Often, car insurance as a whole isn’t fully understood by new drivers who are looking for it. The scope on the whole, isn’t fully recognized and new car owners often lack the required knowledge about the important, must-have motor insurance covers. However, if better informed about the essential key covers of their car insurance, they will be able to save on a lot more in due course.

When applying for the mandatory motor insurance in the UAE, it is completely understandable that we try to lower the cost of the overall car insurance considerably. We attempt to cut corners and avoid spending for those specific covers that we may perceive to be on the costlier side and hence swayed to believe that choosing them may be unnecessary at the time. Although being penny wise at this point may seem like a good idea, experts encourage to carefully reconsider our decisions as it may affect our expenses in the long run, especially after being involved in a car accident or facing a sudden break down.

We have compiled a list of 5 extensions that we think you should consider ticking while filling your car insurance form. They are as follows:

1) Vehicle Repairs By Agency Vs. Non-Agency

While acquiring your new car insurance, if you opt for ‘Repairs By Agency’, you can be rest assured that the damages incurred during the accident or otherwise will be replaced by original parts in a quality-controlled environment. This is because Agency Repair means in the event of an accident or breakdown, you must take your vehicle only to the manufacturers authorized garages, so if you own, say a Toyota Corolla or a Toyota Camry, you need to take your vehicle only to an Al Futtaim service center for its repairs and not to any other garage. However, if you’ve chosen the ‘Non-Agency Repair’ option, you can haul your car to any other garage authorized by your insurer and not limit it to only the official manufacturers.

2) Personal accident cover

Life is definitely uncertain. One of our worst fears is losing our lives or the lives of our loved ones in the case of tragic road accidents. The car owners who generally end up choosing this additional Personal Accident cover while opting for their motor insurance usually always have a passenger or more with them in the vehicle and hence consider it essential to include the personal accident cover as one of the 5 must-have motor insurance covers. Insurance companies offer a wide range of covers in this aspect such as Accidental and Unexpected Death, Permanent Total Disability, Permanent Partial Disability and Repatriation Expenses. The personal accident benefit is around up to AED 200,000 however, you would be required to pay an extra premium for this benefit.

3) Car Hire Facility

In the event of your car breaking down or unable to go on without essential repairs if previously involved in a nasty accident, then this one becomes a definite must-have motor insurance cover option. Most insurance companies in the UAE see to it that their customers get the facility of renting a vehicle while theirs is under repair. They even cover the costs incurred for the duration of the rented car, however the amount is predetermined by the company. It also depends on what type of insurance policy you sign up for. This extended facility can come as a blessing in disguise and save you a lot of money especially if you and your family are heavily dependent on a vehicle to move around town.

4) Roadside Assistance

Here’s another handy must-have motor insurance cover that can help save you some cash down the line. In case your car breaks down or you’ve met with an accident along the road, the total cost of recovery is undertaken by your insurance provider as it’s included in your insurance policy. And even if it isn’t, you only need to pay a small nominal fee for acquiring the same. But rest assured, that amount will be a lot lower than if you need to call the recovery service yourself, which is estimated to charge around AED 150. So we suggest you tick the Roadside Assistance checkbox while choosing your covers.

5) Cover Against Natural Disasters

It is quite rare to hear about natural disaster cases such as flood, earthquake, typhoon, hurricane, etc. occurring in the UAE but that doesn’t mean one shouldn’t prepare for these calamities. For years now, whenever there has been a heavy downpour, many places have reported to have been flooded, damaging a number of vehicles in the process. It’s times like these when UAE residents could really benefit from this must-have motor insurance cover. However, before opting for the same, one must thoroughly examine the instances in which their respective insurance providers have stated, as many of them have certain strict rules about claims against damages caused by these natural calamities.

Conclusion:

Now that you are better informed about the 5 must-have motor insurance covers, we hope you reconsider your decisions on which ones to opt for just by thinking about the future and how it may affect your savings. It’s better to go ahead and invest in the previously mentioned motor insurance covers so that when and if such situations arise, you will be well prepared for any possible scenario and wouldn’t need to shell out as much as you might have had to if you gave those ticks a miss while signing up for your car insurance.

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