[dhanushs]

A few days before, my car skidded onto a fence. No one was injured. However, the fencing caused scratches all over my car. Since a full body painting was needed, I decided to claim insurance.

Now comes the real story. I had taken the insurance about 50 days back. Now, when the workshop (a friend's ) tried to claim insurance, he was told that I had no insurance!!.. Infact, when I took the insurance, as it was late evening, I only had the covernote with me, and not the policy document. I was too busy to check if the document was mailed to my home. I only kept a reminder to swap the doc, with the covernote in the car after 58 days (before expiry).

On further enquiry, I came to know that, the agent took the cash from me, gave me the covernote, but hadn't really submitted my proposal, and was rolling around with my (and some others) cash. So, here I was.. Needing a claim, but no insurance.

However, as the insurance agency was a friend's, and as I and our whole family were using their services for long, and this was a mistake from a guy they hired, they did what was needful to make my end sweet. I was said that the surveyor will be inspecting my car today, and the claim will be passed today itself. Will update you guys.

So, what I intend to say is.. Please make sure you get insurance from a reputed, preferably known source. Also, insist on getting the policy document as soon as possible, to avoid such complications.


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Mods: Searched around for similar scam thread, couldnt find one. If there is one, please do the needful. Thanks in advance!

[Ace F355]

I need to look into the matter since I recently got my car's insurance tranferred to my name and I still have the covernote and not the policy! Will phone Tata AIG and ask for getting me the policy ASAP.

Thanks dhanushs for sharing the info with us. Appreciate it.

[Habanero City]

Some more suggestions:
1) Never pay insurance premium by cash, only by cheque.
2) Do not wait until the last date for renewing the insurance.
3) Understand how the premium is computed and what are included (or excluded).
As a Customer you have certain choices.
4) Follow up with the agent/company and ensure that you get the policy before the expiry.
Always keep a copy in the vehicle along with RC and road tax.
Original insurance to be kept along with original RC and road tax.

HC

[sgiitk]

@dhanushs; This was a very common scam about two decades ago. I even heard of claims, incl. theft being settled. The customer normally had the cover note, so that was used for paying out. It was discovered when a customer lost his car and the original cover note, there was a photocopy but the policy could not be traced. The BM knew him personally and thus the whole scam was uncovered.

[condor]

Dhanush,

Not a good situation that. But hope things work out in your favor & quickly

I would not call that a scam, but more a case of cheating by the said staff member. (at least on the face of it). A really bad insurance agency may even do that, but in this I dont think that is the case yet.

[mayankjha1806]

Hope things work out well. Although there have been some negative posts on Bajaj Allianz but i kindof like them. Why, for one they don't accept cash, the guy they send only accepts cheque. As soon as the cheque gets cleared i get an SMS from Bajaj and a call thereafter confirming the same. Once that is through i get an email confirmation that Insurance documents (Over email as attachment) and also informing the proper printed documents and the card is on its way.

Once the document arrives there is another call to confirm the same.

All in all full proof process to ensure that nothing gets messed up anywhere, and the owner is not without an insurance cover at any point in time.

[libranof1987]

Dhanush, good that things are working out for you. Wonder how things would have worked out otherwise.

I think this is routine practice. When you renew car policy, you just get the covernote and the actual policy comes only after a month or so.

I had to send repeated reminders to Iffco Tokio for my Corsa's. And then, one fine day, I got 3 copies of the Insurance policy!

In congruence with what HC is saying about paying only by cheque, I feel having the Insurance renewed ONLINE is possibly the most convenient way.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Will phone Tata AIG and ask for getting me the policy ASAP.

Follow it up dude!

We realized Tata AIG hadn't sent the original policy for our City despite it being 2 months since renewal only a day before we were to go to Valley of Flowers. The Customer Service team is a bunch of idiots; you need to talk to the manager for them to understand what you want.

[mac187]

This is a well know scam for long now. As long as you have the original covernote you can always get your claim settled.

I generally, get my insurance from the company itself. This reduces the chances of fraud, as they guys are on-roll employees of the company. Not some dubious agent, who can be untraceable like salt in water when you go looking for him.

[Spinnerr]

This is what I have learnt after dealing with Bajaj alliance for the past two years.

Ground rule: All payments to be made only in the form of cheque.

• After getting the cover note, in about 20 days, call the insurance company’s helpline, state the cover note number and ask for the policy status
• If they say, policy not submitted / details not available. Ask them to transfer the call to the complaint dept, raise a complaint and get a compliant number.
• Call up the help desk in 3-4 days with the complaint number; you will get the insurance processed in no time.

Ps: Do not wait for the hard copy of the insurance policy to arrive, (this is after they say the policy is issued, you will receive in XX days) ask them to send a soft copy; you would get that in 1 hour. Take a color print out, that is all that you need.

Originally Posted by mac187

I generally, get my insurance from the company itself.

Could you tell me how this was done?
Last time I tried reaching the Bajaj allianze office directly, they took my number and said they would get back to me. But the next person who contacted me was an agent. Not a direct employee.

Not sure how true this is, but seems agents can get you better bargains, than what one would get when one approaches directly. Any thoughts on that?

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by condor

I would not call that a scam, but more a case of cheating by the said staff member. (at least on the face of it).

After this incident, my workshop person told me he had seen several similar cases.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Insurance renewed ONLINE is possibly the most convenient way.

True, they are very convenient. You get it done in a jiffy. But then, Insurance premiums calculations are very tricky. And, if done with a good agent, then you can get a pretty good discount. That, and the assistance whist claims were the reasons, why we prefer a known dealer.

Originally Posted by mac187

As long as you have the original covernote you can always get your claim settled.
.

Yes, but then, after this incident, I have even started to hear about fake covernotes. :( .

[arin_12]

My brother was also saying the same thing. He stay in small town, and he was saying that the insurance his friends received for his car was not valid.

I think this scam is very much active in small town cos they normaly does not check the insurance copy.

[MuraliR]

I was recently told by a staff of Bajaj Allianz that they have stopped issuing cover notes for over 6 months now.
They first send you an SMS of the policy number, and the actual document reaches your address by courier.

[AbhiJ]

1) Always pay by cheque favouring the insurance company itself.

2) Make sure you get the policy within 30 days.

3) Compare the covernote with the policy for irregularities and mismatches...

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by Spinnerr

• After getting the cover note, in about 20 days, call the insurance company’s helpline, state the cover note number and ask for the policy status
• If they say, policy not submitted / details not available. Ask them to transfer the call to the complaint dept, raise a complaint and get a compliant number.
• Call up the help desk in 3-4 days with the complaint number; you will get the insurance processed in no time.

Ps: Do not wait for the hard copy of the insurance policy to arrive, (this is after they say the policy is issued, you will receive in XX days) ask them to send a soft copy; you would get that in 1 hour. Take a color print out, that is all that you need.

Not sure how you faced this problem in Bangalore, Is this a recent development like after Mar/April this year? When i renewed my insurance in March the process that was followed is stated in my earlier post. No need to call them, they usually call me and update every step of the way.

Originally Posted by Spinnerr

Not sure how true this is, but seems agents can get you better bargains, than what one would get when one approaches directly. Any thoughts on that?

This is true, the guy that calls from the local Bangalore number is really an agent, and once pushed he does arrange for a better deal than what the lady on the phone gave from BA office in Pune.

[mac187]

Originally Posted by MuraliR

I was recently told by a staff of Bajaj Allianz that they have stopped issuing cover notes for over 6 months now.
They first send you an SMS of the policy number, and the actual document reaches your address by courier.

This is false information. AFAIK, IRDA laws requires the insurance company to handover a covernote to the buyer at the time of purchase. The actual policy document can be sent later.

This is considering the fact that most people buy insurance when its due and you can't expect a cop to see your mobile and let you go!