Brezza declared "total loss" by insurance company: We have a few doubts

It was raining heavily and an overspeeding Renault Duster hit my friend's Maruti Brezza which swerved and fell into a ditch upside down.

BHPian Centodieci recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Hi,

This unfortunate incident happened to my friend a week back while he was returning from a family outing. He was travelling with his full family in a 2021 Maruti Vitara Brezza AT and it was raining heavily on the highway due to which visibility was limited.

Suddenly an overspeeding Duster tried to cut from his left and due to lack of judgement hit the Vitara on the left hindquarters. Vitara immediately swerved horizontally 3-4 times and fell into a ditch at the side of the road after turning upside down. Thankfully, due to the fantastic build quality of Brezza and oodles of good luck, the whole family escaped unhurt other than a few minor scratches.

The speed of Duster was around 110 kmph as admitted by the owner in the Police station whereas Vitara was being driven at normal speed. As of now, the vehicle has been released from the Police station and insurance formalities have started for getting the Vehicle declared as a total loss. We wanted to have a few doubts cleared from the learned members here if they faced something similar in past:

• The airbags of Vitara did not open up in the accident although the occupants were buckled up. I understand that the vehicle was hit from the left but shouldn't the airbags be deployed when the vehicle fell in the ditch? We have mailed Maruti regarding this but no reply received till now.
• Workshop mentioned that IDV would be paid after the deduction of the GST amount from the IDV value. Is it a standard practice or are they trying to fleece us?
• Insurance mentioned about Salvage but that will be paid as part of total IDV settlement and not on top of that.
• The workshop will be charging parking at 300/day although they have kept the car on the main road covered with transparent plastic. Is it a standard amount to be charged and will insurance cover this?

I am attaching some pictures to clarify the magnitude of the accident. Please help us in getting some insights on these points and also any dos/don'ts while dealing with insurance in these scenarios as this is the first time we are dealing with anything like this.

Here's what BHPian Turbanator had to say about the matter:

• Workshop mentioned that IDV will be paid after the deduction of the GST amount from the IDV value -  That's a new thing or perhaps your friend is not able to understand. What has GST got to do with anything? Better post your query in the Insurance thread with more details. Like what is IDV amount and what % of GST is being asked? Technically, the car should become the property of the Insurance company in such cases and they will pay you IDV value or whatever is decided. This can come as a single payment or one from Insurance and the other from salvage buyers. your friend can also bid and buy the car back in such cases and get it repaired.
• Insurance mentioned about Salvage but that will be paid as part of the total IDV settlement and not on top of that -  Yes, that's correct.
• The workshop will be charging parking at 300/day although they have kept the car on the main road covered with transparent plastic -  Yes, because they may not earn anything from all this. So usually, they will charge you for preparing the estimate and also you may incur such charges. Maybe if you are buying a new car from them, they can waive or ask the insurance company if you can move the car to your home or any other location where you can park this instead.
• Is it a standard amount to be charged and will insurance cover this? -  Most likely - NO.

Here's what BHPian ex-innova-guy had to say about the matter:

• Workshop mentioned that IDV will be paid after the deduction of the GST amount from the IDV value -   GST for what? They are liable to pay the whole IDV. It can come in instalments, i.e., a check or DD by the salvage buyer and the remaining balance by the Insurance Co.
• Insurance mentioned about Salvage but that will be paid as part of the total IDV settlement and not on top of that -   As mentioned by Turbanator, that is correct.
• The workshop will be charging parking at 300/day although they have kept the car on the main road covered with transparent plastic. Is it a standard amount to be charged and will insurance cover this? -  No, insurance doesn’t cover this. Glad they are upfront about this. My repair estimate was ~ ₹15L and they were charging 1% of the Repair Estimate in addition to parking charges. My car was parked for almost 20 days inside the dealership premises. Eventually, since we had a longstanding relationship with the dealership, they settled for ₹5000.
• The airbags of Vitara did not open up in the accident although the occupants were buckled up. I understand that the vehicle was hit from the left but shouldn't the airbags be deployed when the vehicle fell in the ditch? -  In April, an acquaintance had a similar accident in the Toyota Urban Cruiser (same car). He slept at the wheel, and the car veered into a ditch late at night. Thankfully he was belted, and airbags did deploy. He came out unscathed because of the same. In his case, they were pushing for a total loss but eventually, it is getting repaired and still is in the service centre.

Here's what BHPian speed79 had to say about the matter:

Sorry for the loss of the car. Good to know that your friend and family are safe.

I had a recent experience of a total loss of my car in an accident. As mentioned by other members, your friend will get full IDV (minus the necessary deductible of 2k) jointly from the scrap buyer and insurance. There would not be any GST deduction.

If your friend has a place to park the car, he can shift the car there after the car has been accepted for total loss, to avoid paying unnecessary parking charges. You will need to get the car deregistered before the scrap buyer takes it away. The process of deregistration might take more than a month.

Your friend can get the road tax refunded. That will be over and above the IDV amount that he would receive and would be about 70-75 percent of the road tax paid for the 2021 car.

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