[feluda86]

Following is what i learnt from my interactions with surveyors of different insurance providers.

IDV is the maximum value of the car that the insurer is liable to pay. If a car is declared a total loss or is stolen, it is only then that the IDV is looked at. Another time IDV is looked at is when assessing damage coverage. Insurance companies declare the car a total loss if the repair expense is expected to cross a certain percentage of IDV (75%-80% is industry standard). In most cases with high repair costs, the dealer works hand in glove with the insurer in declaring the car a total loss. In such cases, it is good to check with FNGs for repair costs.

Every car has a market value associated with it - decided by market dynamics, resale value and demand for that particular model. The insurer is aware of this value. Let us call this as A. Every insurer has a depreciation table for every model they insure. Let us call this B.

Case 1: The car is declared a total loss. A and B are both more than the IDV. This is generally the case for a new car (less than 6 months). You will get back IDV-depreciation for number months after policy issue that has passed (remember IDV is the value on the day of issue of policy and depreciation will be calculated on IDV for every day that passes).

Case 2: The car is a total loss. IDV (-depreciation) is more than B. The insurer will perform a market survey to determine if A is less than B. You can perform a survey of your own and inform the insurer if your A is more than what he quotes. The insurer is then liable to pay you lowest of the A and B. However, negotiation skills of the insured plays an important role here. Insurer pays only balance of what is decided and salvage value. Unfortunately in India there is no rule/law that governs salvage value. So the insurer generally gets a free hand.

In rare cases, the insured gets back full IDV or close to what the IDV is like the case shared earlier in the thread.

Moral of the story: Always know the market value of your car. Keep IDV around this market value. You will only increase your premium year on year without real benefit when a situation of total loss happens by keeping high IDVs. Remember, some of the add-ons like zero dep protection depend on IDV. Increasing IDV for an old car not only increases basic premium but also some add-on costs.

Experts, please correct my understanding if I am wrong.

Hope this helps!

[manish_symc]

Dear Friends,

Need immediate help. I am purchasing insurance for my new ecosport. Ex-showroom price of the car is 10,67,300/-
Please help in deciding IDV of the car. Can I increase IDV to OTR?
If only Ex-showroom price is applicable, should I keep it 95% of the Ex-showroom value?

Attached is the quote from HDFC argo.



Is this quotation good and includes all necessary covers? Please note I have opted 3&4 year warranty and road side assistant of car from the dealer.

Also, is it good to go with HDFC Argo? Any other recommendations are also welcome.

Thanks,
Manish

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by manish_symc

Dear Friends,

Need immediate help. I am purchasing insurance for my new ecosport. Ex-showroom price of the car is 10,67,300/-
Please help in deciding IDV of the car. Can I increase IDV to OTR?
If only Ex-showroom price is applicable, should I keep it 95% of the Ex-showroom value?

Attached is the quote from HDFC argo.

Attachment 1699893

Is this quotation good and includes all necessary covers? Please note I have opted 3&4 year warranty and road side assistant of car from the dealer.

Thanks,
Manish



Also, is it good to go with HDFC Argo? Any other recommendations are also welcome.

Simple. Choose the Return-to-invoice cover. In case of theft or a total loss accident, you'll get back the OTR price you paid for the car. This cover can be purchased for the first 3 years of the car's life.

Cheers,

Jay

[manish_symc]

Originally Posted by JayPrashanth

Simple. Choose the Return-to-invoice cover. In case of theft or a total loss accident, you'll get back the OTR price you paid for the car. This cover can be purchased for the first 3 years of the car's life.

Cheers,

Jay

Thanks Jay for quick reply. I am checking for Return to invoice cover with coverfox.
Can you please comment rest of the attached invoice look good and HDFC ergo is good to go with?

Thanks,
Manisn

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by manish_symc

Thanks Jay for quick reply. I am checking for Return to invoice cover with coverfox.
Can you please comment rest of the attached invoice look good and HDFC ergo is good to go with?

Thanks,
Manisn

Manish,

You correct IDV should be 1013935. No point in over insuring the car with higher IDV.

Do you get a similar quote of HDFC ergo website too? You an do away with the RSA from Insurer since you already have it from Ford. If you feel you would be using a route which gets water logged during monsoons, then suggest to add Hydrostatic lock cover add on cover. If not then I feel zero dep add on cover should be more than sufficient.

Instead of spending additional amounts on the add on covers, I would suggest to get the 3M under body anti rust coating done with the saved amount.

The quote looks OK.

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

The quote looks OK.

I am in the same boat and the best quote from the coverfox website seems to be from HDFC Ergo. Does anyone have any experience with HDFC Ergo - how is their Settlement timelines etc?

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by feluda86

In rare cases, the insured gets back full IDV or close to what the IDV is like the case shared earlier in the thread.

Moral of the story: Always know the market value of your car. Keep IDV around this market value. You will only increase your premium year on year without real benefit when a situation of total loss happens by keeping high IDVs. Remember, some of the add-ons like zero dep protection depend on IDV. Increasing IDV for an old car not only increases basic premium but also some add-on costs.

I don't think so.
In case of total loss, insurance company pays the full IDV. My 9 years and 10 month old Tucson met with an accident, it was total loss and BajaAllianz paid the IDV. No daily/monthly depreciation, no market value discussion. They took some time for due diligence but it was a genuine accident and they honored their liability.

Note: They found a salvage buyer, asked him to pay the salvage amount directly to me and then they paid me the remaining amount (IDV - salvage value). I found this a little odd, ideally they should have handled all by themselves (sell the scrapped vehicle to the salvage buyer, receive salvage amount from him in their account and pay the IDV to me) but for some reason they did not want the salvage amount transferred to their account!

[reihem]

I have a very specific question. The fact that I made a couple of bad decisions here is evident ... you don't need to rub it in !

I bought a Honda Jazz AT S in July 2014. My wife banged the car up a fair bit and I also let my insurance lapse in 2016. I noticed it had lapsed in September 2017 and used coverfox to buy fresh insurance via bharati axa. I took on a barebones policy with a low IDV and as expected bharati sent someone to photograph the car (in its banged up state).

This month I went ahead and fixed up the car at huge cost, it looks and runs virtually new now.

How do I get my insurance to reflect this ? I feel that any claim i make now will use its old banged up state as the point of reference. Can i get a fresh assessment done and take a new policy ? Any advice will be appreciated.

[Karvel]

Bumped into this old thread when searching for some reference on insurance renewal and RTI options.

Originally Posted by feluda86

The insurer is then liable to pay you lowest of the A and B. However, negotiation skills of the insured plays an important role here. Insurer pays only balance of what is decided and salvage value. Unfortunately in India there is no rule/law that governs salvage value. So the insurer generally gets a free hand.

In rare cases, the insured gets back full IDV or close to what the IDV is like the case shared earlier in the thread.

Moral of the story: Always know the market value of your car. Keep IDV around this market value. You will only increase your premium year on year without real benefit when a situation of total loss happens by keeping high IDVs.

Hope this helps!

Insurance is a contract and the terms are legally binding on both the parties. Hence the contracted IDV will be paid. No reference to any external valuation or resale price or depreciation chart.

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

I don't think so.
In case of total loss, insurance company pays the full IDV.

Absolutely right. Unless until the insurance company finds anything amiss in the happening or some rules were broken, they will honour the IDV contracted irrespective of market value.

As said, this plays a role only when the car is totalled. In all other repair scenarios, IDV does not impact.

[condor]

I renewed the insurance for my Storme in end April via TASS itself. They said we can officially increase the IDV by 10%, with corresponding premium increase.

Also, as the vehicle gets older and IDV keeps reducing each year, after a point the IDV would be capped at 2L and not go below that.

[DSC]

Doubt here:

What if someone lowers the IDV to the minimum possible and choose the Return to invoice (RTI) as an add on.

For example, for my vehicle, if I lower the IDV to 2.2 L, premium is about 1.3K INR. RTI cover cost 580 INR. Whereas an IDV of even 4L costs 2.8K INR.

As per insurer, they will use the IDV as the maximum value to be reimbursed in case of claim. Now the IDV of 2.2 L should be enough to protect against accidental damages, and in case of total loss, RTI can be used.


But what is the catch here? There has to be some.

[ex-innova-guy]

Originally Posted by DSC

Doubt here:

As per insurer, they will use the IDV as the maximum value to be reimbursed in case of claim. Now the IDV of 2.2 L should be enough to protect against accidental damages, and in case of total loss, RTI can be used.

But what is the catch here? There has to be some.

From what I know RTI is generally offered upto 3-5 Years by some companies. The catch here is that you yourself would be reducing your IDV albeit saving few thousands on the Premium Paid amount.

Post 5 years your premiums would be more or less same but in case of damage/accident you might have to shell out more out of your pocket if the expense is more. They will be liable to pay you less since you yourself reduced the IDV Amount. Since you now don't have the RTI anymore, you are now in a dilemma whether to repair it by yourself with some monetary compensation from the Company or sell it at IDV in case of Accidents.

[raptor_diwan]

Hello everyone,

I need some advice,

Is it okay to have an IDV that's higher than the actual value of the car? Will it still be valid if something goes wrong?

I talked to the dealer, and they increased the IDV from 5.5L to 8L, but the car's actual price is only around 7.5L.

My previous insured IDV value was 5.5L, and now the new agent is proposing an 8L IDV for the third-year renewal. Should I inquire about the (RTI) for this?

Should I go for it? Appreciate your thoughts!

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by raptor_diwan

Is it okay to have an IDV that's higher than the actual value of the car? Will it still be valid if something goes wrong?

What do you mean by the "value of the car" Is it the resale value you are referring to? As known IDV is calculated based on the depreciation chart provided in the Insurance policy for the first 5 yrs post which it is mutually decided between the Insurers and the customer. There is no point in over insuring the car in the first 5 yrs of ownership. Even post 5 yrs also the usual thumb rule of 10% less than previous years IDV is applicable.

Pls note the increase in the IDV is not suggested by the Insurance co but decided by the customer so the Insurance co do have the right to refuse the claim for any falsified information.

[raptor_diwan]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

What do you mean by the "value of the car" Is it the resale value you are referring to?

Thank you for your clarification.

The actual price I paid for the car was not around 8L; it was only 7.3L. So, the true value of the car is 7.3L, not 8L, but the IDV is now set at 8L.

In the second year, the insurance IDV value was 5.5L, and now for the third year, they are suggesting an IDV of 8L. This is where my confusion lies. Is this a reasonable choice?