Mr Mahavir Chopra and Bonsai InsuranceMall.in features in the Economic Times again.

Click your way to the right car cover - By Vidyalaxmi, Economic Times

News and Reviews - The next time you want to insure your car, you don’t have to buy what your car dealer gives you. Just like makemytrip.com or yatra.com, which claim to give cheap air fares and economical travel packages, these online insurance websites claim to give the cheapest premium for your car insurance.

There are three insurance shopping websites now. They are www.InsuranceMall.in, click2insure.in and Insurancepandit.com. These websites collate the premiums of insurance policies from various insurers and give you all the information at the click of a mouse.

Offline to Online agent

The difference between the two options is much more than two alphabets. Usually, the car dealer sells an insurance cover along with the car model, as he has a tie-up with an insurer. But this actually works more in favour of the dealer than the car buyer, industry players say.

The dealer earns a commission for selling a particular insurance policy. The insurer passes this commission cost on to the policy holders as a premium cost. Usually, new cars benefit as most dealers offer a good deal on insurance by providing either free or one rupee insurance.

Says Insurance Mall chief financial officer (Head eBusinesses) Mahavir Chopra: ”Any day, car dealers have an advantage as a point of sale than insurance aggregators. Now, many dealers even bundle up the insurance policy as a freebie for the first year from the date of purchase of the car. Then it becomes hassle-free for customers to sign for the insurance cover.”

But now, with the online aggregators coming in, those with old cars can also get competitive rates. If the insurance cover is available free of cost for the first year, then the dealer loads the commission cost at the time of renewal of the policy. So it’s always better to do some window shopping before you sign the dotted line,” Mr Chopra advises.

Modus operandi

The process of online buying is as simple as it sounds. All it takes is just a desktop and few clicks to sign up for a policy online. After you log on to any of these shopping websites, you have to key in the relevant information. Then, the site lists the available options.

You have choose a plan and swipe your credit card or use internet banking to carry out the transaction. These websites also have detailed insurance brochures online.

In the case of car insurance, the online broker will courier a scanned cover note with the insurance company’s stamp and the seal.

A cover note is a temporary certificate of insurance issued by the insurer before the issuance of a policy after you submit the form and have paid the premium.

This cover note is valid for 60 days from the date of issue of the cover note and the insurer issues the original certificate of insurance before the cover note expires. This becomes a crucial document for availing of no-claim bonus as well as for renewing the policy in absence of the original document.

Things to remember

These websites sell only general insurance products.

Experts say they need a human interface to sell a life insurance product. Says Optima Insurance Brokers CEO & CEO, click2insure.in Rahul Aggarwal: “For complex products like Ulips, a customer will require one-to-one interaction and some consultation with the broker. It’s always easier to sell a consumption product like motor insurance or mediclaim online.”

Differentiation between online brokers and lead generation websites

Apart from these online shopping websites there are some lead generation websites like www.apnainsurance.com and www .getmeinsure.com. When you log on to any of these sites you have to enter your insurance requirements and contact details. The website forwards all the relevant information to an insurer, who they feel, fits your bill.

How does no-claim bonus work online?

If you haven’t made a single claim for a period of one year, the insurer rewards you with a discount at the time of the policy renewal. This discount in the premium is 20% for the first year, 35% for the second year, 50% for the third year and 65% for the fourth year onwards. The value of the discount depends upon the insurance claims you have made in that particular year.

To claim this bonus, you have to scan and send the cover note to the insurance website and it will do the needful.

Claim settlement and tale of two cities

This issue comes into play only when you sign up with a public sector insurance company as their operations are still not centralised unlike their private sector counterparts. If you are residing in Mumbai and the car insurance policy has been originated from Delhi, the documents will be despatched to Delhi every time you make a claim. That delays the entire claim settlement process. However, this problem does not surface for motor insurance as cashless garages are more common today, Mr Chopra adds.

Renewal of policy

You can renew your policy online even if you would have originally bought a policy from your car dealer. Like the first time buyer you have to key in the relevant information and sign up for the policy that suits your requirement. The online shopping website will courier the scanned copy of a cover note and subsequently replace it with the original policy document. The cover note is the actual proof in your hands till you get the original document.

Most of these websites have secured payment gateways to carry out online transactions. Also look for the on the web browser screen, which ensures that it’s a secure site. Then buying a car insurance policy from the dealer and chasing him every year can be a task. In case of these websites you can shop what you want at a time that suits you. So exercise your diligence and make the online shopping experience safe convenient and secured.

ET News, June 10 2008 by VidyaLaxmi