Driver and Passenger Cover in Car Insurance

While driving, it is easy to get distracted, especially, during peak traffic hours or if you’re in a hurry. A small distraction can easily lead to a major accident. In India, 1.2 lakh people died in road accidents in the year 2020, despite the COVID-19 lockdown. So, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has made it mandatory for every owner-driver of the insured vehicle to have a personal accident cover. Apart from this, you can also get an additional passenger car insurance cover for passengers riding in the car by paying a higher premium amount.

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Is Driver and Passenger Cover in Car Insurance Mandatory?

Personal accident cover of Rs 15 lakh is mandatory for all the owner-drivers in India but covering passengers is not compulsory. However, there are choices available to cover the risks of personal accidents to any paid driver or passenger in the car. By buying the driver and passenger cover, the car’s owner-driver, passengers, and even the family members can be covered against accidental injuries, including death or disability. 

While driver car insurance only covers the owner-driver of the car, the passenger add-on cover can protect up to 03 extra passengers apart from the driver. Thus, passenger car insurance cover offers wider coverage.

How Does Driver and Passenger Cover Work in a Car Insurance Policy?

A standard comprehensive car policy financially protects the owner of the insured car in a road accident. In case of the death or permanent disability of the owner-driver in an accident of the insured vehicle, your insurer will pay a fixed amount as compensation to the nominee or the policyholder respectively. 

In the case of a paid driver, the car owner will have to pay some extra premium to avail coverage. The claim amount is payable only to the mentioned paid driver in the proposal application. No other person can avail of those financial benefits, even if they are paid to drive the insured car.

However, no coverage will be provided to passengers seated in the car because a regular car insurance policy does not cover passengers in such accidents. The passengers will have to spend from their own pockets for their treatment.

As the owner of the car, you have the responsibility of the passengers sitting in your vehicle. With the help of the passenger add-on cover, all the passengers riding inside the care are covered financially. This add-on cover assuredly adds value to your regular car insurance policy by covering the liabilities arising due to injuries or death of the passengers in your car and assisting in treating their injuries.

Range of Compensation under Passenger Cover

Your insurer will pay compensation for physical injuries that happened while travelling, ascending, or descending the insured vehicle. Here is the scale of refund, which an insurer is liable to pay you in case of such incidents-

Benefits of Driver and Passenger Cover

Buying the driver and passenger cover under your standard comprehensive car insurance policy widens its coverage level. Here are the benefits of driver and passenger cover-

• It covers medical costs incurred in the treatment of the injured driver and passengers.
• It gives financial aid in case of the death of owner-driver/passengers.
• It provides disability liability cover to the owner-driver and passengers of an insured car.
• It aims to reduce the financial burden resulting from such situations as you can claim for the monetary implications of any injuries to the owner-driver and passengers travelling in the car.

What is Excluded under Driver and Passenger Cover?

Like various covers, the driver and passenger cover comes with some exclusions as well. They are as follows-

• Some insurers do not provide financial assistance if the passenger(s) had walked away from the place of the incident.
• It does not cover more than three passengers in a private car.
• Accidental injuries due to attempted suicide or intentional self-injury are not covered.
• An accident taking place when the driver was under the influence of alcohol or any drug is excluded.

How Can You Raise a Claim under Driver and Passenger Cover?

The entire process to register a claim for driver car insurance and passenger car insurance add-on cover is easy and hassle-free. You can effortlessly raise a claim through the online method. Follow the steps below to file a driver and passenger claim after the insured car’s accident-

Step 1: Give a call to your insurer and inform them about the accident. Explain to them the amount of damage to your car and injured passengers in the accident.

Step 2: File an FIR at the local police station near you.

Step 3: If the accident involves a third party, take the entire details of the third party.

Step 4: You and the passengers of your car should visit a hospital to receive treatment for your injuries.

Step 5: The insurance company will assign a surveyor to evaluate the damages to your car for the settlement of the claim.

Step 6: The insurer will provide financial assistance for treating the injuries of the passengers and the owner-driver of the insured vehicle. In case of any death due to the accident, the insurer will pay compensation to the victim & family.

Summing It Up

Life is unpredictable and so, you can never predict when you can meet with a car accident. Hence, you need a driver and passenger cover to deal with its financial implications. As a car owner, it is mandatory for you to have a personal accident cover under your car insurance policy. But to ensure coverage for the passenger seated in your car, you can choose to buy a passenger add-on cover by paying an extra premium amount. Just remember that not more than three passengers seated in the car will be covered during the accident.