Roads are unpredictable; an unfortunate incident involving your car cannot be ruled out. If this happens, you are already under tremendous stress. This can be aggravated if you have to open your wallet significantly to pay for car repair bills at a garage. Your car insurance company will reimburse the amount later after much scrutiny. But there is a way out. Digit, India’s leading car insurance policy provider, offers you the benefit of cashless insurance.
You can avail of all benefits of a car insurance policy without paying anything out of your pocket beforehand. There is no scope for cheating or any discrepancy as the entire cashless claim settlement process is digital. The norms stipulated by the IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) govern the cashless process. The toll-free helpline of Digit is available round the clock, even on national holidays. This article will delve into the cashless process offered by Digit Insurance in this post.
Cashless Car Insurance from Digit
Digit General Insurance has 5800+ affiliated garages across India. After an accident, you simply need to get your car repaired in one of these garages.
The cashless process features include:
- The garage will send the repair bills for your car directly to Digit.
- Digit will take care of the bill settlement.
- The nominal cost of deductibles (if you don’t have consumable car insurance add-on) and depreciation (if you haven’t bought zero depreciation car insurance add-on) will have to be borne by you.
The cashless process is easy, stress-free, and quick. It excludes:
- Repair of damages that are not covered in the standard policy.
For example, engine damage due to water ingression can be rectified in a cashless manner unless you have bought an engine protection add-on.
Digit Cashless Insurance Process Explained
Digit has entered into strategic partnerships with leading motor repair garages and service centres across India. Such service centres authorised by Digit are termed as ‘Network Garages’. After an accident, you can take advantage of such a garage for free car repair.
You can follow the steps outlined below to start the cashless repair process if you hold a Digit car insurance policy.
- Find a garage nearest to your location by visiting ‘https://www.godigit.com/garages’
- Call Digit on its toll-free number 1800-258-5956 (available 24X7 and on public holidays) to notify the insurer of the accident.
- No paperwork is needed.
- A self-inspection link will be sent to your registered mobile number.
- After installing the application from the link, you will be guided step by step regarding capturing the car’s damages through your smartphone.
- You will be provided with two options – Reimbursement or Cashless.
- Select Cashless, visit the cashless garage closest to you and avail of free repairs within the scope of your car insurance policy.
- You can request Digit to pick up the damaged car from your doorstep and drop it back there after repairing it (Digit offers six months repair warranty for this service).
- Hand over the policy paper or its soft copy to the network garage.
- Engineers over there would inspect your car to ascertain the extent of damage and repair work expenses.
- Once the repairs are done satisfactorily, you can take possession of the car as the bills would be sent by the garage directly to Digit.
- Digit will settle all bills except the depreciation and deductibles-related charges.
- Enhance the protection coverage of your insurance by opting for Digit’s engine protection, consumable cover or zero dep car insurance add-ons.
If no authorised cashless garage is present in your close proximity, you can get the car repaired at any workshop. You need to remember the points outlined below for this facility.
- Intimate Digit about the workshop’s address.
- Ask the workshop to raise repair-related invoices in the name of Digit.
- Digit will pay the workshop 80% of the estimated repair cost as an advance payment.
- After the repair is complete, Digit will settle the remaining bill directly with the workshop after factoring out depreciation and deductibles charges.
Depreciation Aspect of Cashless Process
Your car’s ex-showroom price keeps decreasing due to the wear and tear the car's components are subjected to. Once you drive the car out of the showroom, its value depreciates by 5%.
The depreciation cost is governed by the rules laid down by the IRDAI, the insurance regulatory body. The rates at which various parts depreciate have been outlined below.
- 50% - For components or spare parts made of rubber or plastic, tyres, tubes, batteries and other parts experiencing high wear and tear.
- 30% - For parts made of fibreglass.
- 0-50% (Variable depending on car’s age)- Parts manufactured out of metal.
Deductibles Aspect of Cashless Repair
A deductible is a cost to be borne by the insured before the insurer settles the remaining expenses associated with repairing the damaged vehicle. The application of the deductible is made on a ‘per claim’ basis. For example, if the damage repair cost is INR 1,00,000 and the deductible charge comes at INR 15,000, Digit will only bear repair costs worth INR 85,000.
Deductibles fall under two categories:
- Compulsory
- Voluntary
At the time of car insurance renewal online or fresh purchase, you can specify the quantum of deductible you are ready to bear. Accordingly, the value of the car insurance premium will vary. This deductible will have to be paid from your pocket for every car insurance claim during the policy period.
For compulsory deductible, the IRDAI has set the value based on the four-wheeler engine’s cubic capacity (CC). Deductible value is:
- INR 1,000 for engines up to 1500 CC
- INR 2,000 for engines above 1500 CC
Voluntary deductible refers to:
- The repair amount you agree to pay from your pocket if an accident happens, which otherwise Digit would have paid.
This lessens the risk liability of the insurer, and the advantage is passed on to you in the form of a cheaper car insurance premium. However, your cost liability increases if your car meets with an accident. You can always recoup the expense borne during subsequent years by availing of the NCB (No-Claim Bonus), which ranges from 20% to 50% of insurance premium value. NCB starts one year after the insurance claim year.
Conclusion
Digit’s cashless car insurance policy removes the hassle of repairs after an accident. Zero paperwork and direct settlement of charges by Digit ensure you enjoy absolute peace of mind. You can avail of excellent service with complete transparency.
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