Transfer Car insurance

[LLL]

I had a question - is it possible to transfer insurance of your car from 1 company to another in the middle of the policy peroid? Has anyone done it and typically, are there any penalties?

[dadu]

I have done it during renewal but this should be poosible to do also.

You will loose the rest of the period from the older company and I am not sure about the refunds.

For the new company you will have to pay for the next complete year, so you are paying again for the leftover with the old company.

I would suggest go for it only when the renewal comes.

[crazydiablo]

As per insurance rules, you should be getting prorated refund.

[snaronikar]

My suggestion would be go for a change in insurance company only if you are nearing the renewal. Otherwise, it will be a waste of money as you would have already paid for the current insurance and you need to pay the full premium for new policy.

[LLL]

Well, this is very frequent in US.

Reason i was thinking of doing this is i can shift to another company after 6-8 months of current policy period are over and then ask for a higher NCB. Also cost would come down.

If i can get a refund on existing policy then i will save by
1. refund of remaining period from current company
2. lower premium for next year
3. higher NCB

just wondering if anyone has done this before and what is his experience.

[itwasntme]

LLL,

While I have myself done this exact exercise in the UK i.e. switch to another insurance company and negotiate a higher NCB), I don't think the IRDA allows such predatory tactics yet in India. Further, I believe NCB here is for each completed year of claim-free insurance and I am not sure a shorter period of say 6-8 months will be acceptable to the next insurer. However, please do check and let us know if you CAN!!


However, insurance rules clearly state that you are entitled to a prorated refund for the 'unutilized' period of insurance and your current insurer is duty-bound to do so after deducting a published nominal processing charge.

If anyone's current insurer is one of the nationalized ones (National Insurance, Oriental, New India etc) then the process is much easier and needs some legwork to actually visit your Development Officer's (DO) office fill in / complete the necessary formalities. I have personally received a prorata refund on my current car's insurance premium after I produced proof of 50% NCB on my old car, (whose papers I had misplaced and could not produce at the time of buying the new car). This resulted in a 22k premium magically becoming 9k!

However the private insurers could be a handful if you try and cancell your insurance half way for whatever reason. Try it with say ICICI Lombard and you will generally come up against a blank wall or myriad excuses about why they CAN'T return your money :-)


ItWasntMe

Originally Posted by LLL

Well, this is very frequent in US.

Reason i was thinking of doing this is i can shift to another company after 6-8 months of current policy period are over and then ask for a higher NCB. Also cost would come down.

If i can get a refund on existing policy then i will save by
1. refund of remaining period from current company
2. lower premium for next year
3. higher NCB

just wondering if anyone has done this before and what is his experience.

[LLL]

Itwasntme,

I have nationalinsurance right now and may switch to another govt insurance company.

Dont want to deal with private players as i find them to be as dumb as they can be. Or they pretend to be dumb when they dont want to do do their work.

With Govt companies, they are not dumb and dont pretend to be. Dealing is usually straight and they dont hesitate in asking you for their cut

[musicmanaman]

My Car came insured with Oriental Insurance Company, when I bought it second hand, I was told by the previous owner that insurance can be transfered, now I din't know that, after going through the Oriental website, it was mentioned there that Insurance can be transfered, so I called up the nearest branch and was informed that this can be done for a small fee, about Rs 50-60, but when I got there, I was told I have to pay Rs 720, I din't mind that and paid the sum.

They have told me that the transfer when finished would be mailed to me, and when I asked if I can benifit from the NCB, I was told no. I was told that since my policy is anyways going to expire in 2 months, and that I will anyway not get any NCB benifit, I can still opt for tranfer, or scrap the policy and go for a new one, I thought in any case I'll get 2 months to think about this by paying Rs 720, so I paid and got out.

My question is have I done the right thing, by tranfering the policy on my name for 2 months by paying Rs 720, and after 2 months can I opt for a different Insurance company, where they will not come and inspect the car as the insurance will still be active, as I'll get this done a few days before the policy expires.

[planet_rocker]

my gtx's insurance was due in one month after i took delivery on 29th march - called up the insurance agent with national insurance - they changed the owner's details. i didnt get NCB accumulated by the previous owner.

according to them if i change the car the present NCB of the gtx will get transfered to the new car's insurance.

you can change the insurance company - no problems.

[aka_iitd]

Actually the first owner had got some NCB benefit. So now the wner is changed you need to pay the NCB. Only 2 months were left so they asked 720 bucks only.
Once you go there for next insurance they would offer your 20% NCB or lil less though earlier insurance might have more than 20%. This is because owner of the vehicle is changed

Originally Posted by musicmanaman

My Car came insured with Oriental Insurance Company, when I bought it second hand, I was told by the previous owner that insurance can be transfered, now I din't know that, after going through the Oriental website, it was mentioned there that Insurance can be transfered, so I called up the nearest branch and was informed that this can be done for a small fee, about Rs 50-60, but when I got there, I was told I have to pay Rs 720, I din't mind that and paid the sum.

They have told me that the transfer when finished would be mailed to me, and when I asked if I can benifit from the NCB, I was told no. I was told that since my policy is anyways going to expire in 2 months, and that I will anyway not get any NCB benifit, I can still opt for tranfer, or scrap the policy and go for a new one, I thought in any case I'll get 2 months to think about this by paying Rs 720, so I paid and got out.

My question is have I done the right thing, by tranfering the policy on my name for 2 months by paying Rs 720, and after 2 months can I opt for a different Insurance company, where they will not come and inspect the car as the insurance will still be active, as I'll get this done a few days before the policy expires.