When you browse through different insurance companies to compare car insurance online or for car insurance renewal online, you might have encountered the concept of cashless garages or cashless claims within a comprehensive car insurance policy.
A car insurance claim can be settled in two ways: a reimbursement claim and a cashless claim.
In this article, we will explore the concept of cashless claims and garages and what impacts it has on your car insurance.
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What are Cashless Garages in Car Insurance Policies?
Cashless garages are networks of garages associated with different insurance companies to make the process of settling claims easier and more convenient for the policyholders.
If you get into an accident and need repairs or replacement for your four-wheeler, you can take the car to one of the insurance company’s network garages.
The costs of repairs and replacements will be directly settled by the insurance company excluding the cost of depreciation and deductibles.
This provides the policyholder with the benefit of not having to pay for these expenses out of their pocket. It is also a hassle free claim process in comparison to a reimbursement claim process.
The list of network garages is available on the insurance company’s website or the insurance documents. If not, you can contact your insurance company to find out about the network garages.
You can find out whether your car insurance policy provides a cashless claim in the policy document. Make sure you look at and understand all the details of your car insurance.
Benefits of Cashless Claim Reimbursement Process
There are many benefits of the cashless claim process in comparison to the reimbursement claim process. Let us have a look at some of these benefits:
A Faster Claim Settlement
The process of settling claims with a cashless claim process in car insurance is much faster than settling claims through a reimbursement method. This is because, in reimbursement claims, the compensation needs to be approved by the insurer and then transferred to the policyholder, which usually takes more than a week. On the other hand, when the insurance company pays the bills directly (which happens in the case of a cashless claim), the claim gets settled much faster.
An Easier Claim Process
Through cashless claims, the process of claim settlement becomes much easier as all the paperwork and documentation are taken care of by the insurance company, and the policyholder does not have to worry about getting the bills and documents approved.
High Quality Claim Experience
In cashless car insurance, the insurers try to give the best service possible to the policyholders throughout the entire claim process. This includes having good quality network garages and customer satisfaction
Limited Chances of Fraud
Cashless claims provide policyholders full transparency throughout the entire claim settlement and billing process. This builds a trust between the insurer and the insured.
Things to Take into Account Before Raising a Cashless Car Insurance Claim
Location
The location of the cashless garages can be quite significant in terms of convenience. It is better to choose a garage that is closer to home or the accident spot so that it becomes easier to travel for any repairs.
Extra Expenses
Cashless claims are usually settled after the payment of the applicable deductible and taking into consideration your vehicle’s depreciation (if you do not have a zero depreciation add-on cover). Make sure you get an exact estimation of these costs from your insurance company.
How to Raise a Claim on Your Cashless Car Insurance Online?
In today’s digital world it is quite easy to raise claims for online car insurance. Here are the steps to follow to raise a claim:
- Register your claim on your car insurance website. You can also do this via email or call.
- Enter details like car insurance policy number, driving license, and address.
- Enter a detailed description of how your car got damaged.
- If in case a FIR has been filed related to the incident, submit a copy.
- Once your claim has been successfully submitted, a car surveyor will inspect your car.
- The car will then be sent to one of the network garages of the insurance company.
- The surveyor will let you know the details of the repair expenses and what is covered under the policy.
- Once the repairs are completed, the garage will send the bills to the insurance company, and they will settle them.
The exact process might differ between all insurance companies.
Conclusion
Cashless garages are quite popular and have proved useful for policyholders. Cashless claims can be hassle-free and give policyholders a high-quality and speedy claim experience. You can get your repairs done without spending any of your money; all you need is a car insurance policy that provides a cashless claim facility through its network of cashless garages.