Bengaluru: Around 300 vehicles were seen on fire at the parking lot of the Aero India 2019 here on Saturday, February 23. Sources say that a heap of hay which was stacked near the parking area caught fire and the flames spread to the vehicles that were parked near to it.

The firefighters rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control. Spirals of black smoke emanated from the site of the fire and visitors appeared shocked and frightened. This is the second incident after two Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team aircraft collided mid-air and crashed on Tuesday during a practice sortie for the 12th edition of Aero India, casting a shadow on the five-day biennial airshow that kicked off on Wednesday.

According to an eye witness, it took the firefighters 20 minutes to get to the incident spot. Some of the cars were saved from the fire, by breaking the window glasses and releasing the hand brakes, but time was of the essence as the fire was spreading very fast due to the fuel in the cars and the heat and the possibilities of explosions were high.

Insurance claims
According to the norms of the insurance companies if the incident falls under the category of ‘Own Damage’ (done by the respective car owners) ‘Natural disaster’, ‘Total loss’ (completely charred in fire), and ‘Partial loss’ (few parts affected by fire), the insurance will be sanctioned.

It is to be noted that each of the insurance company, has its own criteria’s and policies. The insurance company will then ask for a photograph of the affected car and necessary documents, and if found genuine, then it will sanction around 90 percent of the car’s amount based on IDV (Insured Declared Value).

Some of the companies also ask for FIR (First Information Report) along with the claim form.

These procedures must be completed within a 20-30-day time limit.

If the car owner has availed the RTI (Return to Invoice) policy during the time of purchase along with the insurance, then that owner will be entitled to avail a new car from the company. The only thing the owner needs to do is, just pay the state road tax.

However car owners can heave a sigh of relief, since this is almost akin to natural disaster in full public view and the insurance companies may not be able to wiggle out of reimbursement with their small print.

Speaking to newskarnataka.com one of the deputy manager (name not mentioned according to the speaker) of a reputed insurance company said, “As it is a mass fire case, an FIR will be already filed in the nearest police station, which should not be an issue for the owners to claim their copy and attach it to the necessary documents and send it across to their concerned insurance company”.

Explaining the process the deputy manager said, “The car owner must call up the toll-free number of their respective insurance company, where a claim will be filed with an immediate effect. The concerned company will then issue a claim number which has to be noted down and given to the surveyor, who will be reaching the spot within 24-48 hours for inspection”.

“The surveyor will then inspect the car, its documents, its wear and tear, third party insurance, and cross-check the value of the car as per the current rates. If the car is of an older version then (for example 2013 model), for every year there would be a depreciating percentage about 10 percent. At this point in time as per the protocol, KYC (Know Your Customer) norms will also be followed by the insurance company”, the deputy manager added.

On the question of how quick the reimbursement would be, the manager said, “It all depends on the verification of the documents and survey procedures. Also depends on the intensity and proportion of the incident”.

“As it is a financial year end, the concerned insurance companies will make sure to clear the cases as soon as possible, in order to maintain the balance sheets”, said the manager.

According to the manager, it will be a tough time for that company who has more number of car owners associated with.