I told my agent about the incident and he said that the car needs to be non-accidental when he takes it to the RTO for inspection.
The above image is for illustrative purposes only.
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Insurance claim even when the registration has expired – My 15-year-old Ford Fiesta TDCI
The Background
Sharing my experience of getting an insurance claim for my ‘Expired Registration’ vehicle.
After driving my 2008 Ford Fiesta for 15 years, this car has become more of an emotion. Since I have another daily drive, this car is a ‘lucky drive’ or ‘I need luck today’ sort of feeling. I take it out mostly during those days. It has been with us during thick and thin and hence it’s a family member for us. Especially for my 8-year-old son.
I was lazy enough to get it registered and somehow 2 months passed, and my registration expired. I contacted a local agent in Pune, and he said he would get everything done for me, the only thing he asked was I would have to give him my car for a day, and he will take it for inspection to the RTO.
The not so Lucky Day
Now one (not so) fine day I was coming back from the office and it was drizzling around 7:30 PM, and a loading auto coming from the wrong side scraped it from the right-hand side. And it was a big dent I tell you. Driver side door got damaged, side mirror broke and fell down, and there were a few dents here and there on the back door and above the fender.
The Dilemma
Needless to say, the auto driver disappeared by the time I did a U-turn. I was on backfoot anyway, due to my Expired Registration, so didn’t put much effort into finding him.
Disappointed, I went home and saw the car closely and took some photos. I started searching all over the forum / internet about if I can still claim my valid insurance. Because when I called my agent and told him about this, he said the car needs to be non-accidental when he takes it for the inspection to RTO.
A lot of articles said that we could still claim the insurance before 2021 however, there has been a judgement by the Supreme Court – As per Sections 39 and 192 that a Valid Registration is required or else it’s a breach of the policy.
I did go to some local shops for repair, but the estimate given was too high. Also, the parts availability (it’s a Ford) wasn’t certain.
Smiles
Finally, I just tried my luck and went to Talera Ford in Pune. They said we could take a chance on the claim but can’t guarantee it.
Left my car and was waiting to hear back from them, finally, I got a call from the insurance company that the inspection has been done and work will start now. I confirmed with the Ford body shop, and they said I can get my car in 4 days.
The day came when I got a call from them again and was asked to pick up my vehicle in the evening. The service advisor kept me updated all these days and used to send photos of the work in progress.
I picked my vehicle, work was nicely done and brought smiles to our entire family (Believe me, this Car is closer to us than my 2021 – A4).
Hope this helps.
Keyword: Insurance claim for my accidental Ford Fiesta with expired registration