Increasing penchant of car ownership by young executives living in metro cities has brought car insurance on the center stage. As soon as you purchase a car it becomes mandatory under the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 to get it insured. By stating that it is mandatory by law, I am not saying that you should have car insurance just because the law requires it or otherwise it is a waste of money. On the contrary, car insurance is very useful and protects you from legal claims and penalties by a third party in case of an accident caused by you. It not only protects you but also other people that may be riding in your car. It also covers your family members that may drive your car. So the very purpose of car insurance is in your favour and should not be considered as something imposed by the law.

Before we further into car insurance, let us understand the basics. The amount of money paid for insurance is known as premium. The premium for your car insurance is based on various factors like your gender and age; make, model and variant of the car; where the car was registered etc. If you drive a swanky car, then you should expect to pay a high premium. A deductible is the amount of money paid by you as a policy holder before you can claim it from your insurance provider. The bigger the deductible, the lower is the premium. If accident is caused by you, then you will have to pay for the deductible. If the accident is caused by a third party, then their insurance company will be responsible for paying your deductible. The purpose of a deductible is to eliminate the expense of processing small claims.

There are two types of car insurance: 'Third Party Insurance' and 'Comprehensive Insurance'. The third party insurance is mandatory by law and protects a policy holder against bodily injury/death to a third party person(s) or any damage to the third party's property, which is in this case is there vehicle. The third party is occupant(s) of that vehicle with whom you had an accident by your own vehicle. In case a third party person(s) suffered a bodily injury/death or is his car got damaged because of an accident caused by you, he is compensated through your 'Third Party Insurance' policy for the repair of his vehicle or any medical expenses he incurred during medical treatment. However this policy doesn't pay for the repair of your own vehicle. If you want to get payment for any damages to your own vehicle in addition to third party coverage then purchase 'Comprehensive Car Insurance'. This policy covers loss or damage to your vehicle and its accessories due to any natural calamity like: flood, storm, cyclone, lightning, earth quake or due to any malicious act by men like: riot, carnage, theft, explosion, terrorist attacks etc.

There are dozens of insurance companies which provide car insurance. You will have to do extensive research online to find out which company and which policy is best for you. Here insurance aggregator like policybazzar can help you in finding the policy that best meet your needs and budget. You can compare car insurance quotes online from over 15 insurance companies in India and that too completely free. This will not only save your time but you can also save up to 40% on your car insurance premium.