Insurance is a service that works based on the principle of indemnity. This means in any General Insurance claim, such as car insurance claim the customer should be put back to the monetary position that he was at immediately before the occurrence of the loss. The principle means that with the insurance payoff, the insured should neither make a profit nor suffer a loss. In order to achieve that it is important that a third party called the surveyor, independent from the influence of the insurer and insured, assesses the loss and liability. It should be noted that a licensed surveyor is mandatory to be appointed only in case of estimated loss, exceeding INR 50,000 in motor insurance case, and exceeding INR 1,00,000 in non-motor insurance case. The car insurance claim surveyor, who acts as a link between the insurer and the insured, and fulfills the following role and responsibilities:
Role and Responsiblities of Surveyor in Insurance claim:
- Investigate and Assess: The car insurance surveyor investigates to assess and verify the damages and tries to quantify the loss that has occurred. The losses may have also been sustained by a third party, apart from the insured. At the completion the surveyor submits the report to the insurer.
- Conflict of interest: If the surveyor is in any way related to the incidence or the insured, they must declare it to the insurer prior to the assessment. Any personal relationship may hamper the neutrality of the surveyor and his report being rejected on the grounds of conflict of interest.
- Neutrality and Confidentiality: The surveyor must remain neutral in all cases and ensure to secure interest of both the parties and should not endanger the responsibility of the insurance company and interest of the insured. The surveyor also must not reveal any personal details of the insurer to anyone outside of the car insurance claim process.
- Thoroughness: The surveyor must do a thorough job and personally conduct the spot survey. After careful consideration of the causes of the incidence and the circumstances at which the incidence occurred, the surveyor can comment upon the insurance category. The surveyor should not miss out on any details pertaining to the incidence or the claim in the report that he or she submits.
- Provide immediate financial relief to the insured: Surveyor may recommend on Account payment up to 75%, wherever admission of liability is clearly established, to provide immediate financial relief to the insured.
- Damage prevention advice: The surveyor should share any applicable advice that may result in further loss prevention and share safety or security procedures.
- Point out discrepancy: The surveyor must point out discrepancy or ambiguities in the verbiage of the policy that he or she comes across.
- Suggest the Depreciation: The surveyor shall make recommendations based on any depreciation that may have happened in the car due to age and usage. The surveyor needs to determine the appropriate depreciation percentage and suggest the same in the report. They can also comment on the disposal or salvage as applicable.
- Maintain timelines: The surveyor needs to be appointed within 72 hours from the initiation of the claim according to the IRDA regulation of 2017. He must submit their report to the insurer and a copy to the insured, within 30 days of appointment. This can be extended by the Surveyor to a maximum of 6 months provided the insured has been informed about the same.
Even though the surveyor is appointed by the insurance company; they shall not favor insurance companies or insured. The surveyor needs your cooperation and you as the insured need to extend your cooperation to surveyor. You should also preserve the incidence or accident scene to the best of your abilities, since disturbing it intentionally may be one of the reasons for car claim rejections. A video recorded by the insured and providing the garage receipt proofs are honored by many insurance companies these days. In some complex cases a second surveyor may be appointed by the insurer, only with a valid reason for not accepting the report of the first surveyor.
If you are worried about or are facing your car insurance claim rejection, you may contact an expert at www.InsuranceSamadhan.com who can provide a lot of personal advice about your claim. After reviewing your claim details, including the surveyor report that has been submitted and your policy, they can suggest the best course of action for you.
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