[rahulraag]

I had my first real incident with my 2021 Tucson in two-plus years of ownership. While driving from HAL Market towards LBS Shastri Nagar, Bangalore(I dread this road with its narrow lanes, unruly bikers and pedestrians, and school buses the size which shouldn't ply on those roads). The incident occurred on the 9th July while navigating through a narrow stretch a cab moved ever so slightly towards my direction, instinctively I steered the car to the left as from my seat I could see the pavement but little did I know there were remanents of a borewell with both metal and concrete by the roadside. I drove over hitting the underbody and also the bumper/wheel. Immediately after I felt the alignment off and the steering feedback was iffy. There were also loud creaks every time I steered the car hard to the left. Being a Sunday evening I decided to wait and called Trident Hyundai the next day morning, they asked if the tyre was intact if yes to drive the car to their service center in Whitefield.

https://youtu.be/K6p_0R4zT4U

The incident occurs around 45 seconds into the video.

Upon inspection, they deduced that the steering stabilizing arm was bent and needed to be replaced, plus the car had sustained damage on the bumper (one of the locks joining the lower bumper to the upper bumper was broken), alloy wheel too had some damage (this I think is cosmetic). I was asked to fill out the insurance forms and the estimated cost was quoted as 1.3 lakhs and 20-25 days turn around time, as the parts were on order.


Now begins the ordeal, two days later Reliance completes the survey and their verdict is that the underbody damage and the damage to the bumper and wheel could not have occurred in the same incident. They inspected the footage and opined that if the accident occurred as I described the car would have come to a halt. To my best recollection, I would have driven over the concrete which would have caused the underbody damage, and the bumper and the wheel would have hit the metal portion.


[ATTACH=IMG20230721WA0044.jpg][/ATTACH]

Additionally, I had repainted the bumper at an independent garage (Right Angle, Nallurahalli) on 5th July, just 4 days before the incident. I have 360- images of the car when they accepted the car for repair and also the bill for the same. I have submitted this too as part of the approval process but the Reliance team is not buying any of it. One of their personnel was extremely rude over the phone suggesting that I was lying about the whole incident.

The car has been at the service center for 11 days now without any progress. I would appreciate some recommendations on how to proceed with this case. Thank you everyone in advance!

[lordrayden]

Sorry to hear about your incident, hope things gets settled soon.

Originally Posted by rahulraag

They inspected the footage and opined that if the accident occurred as I described the car would have come to a halt.

Perhaps his thinking was that the pipe sticking out was pretty tall (compared to the GC of the car) and the car should have got stuck because of that. Do you have any photos of the borewell after your incident? If it's been flattened up to a height of around the GC of the car, you can try and use that to refute his claim that the car should have come to a halt.

Originally Posted by rahulraag

Reliance completes the survey

Just curious, was this the policy that you took through the Hyundai dealership or did you take it independently?

[rahulraag]

The issue has been partially resolved. I initially acquired the insurance policy through the Hyundai Dealer, Monarch in Surat, when I purchased the car in 2021. They played a significant role in facilitating communication between Reliance Insurance and the body shop in Bangalore, Trident Hyundai. After two weeks of negotiations, conference calls, and discussions, Reliance approved insurance coverage for mechanical parts and the alloy wheel, but they denied the proposed bumper replacement suggested by the body shop.

Some of their arguments seemed trivial – for instance, a reflection in the photo shared was mistaken for red paint from another incident. Frustrated after two weeks of back-and-forth, I wanted the repairs to move forward, so I agreed to proceed with the approved items.

Throughout this ordeal, I am grateful for the assistance provided by Trident and Monarch in Surat. Unfortunately, I cannot extend the same gratitude to Reliance Insurance. After a month since I initially brought the car in for repairs, it is finally ready for delivery tomorrow.

As for the incident with the borewell, I haven't taken that route again since the incident. Our family's driver, who uses the road to take the kids to school, mentioned that the concrete obstruction has been removed, and the borewell stump has been marked for better visibility. It appears that the underbody hit the concrete portion, causing the metal borewell to scrape the bumper and alloy.

[iron.head]

Originally Posted by rahulraag

The issue has been partially resolved. I initially acquired the insurance policy through the Hyundai Dealer, Monarch in Surat, when I purchased the car in 2021. They played a significant role in facilitating communication between Reliance Insurance and the body shop in Bangalore, Trident Hyundai. After two weeks of negotiations, conference calls, and discussions, Reliance approved insurance coverage for mechanical parts and the alloy wheel, but they denied the proposed bumper replacement suggested by the body shop.

Some of their arguments seemed trivial – for instance, a reflection in the photo shared was mistaken for red paint from another incident. Frustrated after two weeks of back-and-forth, I wanted the repairs to move forward, so I agreed to proceed with the approved items.

Good to know that there is a resolution finally. You can consider taking the car to a bumper repair 'specialist' and get it plastic welded. Some of them do a very fine job of rebuilding the damaged locks. Maybe watch a few youtube videos and ensure that the job is done properly in your sight. This is if the bumper is sitting loose or something. If it's sitting flush and tight and one missing plastic lock has no impact then it might be better to just leave it at that.

Also, bumpers can be partially repainted and with a very good finish. Maybe try and work out a deal with the same paint shop and get it partially repainted.

[ajaymib123]

Hi Rahul
It appears that your car is registered in a different state than Karnataka. Is it the case? If yes I wanted to know if there is likelihood of insurance being rejected on the grounds that it is registered in a different state or not registered in Karnataka. ?

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by ajaymib123

Hi Rahul
It appears that your car is registered in a different state than Karnataka. Is it the case? If yes I wanted to know if there is likelihood of insurance being rejected on the grounds that it is registered in a different state or not registered in Karnataka. ?

Absolute nonsense. Insurance is valid all over India for any registration as long as its active at the home RTO.

[padmrajravi]

Happy to see that the issue is at least partially resolved. I guess I should add Reliance Insurance to my blacklist of insurance providers. If that dash cam footage is not enough to convince them about how the accident happened, I consider it trying to dupe the customer who trusted them.

From my experience, policies from PSU insurance companies that are taken through the dealership provide the easiest claim process. They do not deny claim as much as private ones and the dealership is always there to manage the communication process, which is otherwise a hassle if done directly with a PSU company.