Hi, One of my friends met with an accident in his Volkswagen Polo. He hit the divider on the road and the car took a hit from the frond end (bottom). Now we have been to the Volkswagen facility and the initial estimation for the car, looking at outside damages (bumper, fender, radiator, condenser, consumables, labor charges, timing case, muffler, etc) was Rs. 2,31,000. The Volkswagen manager told us that he suspects engine damage and if that is the case then the engine value would be approximately Rs. 3,00,000. This when added to the initial estimation of Rs. 2,31,000 comes to 5,31,000.

The problem is that the IDV of the vehicle according to the policy is Rs. 3,84,000. The manager and the insurance people are saying that if the estimate is under 75% of IDV, they can fund our repairs if it exceeds then they would declare it as a total loss and would give us some money.

The problem is that the initial estimation is only on the basis of looking from outside and they have not opened the engine yet. They (Volkswagen) need around Rs. 21,000 for opening up the engine in labor charges. The insurance says go for a total loss before opening the engine, if the engine is opened and there is a lot of damage then they would not be liable. There is also a concept of Depreciation on metal parts (10%) and salvage value (5%) on parts. The Insurance is not ready to reduce this so it is certainly adding more burden to us. Please suggest if we should go ahead and ask them to open the engine and look for any damage there or declare the vehicle as total loss and get the IDV - depreciation.


All you inputs would be valuable. Please let me know if you need clarity on anything I have written. P.S.: We would appreciate your comments or someone you know at Reliance General Insurance who we can talk to and get out of this mess. Really appreciate the time and effort you took to read this entry and for replying back to me. Thanks. Varun

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