In most countries, it is mandatory to have your car insured. In India too, you must get your car insured under the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988. The statutory requirement for all vehicles is to be covered under the Third Part Motor Insurance. Now, a situation can arise when you are not using your car and it needs to be off-road. It is then many are confused about whether you should opt for insurance or not. Here, we would take this query head-on and try to arrive at the right course of option.
Options for an off-road car
For any reason, if your car is getting off-road and is going to remain so for an indefinite period of time; you have two options:
- You can file for a Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN)
- You can keep your car insured with the basic and mandatory third-party motor insurance.
Let’s now look into each avenue in a broader perspective.
Understanding the SORN
By getting your car declared as SORN; you are getting exempted from paying any road tax. Your car is also freed from the liability of getting insured. This saves you plenty of money but this should be done after much thoughtful considerations.
A SORN allows you to park an uninsured car. But the other catch is that you cannot get this vehicle on the road even at times of emergency as this may attract heavy penalties. It is legally punishable to have a car registered under SORN to be put on the road as this car has no insurance and is paying no road tax. You need to first get the SORN reverted before the car can be put to the road.
 Motor Insurance
This is the second option where you let your car remain in the garage but purchase the basic insurance for it. This option is strongly recommended for all as this has plenty of advantages and benefits behind this move. They make that car’s premium a worthwhile investment.
Why should you get your garaged car insured?
Motor Insurance as we know is of two types. The law requires all vehicles to be registered under the third-party insurance act. This insurance would only cover the medical and vehicle repair cost of the third party involved in an accident for which the driver of the car/ you are held responsible. For the garaged car, you have the option of purchasing an Own Damage Cover, which is popular as OD amongst masses.
The Own Damage cover insures the car from a wide variety of damages like the
- Damage caused by fire, lightning, explosion, self-ignition, etc.
- Damage due to burglary, theft, housebreaking, etc.
- Damage caused by natural disasters like the earthquake, floods, hailstorm, cyclones, hurricanes, landslide, etc.
- Any accident caused by other external means
- Damage due to malicious acts like vandalism, animal-hitting, terrorism, etc.
- Damage caused during transit.
If we look at all these situations for which you are getting your normal car restored; you will observe that almost all of these holds true for your garaged car as well. Even your garaged car is vulnerable to getting stolen or getting damaged due to any of the factors mentioned above.
It is understandable that the premium amount for a garaged car might seem like a dent in the pocket but it is completely a worthwhile investment. It safeguards your car against all these calamities and insures you are getting the market value of the car back in case it has suffered irreversible damage.
Another advantage of getting the car insured is that you can easily put it back on road in case any emergency arises or simply for the pleasure of driving. It also eases plenty of hassles need you put it back on the road on a regular basis.
Wrapping up
Now that we have understood the importance of getting your car insured even when it is off the roads; you must choose your insurance plan wisely and prudently such that it remains well within your budget as well as meets all your requirements and needs.
