Duplicate Copy of Car Insurance

If you have availed yourself of your car insurance through an insurance agent and not directly from the insurance company, contact the person as soon as get to know about the missing papers. Most of the agents these days keep a copy of their customer's insurance papers with themselves. Let the person know about the missing documents and ask him/her to mail the PDF copy of the document.

Step 2. Write to the insurance company

Generally, insurance companies provide email support to their customers regarding any car insurance related query/problem. In a situation where you have lost or forgotten your car insurance number and you do not have any details of the same, write to your insurer about the loss at their customer support email ID from your registered mail ID as that will ensure your authenticity. Ensure to provide the following details in the mail:

1. Registered mobile number
2. Registered mail ID

These details will help the insurer to find the details of your insurance policy. They will either send you a soft copy of the insurance policy or share the policy details through mail.

Step 3. Submit an application

In order to get a copy of your car insurance papers you need to file an application for duplicate policy issuance. While filing the application carefully enter all the vital details such as the policyholder's name, policy number, date of policy issuance, and type of the policy cover. You must also mention how and under what circumstances the policy papers got lost. If the policy was acquired jointly, then submit a joint application along with the other policyholder. This ensures that both the policy holders know about the incident and the duplicate copy of the insurance policy is applied for with his/her consent.

However, even after taking all the necessary precautions, if you find your insurance paper missing, don't panic and take immediate action to get duplicate copies of the lost policy.

Step 4. File a police complaint

Certain insurance companies do not issue duplicate car insurance papers without a FIR copy. If this is the case with your insurer, visit the concerned police station in your area and report the loss of your car insurance papers. Next, you will have to submit an application to obtain a FIR copy from the police station. Once you get the FIR copy, submit it to your insurance company along with a written application.

Step 5. Publish an advertisement

In the event of loss of your insurance paper, it is mandatory to publish an advertisement in the local newspaper with wide circulation informing the loss of the insurance papers. Remember, you will have to bear the entire cost of the advertisement in such cases. While putting up an ad in the newspaper keep the following points in mind:

1. Mention the insurance policy number
2. Policy holder's name
3. Name of the insurance company
4. Number of your vehicle

Once the advertisement gets published in the newspaper, submit the copy of the advertisement to the insurance company to get the duplicate copy.

Step 6. Get an indemnity bond

This is the last step to getting a duplicate copy of your car insurance policy. In the bond you need to be assured that you will indemnify the company if any other person apart from you or your nominee makes any claim in the future. The bond needs to be acknowledged before a notary. You will have to pay the fee and the stamp fee to obtain the indemnity bond. Once you get the document, submit it to the insurance company to get a copy of your car insurance papers.

How to Get Car Insurance Papers Online?

Most of the insurance companies have an e-portal where the customers can perform various transactions like renewing or obtaining a duplicate copy of their car insurance policy. If your insurer offers this facility, login to your account with your credentials like customer id, insurance policy number, etc. and download the policy papers. Here are the steps that you are likely to follow to download the policy papers online:

1. Visit the official website of the company
2. Select the option to download an e copy of your policy
3. Input your policy number and registered mobile number
4. An OTP will be sent to your registered mobile number
5. Enter the OTP in the portal for verification
6. Next, provide your registered email ID
7. A copy of your car insurance policy will be sent to your mail ID in PDF format
8. Download the policy

If the above-mentioned steps don't work for you, you need to contact your insurance company immediately. You might have to visit the concerned branch with a written application stating the reason for issuing a duplicate copy. When you apply for a duplicate policy paper issuance with your insurer you might have to pay a nominal fee. Here are the steps that follow:

How to Get Car Insurance Papers Offline?

Follow the steps mentioned below to get car insurance papers offline:

1. Update the insurance providing company about the loss of insurance papers. You can do so by calling the company's customer care number or by marking them an email.
2. File an FIR at the nearest police station stating that you have lost your insurance papers and get a copy of it.
3. Pulish an advertisement in the newspaper mentioning the loss of papers.
4. Submit an application at the insurance providing company for duplicate papers.
5. Get an indemnity bond, it will need to be acknowledged by a notary and have the signature of two witnesses done on stamp paper. Once this is complete the insurance document will be issued by the insurance provider.

How to Find Car Insurance Policy Number?

There are six ways to find car insurance policy number, they are as follows:

1. By checking policy document: You can easily check the car insurance policy to find the car insurance policy number.
2. Through insurance provider's website: You can log in to your account on the insurance providing company's website and provide required details to find your car insurance policy number.
3. Through insurance agent: If you have bought the policy through an insurance agent, you can contact him to find your car insurance policy number.
4. Through customer care: You can contact the insurance providing company's customer care number and retrieve the car insurance policy number.
5. Insurance company's branch: You can visit the insurance providing company's nearest branch to find the car insurance policy's number. The branch executive may ask you for certain details for verification purposes.
6. Insurance Information Bureau (IIB): You can also contact IIB to retrieve your car insurance policy details.

Points to Remember:

Here are a few things that you should keep in mind if you have lost your car insurance policy papers:

1. It is mandatory for all the vehicles running in India to have a third-party vehicle insurance. If you drive without a valid third-party liability cover it will be considered to be illegal. Hence, once you get to know about the loss or theft of your insurance papers, don't delay and apply for a duplicate copy of the same as early as possible.
2. In order to ensure the safety of your car insurance documents, make sure to keep the documents in a safe place. You can also keep photocopies of the original insurance documents so that in case of any accidental loss you can produce the same to the law authorities.
3. Another option to keep your documents safe is to preserve them in the form of digital documents. Such documents can be stored in apps as digital documents and produced at the time of need.