I think the nomenclature for insurance, and not just auto insurance, needs to be standardised and defined as common rather than all companies using their different names for add-ons.
The dealer would try to give you a different pitch for the price because X is included and then you try to figure it out with different policies you are weighing. It just is too much research buying / renewing insurance despite the entry of players like coverfox that try to simplify the process.

On a lighter note, this is what happens when tall hatchbacks are sold labelled as different variations of "SUV". Have bumped into many "SUV" drivers across Maharashtra stuck in situations beyond their vehicles.

I'm no expert on insurance, but having done my research while buying insurance for a multitude of cars over the last decade and half, I feel I can add some points which may help someone.

There seems to some misconception over what Zero Dep covers and what it doesn't cover. Well, zero dep is not about cover. Your coverage details are determined by your primary cover. Zero dep simply ensures that you do not pay the depreciation difference in what's covered.

For example:

You policy covers glass, metal and plastic parts. But, maybe only upto 90% with the 10% being treated as depreciation. In this case, if you have zero dep add on, that 10% will also be covered, to essentially provide you 100%.

Terms such as bumper to bumper etc is misleading and keep coming up because plastics are traditionally covered only 50% or so with the owner having to pay the rest. With zero dep, you get 100% coverage for that too.

Now, coming to main part. Insurances will not cover consequential damage unless you specifically opt for it. For example, if you hit a rock, break the sump, have an oil leak and your engine seizes - your coverage will help replace the sump but not the engine. Fair? Nope. Anything you can do about it? Yes, get Engine Protect or whatever else your insurance calls it.

I also make it a point to opt for consumables cover. It's a huge convenience.

My approach to insurance is that if I'm paying for it, in times of emergency, I don't want to sit and mull over what's covered and what's not. I just want to pay my compulsory deductible and be done with it.

Which brings me to deductibles. Insurance agents often add something called voluntary deductible to bring premiums down. Essentially what this means is that you will foot that amount, along with the compulsory deductible and the insurance will pay the rest. Again, don't do it.

Finally another add-on that I opt for is Return to Invoice. This simply means what irrespective of my IDV at the time of the accident, if the vehicle is a total loss, I will get whatever amount is mentioned on my invoice at the time of vehicle purchase.

I'm attaching a part of my previous insurance to show what all covers are opted for. This is from HDFC ERGO. But I've had excellent experiences with TATA AIG as well.

Agreed but 6.5 Lacs? Do you really think it is worth so much? Car itself costs around 8 Lacs including GST, RTO taxes, Insurance etc. What on earth 6.5 Lacs for? I am not convinced at all. If I am the owner & had to pay this much, i will simply buy new car. No point in investing so much on small car like Ford Freestyle, not worth it.

Any idea which is the insurance, the person opted for?
I remember the Insurance agents telling its covered under Basic FORD Preferred Coverage policy itself and the only major add-on here is NIL Depreciation Cover. Anyway I have sent an official mail to New India Assurance company (nia.710500@newindia.co.in) seeking details.

I think its always good to have a written confirmation on these things. Also the agents are pretty clever where they never respond to email and try calling and sharing details. Make it a habit of recording those calls and also send another mail as points what all discussed in the call. I'm not sure if that helps, but something is better than nothing.

Not exactly.

Here's a snap of post hydro-locked oil change when I managed to hydro-lock my Discover 100 4G while commuting interstate between Kerala and Karnataka.



When Oil+Water goes through the gerotor oil pump it gets emulsified. Hence why the best practice to change fluids at the earliest.

I'd not blame the OP cause from what I've seen people do worse when they get panicky.

In the above case when I was draining the Air Filter, Carburetor and Cylinder by the side of the road, another individual on a Bullet who managed to hydro-lock his machine as well tried to stand on the kicker in hopes that the engine would turn. Even though it is commonsense that Water cannot be compressed like AFR people tend to do so in absolute panic.

Then there is also misinformation, many of you might have seen the WhatsApp forward of YouTuber Abhinav Bhatt with his ADV390 upside down, rotating the rear wheel in neutral.

Regards,
A.P.

If the engine didn't crank, how'd the hydro-lock happen ? The starter motor could've gone kaput & simply failed to work to crank the engine.

An Engine seizes because water enters into the ignition chamber thru the air filter, and because water is incompressible (like the air that was supposed to come inside) the pistons bend in its attempt to crank. A few connected components do experience failure.
6.5 Lakhs to mend the hydro-locked engine of a car that costs ₹8.5L - 9L as a whole is, to put it mildly, unbelievable. Even a new engine block replacement couldn't cost that much.

I don't believe that the reduction to ₹3L would've happened out of someone's large hearted generosity. It'd only have happened when the owner would've fought tooth and nail to prove he wasn't liable & since the ASC would've already opened the engine, he wouldn't have been able to prove that the car couldn't have seized/hydro-locked since it didn't crank.

I'm NOT being cynical, IMHO, off late I've read of plenty cases of car ASCs trying to prey on owners for inflating repair bills.

Hehe! This brings back fond memories of the 800.

I am scared to go anywhere near the new fangled sensors that crowd the engine bay these days.

More to the point of this thread, I generally ensure that hydrostatic lock protection is present on my vehicle insurance policies. I stay in Bombay/Bhubaneswar, both prone to water logging.

Indispensable, and foolish to avoid if you inhabit Bengal/Odisha etc.

Insurers make money when they don't pay you, ergo, they will not pay you if they can help it.

The engine protection cover, key replacement cover, return to invoice is listed separately as an add-on and would be mentioned in the premium break-up based on my experience, I buy my car insurance from Maruti Insurance (cashless repairs at any A.S.C, choice of Insurance company, retention of a higher IDV for a 7-year old car as compared to Insurance aggregators and I don't have to spend any time on the claim process).

In incidents like these, the insurance company will definitely try to avoid paying as much as possible. As compared to flooding, this is a situation where the owner could have avoided driving through the water and the companies will try to use that to reject the claim completely.

It is wise to spend a few minutes reading the policy wording before buying an insurance policy. A buyer can get an idea of the coverage and the claim process and make an informed decision accordingly. While buying a policy for my motorcycle earlier this year, I found that insurers have a select few garages where they provide cashless repairs, some offer a much lower IDV than the others, the damages caused due to an act of war (external aggression, terrorism etc.) or nuclear weapons are not covered under insurance (just two examples out of many exceptions to the policy).

First of all (this is for all those out there who inch slowly into deep water) please make sure you keep the revs up (burn the clutch if you have to) in order to drive out of the water as briskly as possible. Secondly, as many have pointed out, hydro-lock damage is an add-on which ought to be opted for; these options and other fine print details are how insurance companies operate. Lastly, simply go to a reputable independent garage in the city and cough up a lac or so to get it repaired as I doubt everything needs to be replaced. Chalk up the lac in repairs to a hard lesson learnt. It is so easy for one to procure a drivers license and buy a vehicle but more importance needs to be given to license tests conducted in order to ensure the masses are educated enough to drive their vehicle as well as share the road with other users.

Here's a video showing what leoshashi described.

watch from 2:05

No, if your insurance specially mentions the engine cover, only then it is covered.

And besides the owner is at fault here for starting the engine since starting the engine after getting water logged voids the insurance claim nonetheless.

So much is being discussed on what the insurance covers and where exactly we need to be specific when opting for insurance for our vehicle, a special thanks to all those helping hands here.
One such thing I noticed is about key replacement cover where we will be paid by insurance for loss of key. Sorry for being little off topic, how much does a key cost? And will it be different from company to company and car to car?

I am not 100% sure on this. But I faintly remember that floating code keys which are provided by Volkswagen, Skoda and other German brands start from around 18k per key.

Manufacturers who do not use floating code algorithm, there keys could be cheaper but then non floating codes are inferior technology.

Regarding insurance, key insights I would add -
Apart from zero dep, always go for 3 additional add ons -
1. Engine cover.
2. Consumables
3. Key replacement.

This ensures you never pay more than file charges during claims.

I belong to the BFS&I sector and my job involves selling and marketing of Financial products which inter-alia does include general insurance. In my limited 11 years of experience in this industry, here are my two cents:

1. Always look for the right IDV: Technically this is the maximum sum assured fixed by the Insurance Company which shall be paid upon total loss/theft of the vehicle. This amount is arrived at after factoring in the depreciation. Generally the depreciation is calculated as per the following chart:

Age of Vehicle % Depreciation for calculating IDV
Not exceeding 6 months 5%
Exceeding 6 months but not exceeding 1 year 15%
Exceeding 1 year but not exceeding 2 years 20%
Exceeding 2 years but not exceeding 3 years 30%
Exceeding 3 years but not exceeding 4 years 40%
Exceeding 4 years but not exceeding 5 years 50%

Now, when our policies lapse, what do we do? We tend to ask our A.S.S to get it done for us and in the process we end up paying higher premium, as dealers have to load their commissions and when the renewal premiums are higher and the customer is not comfortable with it, the insurance advisor from the dealer will easily reduce the IDV to reduce the premium outgo. We as customer are so hard pressed for time, that we give a go ahead thinking the premiums have reduced, without going into much detail of how the premiums were lowered? Whether voluntary deductibles are added? Whether IDV has been reduced?

2. Opting for right add-ons:

This is the most critical component to protect your car from the unforeseen exigencies which you may have to encounter during the term of policy. IMHO, following add-ons/inclusions are a must for brand new cars and cars within first 5 years of purchase:

(i) Depreciation reimbursement
(ii) RSA (if not provided by the dealer)
(iii) Consumable expenses
(iv) Engine secure
(v) Return to invoice (if offered by the insurance co.)

3. Selecting the right insurance company:

Currently the market is flooded with plethora of insurance companies, right from the big players like, ICICI, Tata, Bajaj Allianz, HDFC Ergo to smaller ones like Digit, Iffco-Tokio and then there are PSU GICs like UIC, NIC, OIC, etc. Don't simply go by the company which offers the lowest premium, always look for the claim settlement ratio (this can be accessed at IRDAI portal) https://www.irdai.gov.in/ADMINCMS/cm...DF=AR&mid=11.1

4. Doing own research online:

The car dealers tend to always overpower the customers by saying, in the event of claim you will find it difficult to get the insurance claimed and what not fancy reasons for coaxing you to buy/renew the policy from them. But, as a wishful/watchful customer it shall be our duty to save evert hard earned money of ours by not succumbing to the pressures of the dealers and look for our own options of taking insurance. The car dealers generally on a new car insurance make anywhere between Rs.4000-Rs.10,000 depending upon the model of the car.

Hence, talk to your banker and obtain a competitive quote and take policy either from them or online and save your bucks.

I hope I could add some value to the queries on insurance. I would be more than willing to assist any of our bhpians, if they have any further query with regards to insurance.

Hi Arijit

From all that you have mentioned in your post, Engine Protect does not seem to be part of your policy. However, I recommend you read your policy wordings in its entirety and look for any reference to Hydrostatic Lock, Engine Protect, etc.

I have tried to explain below:

1) OD - Own Damage. When one opts for an insurance policy on a vehicle in India, this is not a mandatory requirement per the law. OD covers for accidental damage that might occur to ones car by self or anyone authorised to drive the car holding a valid license. For eg: If one had an accident while parking the car at one's office, the damages are covered under this part of the policy.

2) TP cover - Third-party cover. This cover is mandatory for every vehicle that moves on the roads in India. TP cover, provides insurance cover to the aggrieved party, simply saying lets say the insured vehicle meets with an accident and Law/ Police clearly establish that the accident was caused due to the insured parties mistake, their insurance covers for the damages onto the other party. This also covers legal fee in case of fatal accidents where someone from the other party might end up being injured or even dead. Check the limits mentioned on your policy document.

3) Zero Dep - Protects the policy holder from depreciation of parts. Eg, lets says in Year 3, a particular part of the car would have naturally depreciated by 30%. Without this cover, the insurer would only compensate the policy holder for 70% cost of the part while the 30% is to be paid by the policy holder. With Nil Dep or Zero Dep, typically provided by insurers until the car is up to 5 (in some insurers cases 6 years old), the depreciation on parts is not accounted for and entire sum is compensated.

4) Consumables - In case of an accident, there could be consequential damages, eg Radiator liquid oozing out, AC gas from the compressor leaking out. Repair of the vehicle would need these to be refilled as-well other than fixing majorly damaged parts. Nuts, bolts, etc are covered under this cover.

5) Key Protect - If the insured person were to lose car keys or get locked out with the key inside a car. The insurer will provide assistance as required. Options could be to fetch the second key from home, etc.

6) PA cover for 5 persons - Personal Accident cover. In case of an accident resulting in a death of the insured person or someone traveling in his car, this compensation is paid out.

Hope this helps!

Regards
Kalyan