Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Keep both original vehicle keys to avail of insurance claim after theft

Is it necessary to produce two original keys to an insurance company to get compensation in case a vehicle is stolen? While the insurance regulator, IRDA, doesn’t specify this and leaves it to individual companies, most of them follow this as a norm citing cases of fraudulent claims.


Even transport ministry officials said there could be cases where people may have lost one of their keys and would have got duplicate ones. “Such conditions should also be weighed while considering each case.


A senior office-bearer of Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (IRDA) said some of the companies may have formed their own norms to reduce their risk. “They must inform the vehicle owners about the conditions so that they don’t get stumped when the companies ask for the necessary documents. Consumer awareness is really inadequate.”  

Even a top executive of the General Insurance Corporation (GIC) admitted that insurance firms have failed to spread awareness about such conditions.

Govt banks on MicroDot tech to check vehicle thefts :

In a move to put a check on vehicle thefts, the government will soon notify a new standard for the automobile industry to use a technology, which involves spraying thousands of small dots laser etched with a vehicle identification number throughout the vehicle body, including their engines.

The technology named MicroDots makes it almost impossible to remove the dots since these are etched all over the vehicle and the car’s identity can be established at any stage.
The government has held a series of consultations among experts to introduce this technology, which automobile manufacturers can use. The government’s highest automobile technical standard making body, CMVR-TSC, will finalize the norm in the next one or two months, a senior transport ministry official said. The ministry has asked the experts to involve Delhi Police officials while framing the standards.
Annually about 2.14 lakh vehicles are stolen across the country with Delhi topping the list at 38,644 in 2016, which translates to more than 100 vehicles daily, followed by Uttar Pradesh (34,480) and Maharashtra (22,435).
According to the latest Delhi Police report, last year about 41,000 vehicles were stolen while the rate of recovery was around 30 vehicles a month.
Most of the vehicles stolen go untraced since auto-lifters take out the engines and other valuable parts before destroying the vehicles.
“Since almost all parts of the body inscribe the vehicle identification number or chassis number, it becomes impossible to change the identity of the stolen vehicles. Hence, the chances of their recovery increase manifold,” said a member of the CMVR-TSC.


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