With online services ruling the roost, insurance companies also have come up with the provision for people to buy their products online. Yes, you can now buy your car insurance online, right from the comfort of your bed.
Now, you may wonder whether it is safe. Well, we are here to answer just that and the benefits of buying car insurance online.
How Safe is the Online Process?
While buying a car insurance policy offline, you interact with a physical insurance agent or someone from the car insurance company and you know that it is real. However, when you buy it online, safety and authenticity concerns can come into the picture.
So, the best thing to do is to make sure that the online website you buy from is of a company that has been registered with the IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India). IRDAI issues a registration number for every approved company that can sell insurance.
Check for this before making the deal!
Also, here are a few warning signs that you should probably have in your head to avoid falling prey to fake insurance providers.
- Counterfeit offers – If you see any suspicious offer that is too good to be true then that is your first warning sign. If the website asks for your bank details, then call up the customer care support of the company to check whether it is required to buy a policy. Most bank thefts happen this way by acquiring your bank details.
- Inaccurate information – If you find any discrepancies in the details of the insurance company or the plan itself then you should not do any deal in such cases.
- No payment receipts – If you do not get any official payment receipts for your purchase of the policy then you should cross-check once again for the authenticity of the company. If you find it to be a fake company then you can file a case against them.
- No signature – If your final insurance papers do not have a sign from an authorised signatory then those papers are not valid and fake. So, check for a signature under your policy papers.
Benefits of Buying Car Insurance Online
1. No commission charges – One of the biggest advantages of buying insurance online is that you can save a lot of money on premiums as you no longer have to pay any commission costs. If you are buying a comprehensive car insurance policy with substantial add-ons, you can end up saving thousands of rupees on commission every year.
2. Safer payments – Since all the payments are done through safe payment gateways, you can rest assured of keeping your money safe. Any possibility of a loss of money or misconduct during your transaction is ruled out. You can do the payment through a valid credit or debit card or through e-banking and some e-wallets as well.
3. Time saving and cost-cutting – You no longer have to visit the insurance company to fill the forms and make payments or schedule meetings to meet your insurance agent. You can simply buy the policy at the time and place of your choice. This not only saves you a lot of time but money as well on the commute.
4. Easily manageable – Now, you no longer have to worry about the expiry date or deadlines on premium payments. Everything is sorted through your online account created on the website. You can simply login to your account and access all the details related to your policy. You can even take the printout of your policy from here.
5. Minimal paperwork – Another huge benefit of buying car insurance online is that there is absolutely next to zero paperwork. You just need to scan your documents and upload them on the portal and you are sorted. Moreover, there is no possibility of the insurance agent losing your file. Once the documents are uploaded, they will stay there unless you want it to be taken down.
6. Multiple deals and options – When you buy it online, you can easily compare multiple policies and select the one that gives you the best deal. When you compare different options, make sure that you read their customer reviews as well, so that you know the quality of the services provided by the company.
For example-Jatin wants to buy a car insurance policy hence did not know which insurance agent to visit. Then his brother suggested him to compare and check car insurance policies online. When he entered his query online, he was surprised to see as a plethora of car insurance quotes from various insurers came in front of his screen. He compared the prices and coverage offered by insurance companies online hence in just a few minutes, he selected an ideal insurance policy, meeting his requirements. Jatin was super happy to use the online service as it not only saved his time but allowed him to save money as well. Yes, now he did not have to pay the commission charges to any insurance agent.
7. Get the policy in a couple of minutes – Yes, you read it right. Once you have made the final decision of going with a particular policy and company, you can get your insurance approved in a matter of minutes. You no longer have to wait for days like is the case with offline methods. Here, you just need to make the payment and within minutes you will get a confirmation on your email ID. You can then take out the printout of the insurance for immediate purposes.
Conclusion
In this day and age where we buy almost everything from online sources, we can surely buy insurance policies as well with the same mindset. You just need to be wary of the warning signs mentioned above.
