Reassess your insurance coverage as disasters now recur more frequently

• Follow

Priceless lives and assets worth crores of rupees have been lost due to floods in Kerala and Uttarakhand a few days apart this week. The frequency at which disasters like floods have struck is alarming. It also serves as a wake-up call to reassess our insurance requirements as experts have cautioned that chances of disasters recurring more frequently are higher because of climate change. Reassessing life insurance coverage, of course, is the top-most priority. Who all should be covered, what type of life policy is required, what should be the sum assured, these and other aspects need re-evaluation from insured and non-insured person’s point of view. Similarly, motor insurance and home insurance coverage also need a re-look. Just take at the viral videos of floods doing the rounds. Buildings are collapsing like a pack of cards and cars are floating in floodwaters.

How well-placed are you to meet the eventualities if a disaster like this strikes your place? Most of us, in fact, are ill-prepared and under-insured to overcome the losses that may arise due to a calamity like floods or landslides. Car insurance is a perfect example.

The damages to the car due to floods or landslides can be devastating. If you have opted for a third-party-only insurance cover, you expect no compensation whatsoever.

If it is a comprehensive car insurance policy, certain types of water damages are covered, depending on the cause. For example, comprehensive coverage pays for repairs or replacements. However, if the car engine is damaged, it is most unlikely that you will get compensated by comprehensive insurance coverage. Remember, it will cost of lakhs of rupees to repair the engine of even entry-level cars. The importance of reading and understating the terms and conditions of your policy cannot be overemphasized here. Car owners do have the option of buying an engine cover add-on along with the comprehensive insurance package.

As mechanics would explain it, during heavy rain imperfect sealing of windows, doors, and skylights can allow water to enter your vehicle. A total loss could occur if the car is submerged car in floodwater. Certain comprehensive policies may compensate with something similar to the worth of the car at the time of the incident.

It is pertinent to note here that damage suffered by the car engine while attempting to start the vehicle that is submerged will not be covered in the Comprehensive Car Insurance.

Thus, car insurance alone has many nuances attached to it when it comes to coverage of damages caused by natural calamity. It is advisable to boost the base policy with the add-on covers, like the engine protection cover.