Importance of Car Insurance Against Natural Calamities: Here’s Why it is Important
While India is known for its cultural diversity, it is also unfortunately known for various natural calamities. Given its geographical variations across its territory, witnessing multiple types of natural disasters, ranging from earthquakes and landslides to floods and cyclones, has become common, especially in recent decades.
That’s where a comprehensive car insurance policy can come to your rescue, protecting your car against such disastrous natural calamities. Besides protecting your car from theft and accidental damage, a car insurance policy also offers comprehensive protection against natural disasters, provided you have opted for specific add-ons and checks.
Here, we will discuss how a car insurance policy can be utilised to obtain the maximum possible benefits in the event of a car being damaged in a natural disaster.
Understanding the Clause of Natural Calamity Coverage in Car Insurance
With a drastic increase in the occurrence of natural disasters in India in recent years, opting for natural disaster coverage in a car insurance policy is a must. This coverage essentially covers all the damages that happen to a car in the event of a natural calamity, which in insurance terminology, is called ‘an act of god’ – an uncertain event which is out of human hands. With this coverage, the financial burden on the car owner for repairing a car damaged in a natural calamity is drastically reduced.
Suppose natural calamity coverage is included in your car insurance. In that case, the insurer will cover all repair and replacement costs for affected parts and panels damaged in natural disasters like earthquakes, landslides, floods, cyclones, and storms. However, this clause is possible only with comprehensive insurance, not just a third-party cover, as the former offers a broader scope of protection.
Benefits of Natural Calamity Coverage: Why it Matters
Given the unpredictability of natural disasters, protecting your vehicle from the irreparable damage they cause is an invaluable decision, achievable only with natural calamity coverage. Here are all the benefits of a natural calamity coverage in a car insurance policy about which you should be aware:
Financial Protection Against Losses
Natural disasters like earthquakes, landslides, floods, cyclones, and storms can damage your vehicle to the extent that it becomes irreparable or incurs heavy repair bills. With a natural calamity coverage, you get the benefit of the insurer bearing much of these part repair and replacement costs, protecting you from the burden of heavy expenses.
Protection Against Climate Risks
If you are not living under a rock, you might already be aware of the increasing climatic disasters happening across the country, throughout the year. Call it the increasing human and illegal activities damaging Mother Nature, or the ‘act of god’ in a true sense, the frequency of natural disasters has only increased in recent years. The natural calamity coverage mentally prepares you for the possible consequences of such natural disasters and gives you complete peace of mind.
Protection of Long-Term Vehicle Value
With time and age, the market value of a vehicle deteriorates, but if that car is subjected to natural disasters, the resale value decreases drastically. A natural calamity coverage ensures that the value of your car remains protected to a certain extent, if not lost completely, as the insurer gives you the facility of restoring your vehicle, covering major expenses or offering you a healthy compensation in case of a total loss.
What’s all Covered in a Natural Calamity Protection Cover
In case you opt for a comprehensive car insurance policy, which is becoming a more common and widely accepted norm among car buyers, the natural calamity protection cover is included in it. This coverage safeguards your vehicle from the aftermath of extreme climatic events, which are as follows:
Natural calamity coverage covers the damages to the engine, electrical components and interior panels in case of a natural calamity, such as floods, earthquakes, landslides, rockfalls, hailstorms, cyclones and lightning. It also protects your vehicle from external damage caused by such unfortunate disasters, such as damaged exterior panels, lights, glass panels and windscreens.
However, one must also note that although specific parameters are believed to be covered, they are not included in natural calamity coverage. These include damage caused by trying to start a hydro-locked engine, driving through a water-logged area or road, parameters exceeding the engine protection cover, delays in filing a claim, or a lack of necessary documents.
When Nature Strikes: Is Your Car Insurance Ready?
There’s a reason why insurance companies term natural calamities as ‘acts of god’ – they are out of human hands, and the claims taken against them can be rejected outright if there is a lack of essential coverage against them. This is why neglecting natural calamity coverage in a car insurance policy can be a massive mistake, as it gives you a sense of preparedness against uncertain natural disasters and ensures you have smart financial protection against them.
FAQs
- Does car insurance cover natural disasters?Yes, comprehensive car insurance, not just third-party cover, with the right add-ons like engine protection and return-to-invoice, ensures complete financial protection in the event of natural calamities like floods, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, hailstorms, and lightning.
- Is a car accident an example of a natural calamity?Since a car accident happens due to human negligence and is not an ‘act of god’, the damages resulting from it are not covered under natural calamity coverage.
- What is not covered in a car insurance claim?The parameters not covered by the natural calamity coverage of a car insurance include damage caused by attempting to start a hydro-locked engine, driving through a water-logged area or road, issues outside the engine protection cover, delays in filing a claim, or lack of necessary documents.