My new year 2016 started with a BANGGG . On 3rd January 2016, I was returning home from Elliot's Beach a.k.a Besant-nagar beach after a small family get-together. At the Thiruvanmiyur signal around 8:45 pm a MTC bus rear ended my Ford-Figo. Figo's back door was almost damaged and its glass shattered. Ooooopsss!!!
Luckily the traffic police there came to our rescue. He asked both the bus and our car to be parked at side. Then every passengers in be bus was asked to get down and pick other buses. Now I have called Ford-Service center to enquire how to proceed, so that I can claim from my Insurance. Though it is not Ford's job to help with my insurance, they have guided me. The Ford guy asked me to get a CSR copy from nearby police station. I have never been to police station for any reason before in my life. So I don't know the terminologies like CSR. I mentioned the same to the MTC-bus driver and he agreed to come to police station to help me with CSR. I followed the MTC-bus and we both reached the Besant Nagar Police station. The police asked me to write a letter to request a CSR copy. They said that CSR is a registration that I have requested for a FIR on the incident. Usually they are hesitant to file an FIR since it affects the station's reputation. But Police are happy to issue the CSR. For the CSR I needed to provide a copy of RC-book/Driving-license/Insurance . So I got the CSR copy on the same day i.e. 3rd January night around 10:30 pm.
On 4th Jan, I called my insurance agent and informed the same. He asked me to drop an email on the incident. He also asked me to drop the vehicle at Ford-body-shop and submit the Estimation for the repair. On 6th January, I gave the car for repair at Ford-body shop and took the estimation from them. The Ford's estimation was 50,000 INR. I travelled to the Oriental insurance agent's office and submitted a claim-form and submitted supporting documents (CSR copy / RC-copy/License-copy/Insurance). The agent mentioned if I had photos taken at the time of incident , it will be more beneficial. But somehow the CSR copy had details of the MTC bus reg-no and the time of incident. So that CSR copy is my solid proof that the incident happened.
POINT-TAKEN: In any accident, all the involved parties should first go to near by police station to report the incident and try to get FIR (if possible). Else you can get the CSR and that should be enough for the claim. I heard that CSR is for any claims less than 1 lakhs INR and FIR is needed for claims above 1 lakh INR or if any one got severe injuries or fatalities.
If the vehicle is not movable after the accident then you should call the neighboring police station and ask them to visit the spot. (In developed countries both police and the insurance agency will arrive at the stop. But in India I think the insurance agencies never show up on the spot).
Due to Chennai-floods, there were lot of cars in the Ford-body-shop and lot of claims going on with Oriental insurance too. So I knew everything will go in slow pace. In next 5 days (approx. 11 to 13th January) my Insurance-agent-arranged-"Surveyor" has visited my vehicle in the ford-body-shop and assessed the damage. Only after the "Surveyor" approves the damages and give a 'GO', the Ford-body-shop will start working on the vehicle. My "Surveyor" called me up after he visited and informed that he advised to change the entire back door. I asked how much money will I get from insurance. The "Surveyor" mentioned that he cannot say anything now and that I need to pay the full amount to Ford and then submit the final bill to him (surveyor). He will then submit the claim and process settlement.
My vehicle was delivered on 20th Jan and I got the final bills. The final bill amount was 46,391 INR. I paid the full amount. I enquired the surveyor about what documents needed. He asked me to bring a cancelled-cheque for the account to which they will deposit the claim amount and a revenue-stamp, along with the original bill. On 22nd January I met the "surveyor" and provided the bills and he wanted me to sign the final-settlement-agreement on top to the revenue-stamp. The document which I signed mentioned that I agree to accept the "untold" amount from OICL. But I did not questioned that. I just put the revenue-stamp and signed it.
After a week I called the surveyor to ask if he raised my claim and what amount they are refunding me. But he mostly did not picked the call. Lastly he picked the call once and said that he will be on 2 weeks leave and he will raise the claim once he returns back. So I called him after a week and he did not picked the call. I then called my Insurance-Agent and he said he will speak with the "surveyor". But nothing seems to have moved for 15 days after I submitted the document. So I emailed the grievance department that I have not got any Claim-ID yet from the surveyor and I cc-ed my Insurance agent too. After a week of mail communication to and fro with customer-care (grievances) my surveyor called me up (today 24th Feb) and mentioned that they have allotted 30800 INR (66% of total amount 46391 INR) and apologized for the delay. He mentioned that his assistant did not gave the compiled Claim to courier as he was sick. But I did not wanted all those stories. It is the surveyor's duty to co-ordinate everything. I think that without follow-up my claim would have lost (most likely). I guess that in next two weeks they should deposit the amount to my account. Lets see.
POINT TAKEN: You need to "follow up" with the claim to get it settled. Or else you might end up forgetting that you have raised one. Email the customer care and include your agent's email too. That brings more visibility.
