ICICI Lombard Insurance Company — ICICI Lombard won't pay for claim

Address:

Mumbai City, Maharashtra, 500063

What is the purpose of Car Insurance? Well, it got me thinking after my bitter experience with ICICI Lombard Insurance to claim insurance for my car Toyota Corolla, which met with an accident this week. It has been such a harrowing experience of delays despite regular follow-ups, display of careless attitude, poor & rough communication skills of ICICI representative - Surveyor (Mr. Puneet Singh) assigned to my case. Considering, being a Managing Director at a Multinational, I come with a battery of people to do the follow-ups. I can’t even imagine horror of individuals having to put up with such bad attitudes of such personnel. I am confident he is not exception. I had heard & read stories about bad experiences people have had with insurance companies and unfulfilled promises (made by company representative at the time booking a policy). But never expected company with stature & repute of ICICI to fall in the category such negligent companies. From my research, it looks like there are plenty more like me struggling to get ICICI to fulfill their basic promises. When a company (even established ones like ICICI Lombard boasting of customer centric strong & fair practices) fails to fulfill even the basic promises made at the time booking; expecting them to offer value add, customer satisfaction and such important concepts would be too much to expect. Very disappointing to say the least! Dear ICICI Lombard, Would you care to explain couple of very basic points? How soon after the accident you expect your customer to report an accident? My car Toyota Corolla was banged into by an auto driver at 6:58 am near Sonu Nigam’s house on 26th Nov. ’15 & by 6:50 -7 am I was Toyota Service Station, Near Link Road, Andheri West, Mumbai. Considering that it would take a person some time to collect details of the offender & drive to the service station. Well, your surveyor Mr. Puneet Singh (visiting Toyota Service Station at Andheri-W) accused me (on the phone today 28th Nov. ’15) morning) for reporting the case late. Since it was early morning & service station had yet not opened for the day, security would not allow my car in. I spoke to Amrut at his residence at 7 am (technician) who has been servicing my car at Toyota Service Station for the past few years. Security at his instruction allowed me to park the car in & leave it with security. So within an hour of the accident car was standing at service station. Would you consider 1 hr. time period from the time of accident to the time reporting at Service Station to be late? Of course, my caretaker Sunil was there to collect requisite insurance claim forms the moment service station opened for the day in the morning. It were filled & submitted at Toyota Millenuim Insurance claim dept. in a matter of couple of hours itself. As such we have a policy of NOT passing these claims: As I was turning my car towards right, offending auto driving at full speed from opp. direction banged into my car from front. Being an experienced driver, I did my best to minimize the damage. Behind me was a swift car, which also could manage to minimize the damage by turning left but not without grazing car’s behind left bumper. Personnel at Toyoto Millennium service station assured me that by 3 pm estimation of the damage will be completed & given to the surveyor of ICICI by 3 pm (who was expected on the same day). Accordingly, I would get a phone call on the status by early evening. The said deadline passed, 27th Nov. whole day passed, waiting NO news despite my repeated follows. Finally On 28th Nov morning at 10.45 am I had to make multiple calls & ultimately was assured by Mr. Clement (GM) at Toyota millennium that surveyor will get the case sorted out by the insurance today (28th Nov. itself). At 1:25 pm, I do get a call from Toyota millennium service station informing me that surveyor refuses to pass the rear bumper. Reason? Bumper bracket has shown glimpse of rust and as a policy we at ICICI Lombard do NOT pass these claims. Considering, 6 weeks back my car had come for servicing none of these imminent rusting problems were reported either under carriage or at the bumpers front & rear. You can check the service records, should you wish! So all I know is my car perfect condition before the accident. The reason for buying insurance (cashless) policy from a reputed company like ICICI Lombard, was to mitigate my car damage risk for repairs during a (just in case of) mishap. Is this the value the insurance co. offer for their products when the car is being evaluated at a reputed Toyota service station, which has qualified & well informed personnel which is suppose to repot the health of one’s car? The day (28th Nov.) is coming to an end and I still have not heard from concerned personnel/s on the way forward. I would really be interested in knowing what ICICI Lombard has to say especially for their premium customers (for which insurance premium is taken in advance. & the premium garages they serve. Please guide on the way forward. Regards, Kampani