GENERAL INSURANCE BLOG

As a car owner, you already know that a vehicle breaking down can be extremely frustrating. After all, they are machines! As a result, you should always try your best to stay prepared for the worst. And if you are in the middle of a highway, you may do a few things to ensure you are safe and protected.

Breakdowns in the middle of a highway can be challenging and cause nightmares. Let us take a closer look at a few steps to get the best benefits while minimising the trouble caused due to unexpected breakdowns.

1. Park your car on the side of the road:
The first thing you need to do when your car breaks down in the middle of a highway is to park your vehicle as soon as possible. It is necessary because it can cause traffic jams and invite accidents. Try your best not to panic and slowly pull the car aside.
Not just that, but you should also remember to turn on your hazard lights to notify the people behind you. This factor will also assist you in avoiding a traffic jam without any difficulty.

2. Call for help:
The second thing you need to do when your car breaks down in the middle of a busy highway is to call a mechanic or roadside assistance company for help. This will make it convenient for you since they send professionals to fix your vehicle or tow it to the nearest garage or service centre. If the issue is fixable, they will do it within a few minutes on the spot so that you are good to go and reach your destination safely.

3. Keep tools in your car and use them:
If you know how to check a dead battery or change a flat tyre, you will be able to fix minor problems without any external help. Always keep important tools in your car at all times. For example, if you get a flat tyre, having a jack and a spare tyre will help you to change it and get to your destination within a short period.

4. Alert the traffic:
If your car breaks down in the middle of a highway, it is crucial to constantly alert and divert traffic. Since the traffic will always be moving, immediately put a triangle with reflectors behind your car to caution other drivers about the breakdown.
In case you don't have reflectors in your car, you can find objects like bushes and stones to create a barricading around your car and use them as a signal to alert upcoming vehicles about your breakdown. This way, you can avoid the chances of accidents due to collisions.

Your car breaking down in the middle of the road can cause panic, but you should try your best to deal with it confidently and with swift actions. Stay calm and think about things thoroughly to acquire the best outcomes. Always take your car to the service centre and get it thoroughly inspected for any problems before you set on a trip.

Make a checklist of important factors to cross-check them before travelling. Get your car insurance renewal before the next premium is due and avoid the policy from lapsing. Services discontinued due to non-renewal can make you lose vital benefits in case of an emergency.

Click HERE to get your car insurance renewal done.

Disclaimer: The information provided above is for illustrative purposes only. To get more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before purchasing a policy.

Buying your dream car is only half the job done. Maintaining it properly is complex and time-consuming, but it is all worth in the end. Do you know that routine car windshield maintenance is one of car care's most overlooked aspects?

Your windshield gets chipped by a foreign object hitting it, reducing visibility and threatening your safety. You take precious time out of your day to get it fixed for an exorbitant price, only to have it break again at the mildest inconvenience.

This blog tries to understand better why a windshield protection film is a good investment for your car.

What is a windshield protection film, and how does it work?

Windshield protection films are generally made of 3 layers. The topmost layer is a protective layer that safeguards your windshield against scratches and prevents UV rays from entering the car and harming you. The second layer prevents the windshield from cracking, effectively acting as a shock absorber that distributes the force of the debris hitting it. The third layer is mainly for adhesive purposes.

Some of the perks of having a windshield protection film on your car involve the following.

1. Replacing a windshield can be heavy on the pocket:
Despite how easily the glass breaks when something heavy falls on it, the cost of replacing the windshield is not cheap. Also, if you have a luxury car, the windscreen may be connected to other systems in the vehicle, which may need recalibration, adding to the extra expense.
Driving with a cracked windshield is punishable by law. Save yourself additional expenses and avoid being tangled up on the wrong side of the law by installing a windshield at the earliest.

2. Maintaining the car's aesthetic:
Car enthusiasts know how important it is to make your car beautiful inside out. Just like you keep your car's paint job pristine, the tyres filled, and the inside clean, investing in a windshield protector that keeps the front of your car looking smooth is necessary.

3. Keeps you safe:
A cracked windshield can hamper your visibility to a great extent. This might lead to an accident and long-term damage to your car, or worse, you and your family. Also, a windshield protection film will decrease the chances of shattering in lousy weather conditions, such as cyclones or hail. It gives overall protection to your car.

4. Protects against UV damage:
UV rays damage the skin and retinas and cause long-lasting health conditions such as skin cancer and blindness. These films have the added advantage of blocking UV rays so that they can't enter the car and thus, resulting in better health.

Now you know the advantages of having the right windshield protection film on your car. It is vital to make a wise decision that meets your short-term and long-term goals for your car. Select the best windshield protector by discussing it with a trusted mechanic in your area. Just like you plan to upgrade your car's windshield, you need to consider upgrading the car's safety too.

You can achieve this by buying reliable car insurance. Before making the purchase, understand the new car insurance rates of different companies and their policies, and then finalise the one with the best coverage and rate.

Click HERE to know more about new car insurance rates.

Disclaimer: The information provided above is for illustrative purposes only. To get more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before purchasing a policy.

Filling your bike’s tyres with nitrogen will help you to maintain proper tyre pressure, which ensures that it runs smoothly under all riding conditions and terrains. Moreover, you can cover more distance per litre of fuel and considerably save on running costs. Also, correct tyre pressure ensures a better grip on the roads, which minimises the chances of a mishap.

You can also use compressed air to fill your bike tyres. One usually faces a dilemma of which one is better and why. In this blog, let us go through why filling your bike tyres with nitrogen is beneficial.

1. Longevity:
Compressed air seeps out of tyres much faster than nitrogen. While nitrogen usually stays in the tyres for almost a month, compressed air stays only for 10-15 days. Hence, if you fill your bike tyres with nitrogen, you will need to inflate them less frequently. Tyres will stay in shape for more days, saving you money and effort from continuously inflating the tyres.

2. Constant and uniform pressure:
Riding often during hot summer afternoons can increase the risk of a tyre bursting. The compressed air inside the tyre becomes very hot due to the high temperature. There is a higher level of water and oxygen in compressed air, which reacts with an increase in temperature. The air pressure increases due to heat, causing the tyre to burst.
Nitrogen is drier than regular compressed air and helps to retain constant and uniform pressure inside the tyre. It is more stable than compressed air and does not get heated up as quickly as regular air. Hence, the air pressure inside the tyre stays in control and does not shoot up with the heat. There is a much lesser chance of a tyre burst if it is filled with nitrogen.

3. Mix and go:
You don’t have to worry about refilling your bike tyre with nitrogen only every time you go for your tyre inflation. Compressed air and nitrogen can be mixed. Hence, you can always get your bike tyre filled with compressed air if nitrogen is not available around you. Also, nitrogen seeps out very slowly from your tyres in case of a puncture. You get sufficient time to get to a refilling station.

4. Savings:
Using nitrogen to fill your bike tyres helps save substantially on wear and tear costs. As mentioned, nitrogen keeps the tyres in good shape. It causes lesser rubber damage due to fatigue, and tyres last much longer. Also, nitrogen does not rust the metal tyre rim. Oxygen in the regular compressed air starts reacting with the moisture present in it, resulting in oxidation and rusting. So, with the use of nitrogen, the rim also lasts much longer, helping you save a lot of money in the long run.

Refilling our tyres with nitrogen is definitely more expensive than regular compressed air. But the overall benefits of using nitrogen are much more in the long run. We get a stable ride with a better grip and improved efficiency.

Similarly, buying bike insurance online is also more beneficial than buying it through regular offline channels. Bike insurance online provides us with a complete package of choice, comfort, coverage, and security, along with being economical.

Click HERE to buy bike insurance online.

Disclaimer: The information provided above is for illustrative purposes only. To get more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before purchasing a policy.

Driving is an activity that requires a very high amount of cognitive presence. As the number of accidents happening around the world becomes one of the leading causes of death, driving safely from one location to another should be an individual's primary concern while driving.

When the driver's mind is off the task of driving safely, the phenomenon is called distracted driving. Other signs of distracted driving are when the individual's eyes are not on the road or their hands are off the steering wheel. These activities significantly increase the risk of accidents and threaten the safety of everyone on the road.

Do you know that smoking cigarettes can cause distracted driving? With more and more people mocking drivers who use their phones while simultaneously driving, it should be common knowledge that cigarette smoking causes more distracted driving than using a phone. For instance, to smoke a cigarette, a driver has to;

1. Locate the cigarette pack. This might be difficult as it might be in the glove box, which further requires you to open it, or the back seat, which requires you to completely turn and look for the pack from the opposite direction of where you're supposed to look ahead.

2. Look for a lighter.

3. Light the smoke while still trying to keep your eyes on the road. It's already tricky to light a cigarette while driving, so it's accepted that there will be many unsuccessful attempts. This results in your concentration being broken for even longer.

4. Locating the ashtray to dispose of the ash and then discarding the cigarette will take even more of your time and demand your attention.

As per a study on the risk assessment of smoking habits while driving, it was concluded that the risk posed by distracted driving through the use of mobile phones is lesser than that of the use of cigarettes. It was observed that cigarette smoking resulted in about 12 seconds of distracted driving, while cell phone users averaged about 10.6 seconds.

Insurance claims:
Insurance claims are greatly affected by using cigarettes, even if you were not at fault. There might be a drunken or speeding driver who totaled your car from the rear end, and it might even be evident that you were not at fault, but your insurance claim is sure to suffer. Smoking while driving is seen as distracted driving, which is sure to affect your claim.

Health risks involved with smoking:
It has been known for a long time that smoking is detrimental to an individual's health and the people around them. However, nicotine dependence makes it very hard to quit. Even though the start is an innocent curiosity, it takes as little as 5 packs (100 cigarettes) to get addicted. And the more you smoke, the more receptors for nicotine form in your brain, and the more nicotine you need to get the same high.

Avoid putting your life at risk while in the car and practice healthy driving habits to stay safe in all situations. Invest in trustworthy motor insurance India and get an additional safety net for your vehicle to protect it from unexpected events and safeguard you from financial losses. Also, it is best to stop smoking altogether, or at least reduce your dependence on it to the degree that it doesn't affect your driving.

Click HERE to know more about motor insurance India.

Disclaimer: The information provided above is for illustrative purposes only. To get more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before purchasing a policy.