Consequences of Driving an Uninsured Car in India

Unlike earlier, driving these days can be called a necessity rather than calling it an option. Since owning a personal car has become so easy and affordable, more and more people are buying their own cars. In fact, many households have multiple cars to enable each family member to commute easily to work and for other things.  The rising number of cars has contributed to the rising traffic on the roads along with increasing the number of accidents. Thus, to limit accidents and to ensure the safety of vehicle users and pedestrians on the road, several rules and regulations have been made compulsory by the government in the country. Among them include the compulsory rule of purchasing a car insurance to cover the third-party damages.

It is illegal to drive an uninsured vehicle/car?

As per government rule, driving a car without an insurance in India is illegal and anyone not following this rule will be penalized. A third-party obligatory insurance is offered with a new car that you buy, which lasts for a  year. Once this insurance expires, the car owner needs to renew the insurance. If you drive your car without insurance, you might have to pay a fine and might be imprisoned for 3 months. Thus, it is necessary to have a third-party insurance plan to protect to get coverage against mishaps as well as to stay away from legal hassles.  Here in this blog we are discussing the consequences of driving an uninsured vehicle or car in India.

What consequences might occur if you drive an uninsured vehicle/car?

Here are the primary consequences that you may face for not having insurance of your car:

1. Penalty and fine 

If you drive your car without an insurance anywhere in India, you are considered to be doing an illegal thing and thus you are liable for fines and punishments. The Motor Vehicle Act, 2019 has updated the fines and payments that a vehicle owner has to pay for driving without insurance. As per the new guidelines, a fine of Rs. 2000 is levied on anyone if they are caught by the traffic police with an uninsured vehicle for the first time. And if the offense is repeated for a second time, a fine of Rs. 4000 is levied along with imprisoning the defaulter with 3 months imprisonment.

2. Cost of third-party liability 

If you are driving an uninsured vehicle and the car gets involved in an accident and it damages a third-party vehicle or property, in that case the cost of damage caused to the third-party has to be paid by the owner of the uninsured car from his/her own pocket. This is the meaning of third-party liability. So, if you drive a car without insurance and your car becomes the reason for any damage to other cars or people on the road, you have to bear the expenses of the damages caused to them on your own. So, it is important to have the obligatory third-party insurance to save you from such situations of uninsured vehicle accidents.

3. Own car damage losses

Further to paying for third-party damages, you also need to pay for the damages caused to your own car in case of an accident.  However, if you have a comprehensive car insurance policy that covers both third-party and own car damages, you can avoid paying for the cost incurred to repair your own car. But if you do not have car insurance or if you do not renew your insurance policy, you might have to incur the costs of all losses from your own pocket.

4. Legal hassles and punishments

Along with incurring extreme financial losses, the owner of an uninsured motor might also have to face legal hassles. For instance, if your car is involved in an accident causing damage to the third-party and your car is uninsured, the third-party people might file a case against you and you might have to face legal consequences or might face imprisonment as well. The complication might rise further in case the accident causes the death of a third-party person. You might even lose your driver’s license.

Thus, having compulsory vehicle insurance and getting car insurance renewal done on time is very important for every vehicle owner.

5. NCB claim loss

NCB or No Claim Bonus is like a reward that car insurance companies offer to the insurance policyholder for not filing for a claim during a policy period. So, if you are rewarded a NCB for a particular year, it means that you will get a discount on your premium and then you will be paying a lesser amount of premium as compared to what you were paying earlier. So, if you could accumulate NCB, you might get up to 50% discount on your premium amount, thereby paying half of what you were paying as premium earlier.

But for this, you have to keep renewing your vehicle insurance before its expiry date or else you might lose your cumulative NCB and have to pay a higher premium when you renew your policy next.