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Buying a new car is often a moment of pride for an individual as well as their family. Many of them mark the occasion with a small celebration of some sort. Most people who buy new cars expect to have them and drive them for the foreseeable future. They probably expect their cars to be a part of their memories or at least help them make memories.

If you want your car to be a part of your life and that of your loved ones, you may think about protecting your car. But how can you do that? One of the ways to protect your car is by getting it insured. Buying car insurance, online or offline, is known to be one of the simplest ways to get financial protection for your private car.

If you own a private car, or someone in your family does, you ought to know everything about private car insurance, online and offline availability, premium prices, claim processes, and more. Read on to know more about insuring your car.

Private Car Insurance

Before we dive into the details of private car insurance prices and other details, let’s first establish what a private car is.

When you buy a car and assign it for personal use, orhave authorised someone else to use the car for their personal purposes on your behalf, it may be called a private car. To put it simply, it is a car you buy for private use.

Buying private car insurancefinancially protects your vehicle against any damages induced by theft, fire, natural calamities, accidents, or other such events. Commonly, when you buy a car insurance policy in India, you can opt for comprehensive coverage, i.e., you get to choose multiple types of covers to ensure that your car is covered in various ways. *

Types of Private Car Insurance Policies

Here is a look at some of the common private car insurance policies that are commonly available in India.

  • Third-Party Liability Cover

This is one of the types of insurance that you are required to have for your private car as per the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988. This makes it one of the most basic types of private car insurance policies that you can buy. This type of insurance primarily covers the damage caused to a thirdparty by the owner of the insured vehicle or someone driving it, for example, in accidents. In addition to the damage caused to the third-party vehicle, it also covers the hospitalisation costs for the third-party, or liabilities resulting from their demise. *

  • Comprehensive Cover

This is the type of coverage you buy when you do not want to shop around for separate policies. Depending on your choice and what the insurer has to offer, you may get third-party liability coverage, own-damage coverage, personal accident coverage, as well as zero-depreciation coverage. *

  • Own Damage (OD) or Collision Damage

This type of policy covers the repair costs of your vehicle in the event of a collision. One may not expect to encounter such scenarios, but it is ideal to stay covered for the same. When buying overall car coverage, adding such types of policies may reflect in your car insurance prices. *

  • Personal Accident Cover

As the name suggests, it is used to financially protect the car owner or driver in the event of any mishap. It could be useful to get protection against personal injury for the driver, as well as the passengers of the vehicle. *

  • Zero-Depreciation Car Insurance

With this cover for your car, you can claim the depreciation on its parts in case you are looking to replace them after a mishap covered by your insurance. Zero-depreciation cover means that the insurer will not consider the depreciation but rather offer you full value. *

* Standard T&C Apply

What Private Car Insurance Does Not Cover?

Even if your insurance is comprehensive, there are some situations it will not cover. Following are some examples:

  • Drunk Driving
  • Breakdown
  • Wrong/Invalid Driving Licence
  • Consequential Loss
  • Contractual Liabilities

* Standard T&C Apply

When buying private car insurance, it is ideal to take note of the inclusions and exclusions of the policy. Choose a policy that offers you the maximum coverage for a reasonable price. You can use car insurance calculators available online to get estimates of how much premium would you be required to pay.

Note that car insurance needs to be renewed upon policy maturity, and thus, your policy premium may change. Hence, it is ideal to use car insurance calculators even before you renew your policy.

Insurance is the subject matter of solicitation.