Every policy comes with an expiration date. As long as the policy is active – whether it is your car insurance policy or something else – you are covered. When the policy expires or lapses, you cannot raise any claim unless you renew your policy again.
Therefore, knowing the policy expiration date and how it can affect your car insurance renewal online and offline is imperative. Let’s look at the effect of expiration on your car policy renewal efforts.
Lapsed Insurance for Car: The Disadvantages
Let’s say you are driving on the road, and your car gets into an accident. Now, you go to your insurer and try to raise a claim for the losses you have incurred. If your insurer finds out that your policy has lapsed, it can be considered a punishable offence. Of course, it goes without saying that your insurance company will not pay for any of the losses you have just undergone.
Apart from the monetary hassles, there are many other disadvantages of driving with expired insurance for cars. Let’s look at them in detail:
- Legal violation: It is mandatory by law to have insurance coverage for all vehicles on the road. If you are driving, it is assumed that you are doing so with a legally valid car insurance cover. Not having an active policy can be considered a legal offence and incurs a fine of up to 4000 and/or 3-month imprisonment.
- Loss of coverage: Car insurance covers more than just accidents. If you need repairs for own-damage or someone else damages your car, you are legally allowed a recompensation. This is also applicable to natural disasters like flood damage etc. If your policy is inactive, you lose all cover and must pay for damages out of pocket.
- Higher premium for car insurance renewal process: The car insurance premium depends on various factors. One of which is whether or not you pay your premiums on time. If your policy has lapsed and you try to renew it again, you will have to restart the cover with additional costs, driving your premium up. However, you can forgo high costs if you buy your insurance from trustworthy and cheap car insurance in India.
Steps to take for Expired Car Insurance Renewal Online
If your car insurance has expired, you can take the following steps to renew it immediately. The steps are the same as buying new car insurance. Let us help you out:
Step 1: As soon as you know that your policy has expired, get in touch with your insurance provider immediately
Step 2: You can choose to renew your existing policy as it stands or add extra covers and riders for increased protection
Step 3: Fix an appointment with your insurer for any mandatory vehicle checks that might be needed before your policy can be renewed. This will become important if your policy has been in lapse for a long time.
Step 4: Get your new insurance policy in place, and ensure you do not miss any more payment deadlines. You can use NACH or auto-debit mandates to automatically deduct the money from your bank without any manual intervention.
Is Expired Car Insurance Renewal Online Better than the Offline Process?
You can choose either option as per your wish, but the online renewal option is definitely easier in some regards. Here are the benefits of car insurance renewal online:
- Minimum paperwork: Renewing car insurance online is hassle-free and can be done within minutes as it requires minimal paperwork. All signatures and agreements can be done virtually, making it very seamless. Some insurers like Tata AIG have a quick 3-step renewal process.
- Sefl-inspection checks: If your car needs to be inspected again for policy renewal, you can submit videos and pictures of the car with a time stamp. This is easier and faster than waiting for an inspection officer to come to your place and do the manual checks.
- Accessibility: You will have to schedule a meeting and look for a convenient date for offline approval. Instead, renew your car insurance online so you can do it at any time.
- Transparency: You can look at all the available options and compare prices without depending on an agent. This way, you will transparently find the best possible option for your car insurance.
