combination of third-party liability insurance and own-damage cover. Comprehensive insurance offers financial support against all sorts of damages caused to you and your vehicle as well as third-party (another individual, vehicle or property). It also includes the repair costs in case of any damage due to sabotage, fire or natural calamities. Different companies offer different insurance covers. (Source- Acko Vehicle Insurance) Zero Depreciation Cover: Zero depreciation cover promises comprehensive coverage without factoring in for depreciation. If your car is damaged following a collision, for instance, and you file a claim, the insurer will cover the entire cost. (Source- Money Control) There are many other covers also which you should explore before buying. I am listing some of them below:

• Consumable Cover
• Engine Protection Cover
• No Claim Bonus (NCB) Cover
• Return to Invoice (RTI) Cover

Add-on covers can be defined as an extra layer of protection to your basic insurance policy. Requirements of add-on differ from person to person and also it can vary areawise too. For eg., people who belong to flood-prone areas may need Engine Protection Cover.