Having a Car Insurance (or Motor Insurance) in India is not a choice but a rule. Under the Indian Motor Vehicles Act (1914, then revised in 1988), every car needs to be insured before it can ply on Indian roads. So whether you are buying a new car or doing a car insurance renewal, remember it is compulsory by law.
 
Car Insurance Renewal policies could be either of the following.
 
1. Third Party Policy – This covers Liability for injuries and damages to others that are caused by you or your vehicle directly or indirectly. Third Party (TP) Liability insurance is also mandatory for all vehicles.
 
2. Own Damage Policy – for damage to your own, insured, vehicle. You are eligible for this if you have taken a Comprehensive Motor Policy.
 
Ideally, when you do your car insurance renewal, you should also cover loss or damages to the vehicle itself through a Comprehensive/Package policy, which covers both “Third Party Liability” as well as “Own Damage (OD)” to the insured vehicle, in addition to loss from natural or man-made calamities.
 
There is now a new Bill getting introduced which makes doing your car insurance renewal even more important. Earlier, the penalty for not having a car insurance renewal was a paltry Rs. 1,000. But according to the rules once implemented, any person caught not having a valid car insurance policy will be fined a huge Rs. 75,000!   😮    We are sure you don’t want to be that person on the wrong side of law, do you?
 
So we hope we have convinced you to buy a car insurance or do a car insurance renewal, if you were not convinced already. Once most of us reach this stage, we call our insurance agent or go online to compare premiums. That’s not bad at all, but a more important thing is to find out is what percentage of claims is paid out by which company so that you can choose a company with not just low premium and but with a better chance of claim approval. After all, that is the essence of doing a car insurance renewal, right?
 
So here is the list of claim settlement ratios for motor insurance in India for the period 2013-2014. Please note that this includes Private Car, Two Wheeler and Commercial Vehicles. This is the best indicator available today, based on data published by the IRDA.
 
CLAIMS SETTLEMENT RATIOS For Motor Insurance (Own Damage)
 
Click anywhere on the image to see it full screen.
 

 
The top companies on Claim Settlement Ratio for Motor Insurance with >85% approval rate for 2013-2014 are :

1. Future Generali General Insurance
2. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance
3. New India Assurance Company
4. IFFCO Tokio General Insurance
5. ICICI Lombard General Insurance
6. Bharti Axa General Insurance
7. National Insurance Company
8. Tata AIG General Insurance
9. HDFC Ergo General Insurance

These should be your preferred companies for Car Insurance Renewal, whether you buy it online or through your agent.
 
CLAIMS SETTLEMENT RATIOS For Motor Insurance (Third Party Liability)
 
Most claims in India are Own Damage claims. It is believed that most claimants prefer to go for Own Damage claims even if there is a third party involed in an accident. Third Party claims generally take longer time to settle than Own Damage claims because of more paperwork and investigation. Having said that it is still always better to have a Comprehensive Insurance package that includes Third Party liability. This is because you could always be part of a large accident which could have considerable damage to your vehicle as well as other vehicles and people, and you could be the reason for it. If you do not have Comprehensive cover, there could be very large liabilities on you. As we mentioned earlier, TP is also mandatory in India.
 
Claims Settlement Ratios for Motor Insurance (Third Party damages) are poor because of high settlement time and higher rejections. You can view it here.
 
So consider all the above information before you do your car insurance renewal.