Motor insurance: When service ends after sales

Have you noticed how an insurance agent or call-centre executive never lets go when they want to sell you a policy or renewal?

The calls are relentless, the persuasion tireless, and the promises glowing. But sign up for the policy — and suddenly, you are in a communication black hole. Phones don’t get picked. Emails disappear into the void.

That may sound harsh, but the frustration is widespread — and growing.

Recently, a senior retired insurance executive wrote on LinkedIn about his experience as a motor insurance customer. His two cars were insured through a broker belonging to the same conglomerate that manufactures and sells that brand of vehicle.

Everything should have been seamless, smooth and professional. Instead, it unfolded like an existential satire.

He emailed them regarding a requirement related to the issuance of the policy as there was no direct line to speak to anyone. He did receive a response — but before he could even read the email, another message arrived declaring that his service request had been “resolved” and closed.

When he responded with the information they had asked for, a second service ticket was opened saying the “concerned team was working on it”, and the ticket was closed within 24 hours. Rinse and repeat, and the issue itself remained untouched after a week. Even his car dealer couldn’t call the company and the website was an endless spiral with the captcha repeatedly declared invalid. Stonewalling by technology!

In his words, dripping with irony: “They are well-insulated.”

I sympathised fully because I was simultaneously living through my own week of motor-insurance mayhem. A damaged tyre at dawn on a highway journey was frightening but I must acknowledge the engineer in the car dealer’s workshop who took my call at 6 a.m. and patiently guided me through how to drive the last 300 kilometres. The next morning the car was collected for repairs. With some anxiety, I opened the insurance policy document. To my relief, I had opted for a tyre-protection add-on. I got back to my work-week confident the process would be smooth.

How mistaken I was.

For the next three days, the garage simply parked the car and forgot about it. No updates. No communication. After countless calls someone finally sent me a claim form which I submitted within the hour. And, silence resumed its reign. Why the three-day hiatus? They were checking on the car’s warranty status. I could have clarified that in minutes!

Two days later — after quoting IRDAI’s turnaround timelines which are measured in hours, not weeks — a response emerged. The tyre, they said, was 50% worn, so only half the cost would be approved. The car is barely three years old and sparingly driven. Exhausted by then I simply said, “Please go ahead; I just want my car back.”

Another silence. Eventually, the garage told me that the tyre had been “ordered” and would arrive in four days, and an SMS landed saying the turnaround time was nine days! Remember, their manufacturer, their garage and their insurance broking outfit. Oh yes, and a call came from an unknown number demanding in an unpleasant and aggressive tone that I “verify details”.

I requested for her identity verification and to speak politely in a language I understood, and she simply hung up.

I am not even dwelling on lectures on how surveyors are very busy to visit and verify and reverify details, how submitting their report is not in the garage’s hands… What mysterious facts require days of investigation for a damaged tyre?

Buying insurance is easy, but claiming should not test psychological endurance. Yet here we are.