Deepak Yohannan MyInsuranceClub.com
Since a car is such a precious possession, we always try to keep it safe. Therefore motor insurance is not only mandatory, it is also a complete necessity. However, you have to be careful while selecting the kind of motor insurance as different categories cover different needs. There are primarily two kinds of motor insurance – third party insurance and comprehensive insurance and while deciding which one you want, you must be clear about the advantages of each as well as your own requirements. Take a look at this article to get a comparison of both.
The two kinds of motor insurance:
Like mentioned above, motor insurance is broadly categorized into two parts – third party and comprehensive. Let us understand what each stands for.
a) Third party motor insurance – Third party motor insurance is a basic insurance that will cover the damages caused due to your fault to another vehicle and its passengers. Under this kind of a plan, your vehicle will not be covered.
b) Comprehensive motor insurance – Comprehensive motor insurance covers the damages caused to the third party vehicle as well as to your vehicle, in additional to the damages caused to the passengers in both vehicles. Your vehicle is also covered for any damage resulting from fire, theft, accident, natural calamities and so on.
What they coverTo understand what each type of the above mentioned insurance policies cover, take a look at the tables:
THIRD PARTY INSURANCE (in case of an accident due to policyholder’s fault, causing damage to another vehicle)
| Kind of Damage | Protection |
| Own vehicle | × |
| Other vehicle | √ |
| Injury to self | × |
| Injury to passenger in own vehicle | √ |
| Injury to driver of other vehicle | √ |
| Injury to passenger in other vehicle | √ |
| Damage to own vehicle due to fire | × |
| Damage to own vehicle due to attempted theft | × |
| Theft | × |
| Kind of Damage | Protection |
| Own vehicle | √ |
| Other vehicle | √ |
| Injury to self | √ |
| Injury to passenger in own vehicle | √ |
| Injury to driver of other vehicle | √ |
| Injury to passenger in other vehicle | √ |
| Damage to own vehicle due to fire | √ |
| Damage to own vehicle due to attempted theft | √ |
| Theft | √ |
How to decide upon the kind of insuranceThere are a few things you need to consider when deciding what kind of insurance you want. First, you need to see the value of a car. If your car’s value is low, you can settle for a third party motor insurance. This is because even if your car is damaged, you can get it repaired easily. You may actually find it cheaper to pay for the damages than pay the high premiums of the comprehensive cover. On the other hand if your car is expensive, you must go for a comprehensive cover.
A comprehensive motor insurance is more expensive as it covers a wider number of damages. So if you opt for this kind of insurance, you are bound to shell out more money, but your vehicle will be protected against almost all kinds of damages.
The author is the CEO of MyInsuranceClub.com
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