What is Depreciation Shield in Car Insurance?

The government of India has made Car Insurance mandatory in India. Yet, people around the country carry fake insurance papers to fool the authority. What they don't realise is that it causes them more harm than anyone else. Buying a valid Car Insurance online is as important as fastening your seat belt. Car Insurance Coverage

• Your Car Insurance will shield you against loss or damage that occur due to natural calamities like floods, earthquakes, landslides, lightening, fires and hurricane. Many Indians live in regions that are prone to catastrophic natural events.
• It will protect your car against theft or damage arising from malicious human actions.
• You don't have to worry about any third-party legal liabilities due to your third party Car Insurance.
• Repair costs and parts replacement expenses will be covered by your comprehensive policy.
• Coverage can be obtained for your co-passengers also - an excellent way to protect your near and dear ones.

Zero Depreciation Cover It's crucial for customers to know that their general Car Insurance will not provide full reimbursements. For example, if the repair costs of your Car is Rs.1 lakh, then your normal Car Insurance will only provide Rs.70, 000 and the remaining difference of Rs.30, 000 should be paid out of your pocket. If you want to avoid shelling out extra money at all costs, then zero depreciation cover is the right selection for you. Opting for this cover would provide you with reimbursement, which doesn't factor in your depreciating car value, thereby greatly reducing your financial burden. So basically, a zero depreciation cover will help you shield yourself from paying high costs during claim settlement. There are variety of Car Insurance policies available for customers in India with zero depreciation cover being one of them. Let's consider the difference between standard Insurance policy and zero depreciation cover in the following table.

Parameters	Regular Health Insurance	Standard Car Insurance
Claim settlement	Full claim settlement through a hassle-free process	Insurance Claim amount is determined by the current market value of your car, which factors in depreciation
Premium	High	Low
Repairing costs and plastic fibre	Your insurance company will bear most of the cost under the zero depreciation cover. You would have to pay for any non-payable components.	You will have to bear the cost
Age of the car	Generally covers only new cars	Can be taken for a car that is more than 3 years old

  Important Factors to be Considered before Choosing Zero Depreciation Car Insurance

• The premium for a Car Insurance policy with zero depreciation cover will be higher than standard policies. This is because it's a comprehensive policy that does not factor in depreciation.
• Regarding the zero depreciation cover, there is an upper limit to the number of claims a customer can file per year. This is done to discourage policyholders from making claims for minor issues. Make sure to enquire about the number of claims provided by your insurer along with the maximum claim amount.
• Zero depreciation cover - in most cases - is only available for new cars. This is because paying a high premium for a car that's 5 plus years old just doesn't make any sense.

A new car is eligible to receive 100% replacement cost for the first year only. Keeping this in mind, car owners should consider opting for a zero depreciation cover policy from the 2nd year. Make sure that your Car Insurance coverage is extensive so that you can avail maximum number of benefits and optimize your policy further to avail low car insurance quotes .