Water up to the floor of the car.
Water just above the seats.
Water above the steering wheel.
Many workshops in Calcutta and insurance officials are assessing the claims for cars damaged in Tuesday’s deluge broadly on the basis of these three levels of damage.
For the first two categories, the insurers are assessing the extent of damage for possible repairs. For the third, where the water went up to the steering or above, the damage in most cases is serious and the cost of repair very high, insurers and workshops said.
If the cost of repairs exceeds 75 per cent of a vehicle’s insured declared value (IDV), the insurers are likely to offer a payout close to the IDV and take possession of the damaged car for auction.
Insurance companies have been flooded with claims from Calcutta relating to damaged cars.
"So far, we have received 140 motor claims since the floods in Calcutta, including claims for high-end cars. We expect this number to go up,” Parthanil Ghosh, executive director, HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, told The Telegraph on Friday.
“The damage to the vehicles is being categorised on the basis of the level of submergence,” Ghosh said.
“For example, if the water level reached the carpet or seats, the vehicles are generally repairable, and the insurance is paid accordingly. But if the vehicle was submerged up to the dashboard and the repair cost exceeds 75 per cent of the IDV, it will be considered for a settlement as constructive total loss.”
The manager of a Hyundai workshop in south Calcutta said it had received over 60 cars damaged by waterlogging in the past three days.
“Of these, at least 10 per cent of the cars have suffered severe damage and will fall under the total loss category,” the manager said.
He said almost all these cars had been parked in basement garages.
A majority of the cars had soaked carpets, which were dried and the cars sent back to the owners. In other instances, the car software and batteries had been damaged.
“In these cases, we will be able to deliver the cars after the Pujas,” the workshop manager said.
Many cars are still stuck in their garages because they are immobile or their owners are away.
“They are calling us and asking what can be done. We are asking them to contact the insurance companies,” the workshop manager said.
An insurance company assessor said he hadinspected at least 10 cars that remained stranded even on Friday.
“We are overbooked and are asking car owners to arrange for tow vehicles to take their cars to the workshops. This way, the process will be faster,” the insurance assessor said.
A Kasba resident whose car was stranded said he had waited two days for the insurance company to either assess it at his garage or tow it to a workshop.
“I filed my claim with the insurance company on September 23 evening. The insurance company said they were unable to arrange for a tow vehicle because of the rush,” he said.
“Finally, on Friday, I arranged for a tow vehicle from a private agency, paying more than double. It took the car to the workshop,” the businessman said. “The insurance company has promised to reimburse me.”
The car’s lithium battery has been damaged and the approximate cost to replace it with a new one will be ₹70,000.
“However, the workshop said it would take more than a month for the battery to be replaced as it had run out of stock because of the spike in demand,” he said.
The workshop has told him that he would get his car back in November.