Getting your license in the mail is one of the most amazing feelings in the world. It means you can legally drive your car in India! Now, long drives and road trips are no longer just a dream! In all this excitement, many novice drivers seem to forget one thing – along with a driver’s license, having a valid car insurance policy is also mandatory as per the law.
If you drive without a car insurance policy, you could be fined and even face jail time of up to 6 months! Moreover, since you are new to driving, just any insurance policy might not cut it. To begin with, you should consider getting a comprehensive car insurance policy. This will provide compensation in case your car is damaged or totally written due an accident, theft or other man-made and natural calamities.
You can also consider including certain add-ons to your plan that will widen the scope of your policy and give you more protection on and off the road. If you aren’t sure which add-ons to opt for, you’ve come to exactly the right place – the following article will quickly go over some important add-ons young drivers should purchase along with their car insurance plans.
1. Roadside assistance.
Cars have the tendency of breaking down at all the wrong times. You could be driving to an important meeting or on a deserted patch of highway and suddenly your car decides to give up! Being a new driver, the situation could cause you to panic. However, with road assistance, you just have to call your insurance provider and they will send help. This could be in the case of mechanical failure, a flat tyre or even if you just run out of fuel, one call and help will be on its way!
2. NCB protector.
New drivers are generally very safe. They do not want anything to happen to their car and so they are extra careful while driving. This ensures that they almost never have to make a claim. The best part here is that, when you do not make a claim against your policy, the insurance provider rewards you with a discount on your premium known as No Claim Bonus or NCB. Continue with your claim-free record for long enough and the discount you receive could be as much as 50%.
However, if you make even a single claim, your NCB discount is completely wiped out and your original premiums are restored. This is quite sad considering that you have driven your car safely and avoided making a claim for so long! Well, you can avoid this by opting for the NCB protector. This will keep your NCB discount intact even after you make a claim against your car insurance policy.
3. Zero-depreciation insurance.
As your car gets older, its value and the value of its parts also decreases. In fact, after just 6 months, the value the value of your car would have decreased by 15%. And after 2 years, it will decrease by 30%. This reduction in value of your car is known as depreciation. Now, in case of a claim, you receive compensation based on the depreciated value of your car.
This can seem unfair considering that, even after 2 years, your car would still look and feel new to you! Well, no worries, you can still get the complete value of your car in case of a claim. All you have to do is add the zero-depreciation add-on to your car! Considering that you are a new driver, the chances of damages are slightly higher, but with this add-on, you can restore your car to its mint condition at minimal out-of-pocket expenses.
These were 3 add-ons new and young drivers should consider. Hope this has been helpful, good luck and drive safe!
