Offline Vs Online Car Insurance - A Comparative Analysis

The market is full of insurance companies and insurance policies. This makes purchasing the right insurance for your vehicle a task. You need to opt for the ideal insurance policy that suits your needs perfectly. You also need to choose whether you want to purchase it offline or online.

While some may feel making offline insurance policy purchases is reliable, online insurance policy purchases are hassle-free and come with additional benefits. Here's a look at two key aspects of insurance buying and how it differs online and offline.

Difference Between Online and Offline Car Insurance

1 - Settlement of Claims

If the policyholder dies, a broker or an agent claims for the settlement amount, in case of an offline term plan. In an online plan, however, a nominee claims for the amount. Online plans involve the nominee directly getting in contact with the insurance company, which is through a phone call, through the Internet, or by a meeting.

In offline plans, you may have to visit company office with all the necessary documents to file your claim. You may be required to make these visits more than once. At such a sensitive time of grieving this can become a disadvantage.

2 - The Premiums Offered

In online insurance plans, the premium rates that are offered are comparatively lower than offline plans. This makes it a hit with the price sensitive Indian market. If you consider just the premium amount then it makes total sense to opt for an online car insurance policy rather than going offline.

Also, there are many online aggregator services that allow you to view multiple providers' details on the same page. Depending on your car make, model, and year, and your location, you are presented with the best rates that are way lower than what you get when you visit their offices.

3 - Anytime Anywhere policy buying made possible

With online insurance, you can view the details of a policy or multiple policies even at 3 AM at night. Now imagine if you were to do this offline. Not only will you have to travel a lot, but the agent or company office itself will be closed at that hour! Hence insurance buying is made accessible and possible 24 x 7 x 365 online.

4 - Insurance costs

An agent will always have his commission added to the cost of the insurance bought through him. This will drive up the price paid by you for your car insurance. In online buying there are no hidden charges involved to increase the price you pay for the insurance. Hence from the costing point of view, buying online holds more advantage over buying offline.

However, make certain that you are aware of all the terms and conditions of the plan prior to saying yes to a policy.

Benefits of going for online car insurance

1 - All information at one place

The great thing about online insurance is that you can easily collate all information at one place and then compare the benefits of each. Imagine how difficult it will be to achieve this in an offline scenario. You will have to put in considerable time and effort to go out, travel to different companies' offices situated at different locations, pick up their sales brochure, study it or talk to their representative, and then make a decision.

In online policy buying, you simply have to browse online through their coverage details and carefully research their terms and conditions. With these steps, you will be ready to make a decision about the insurance you want to go with.

2 - Save on premium

If you are well versed with insurance terms and policies and have enough time to conduct thorough research and come up with the best policy, you can purchase a policy online and save on some premium.

3 - Comparison between providers becomes possible

You can compare between multiple providers and choose the best available policy. When you are online you can toggle between various types of insurance policies from different insurance companies, the different add-ons, and then finalize the company that is providing the lowest premium.

These benefits clearly denote why going for online car insurance is a wise move. Log on to the internet and save substantially on your next insurance premium amount.