In this article, I will share some powerful tips that may help you to avoid buying a fake car insurance policy. Many people get fooled by some fake company or fraud agents every year. Most of the time people get victims of fake car insurance because they buy without proper precautions. Even in many cases, people don’t know that they are buying a fake car insurance policy.
Mostly, they realize this when they file any claim and the claim gets rejected. This is very disheartening when your claim gets rejected because you have paid the required premium for the policy.
However, you are not getting a claim because your policy is not genuine. You need to be very aware and cautious while purchasing car insurance and make sure that you are not buying a fake car insurance policy. You need to be safe whether you purchase your policy online or offline.
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Tips to Avoid Buying a Fake Car Insurance
A car insurance policy is just a piece of paper until you required any claim from the company. Fake car insurance policies are sold by some fake agents or unauthorized agents by providing you with fake policy documents. They take your money and give you some duplicate or fake policy documents which are not valid in actuality.
Fake car insurance agents may target you online and offline both. Mostly they do fraud by taking cash or by providing fake car insurance links. You have to be very careful when you buy a motor insurance policy. Following are some important tips that can help you to avoid buying a fake car insurance policy.
1- Avoid Paying Cash Premium
You should avoid giving cash premiums to the insurance agent. Today we are living in an era of technological advancement. Every motor insurance company is providing online premium payment options. Even some companies are providing payment through wallets also.
If you have paid a cash premium then normally fake agents don’t give you any receipt. If they provide it then it will be a fake receipt. In this case, you may not be able to prove to legal authorities that you have paid the premium. But if you have paid the premium online then it will be easy for you to prove that you have paid the premium.
Cyber police and insurance companies will also be in a better position to do something to track the fraud agents. Try to avoid cash premiums. If you want to pay the premium in cash only then you should go to the branch of the company directly. Or you should pay a cash premium if you are 100% sure about your insurance agent.
2- Verify Your Policy
Some people don’t verify their policy after purchasing it and this mistake is done by a lot of people in India. Prevention is better than cure. It will not take so much time to verify your policy from the company. After doing this small activity you will be sure about your car insurance policy in the early stage. If a policy is genuine then it is fine but what if it is a fake car insurance policy?
Suppose you purchase a car insurance policy and you didn’t verify it. After 8 months your car gets damaged in a road accident and there is a claim of Rs. 1.5 lakh. But suddenly you got to know that the policy you bought is fake car insurance.
It will be very shocking to you. Now you have to bear all the costs from your own pocket. But if you find the authenticity of your policy in an early stage then you can take appropriate action.
3- Pay Premium Through Online/Cheque etc
You have multiple options to pay the premium. You can deposit your premium by cheque, online, or through wallets. These modes of payment are better than cash. You should be cautious about these payment tools also. Nothing is 100% safe.
You should never give any blank cheques to your insurance agent. Always fill in all the fields like amount, insurance company name, date, etc in the cheque. Most importantly, you should fill out the cheque by yourself and with your pen.
Whenever you pay the premium online be sure that you are paying the premium to a genuine insurance company. Make sure that you are paying through a genuine payment link and that it is not any fraud.
4- Avoid Clicking on Every Link
Maybe you are getting many emails regarding car insurance discount offer on a regular basis. Be careful and don’t click on every link you get in your email box. Maybe some of them are genuine and some may be frauds also.
Before clicking on any link given in your email please double-check that it is genuine. A single click on the fraud link may redirect you to a fake car insurance premium payment link. Or you can get some other financial hit.
5- Use of QR Code
QR code is printed on every car insurance policy you purchase. IRDA has made it mandatory to provide a QR code on every insurance policy. You can download the QR code reading app from your app store. You can verify the authenticity of the policy by using the QR code printed on your car insurance policy.
When you will scan the QR code of your policy through the app, you will see the details of your policy on the web page. You can also verify your policy through the verification link of the insurance company also. For this, you can contact your insurance company.
6- Check the Authenticity of Your Insurance Agent
There are a lot of insurance agents in the industry. Many people prefer to buy insurance policies through insurance agents in India. It is your responsibility to have some precautions. Please be sure that the agent is genuine from whom you are purchasing your insurance policy.
Please ask for an identity card from the agent and may also verify directly from the company also. If you are buying from the agent for the first time then you need to be sure that the person is an authorized agent of the company. If you are buying from your regular known agent then in this case risk is less and very less chance of getting a fake car insurance policy.
7- Avoid Wrong No Claim Bonus Declaration
While buying a car insurance policy don’t forget to check the details of your no-claim bonus in your policy. Sometimes agents provide you with a wrong no-claim bonus to make your policy cheaper. Sometimes it may be by mistake also.
But You should get the right NCB discount in the policy. Suppose you have a claim in the policy but your agent gives you a discount of no claim bonus.
In that case, normally the company will send you a recovery for the amount. But in case you miss depositing the premium then your claim will get rejected if any. The company may also cancel your policy because of claiming the wrong no-claim bonus by you. So be sure that you are taking a policy with the correct details.
8- Private Vehicle vs Commercial Vehicle
The commercial car insurance premium is normally higher than private car insurance. You should check the details of the policy that you have purchased the right kind of policy. Sometimes agent provides you private car insurance policy rather than a commercial one. It is because of making a cheaper premium. Sometimes it may be because of mistakes and a lack of proper communication also.
Conclusion – Avoid Buying a Fake Car Insurance
Buying a motor insurance policy is a very important decision. If you buy a comprehensive car insurance policy or only a third party, you need to have proper precautions. Verify your policy at the moment and don’t postpone it for later. Any rejection of a claim due to a fake policy may give you a big shock later. To avoid buying a fake car insurance policy, you need to be alert while buying a policy. make sure that you are not becoming fooled by any fake agent and not buying fake car insurance.
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