Return to Invoice in Car Insurance

RTI works like a financial shield that protects you from losing money on your car investment. Think of it as insurance for your insurance. When you buy a new car, you not only pay for the vehicle but also for registration fees, road tax and other charges. All these costs are mentioned in your car's invoice. With so many expenses, having an RTI becomes crucial because it ensures that if something bad happens to your car, you get back every penny you spent.

The working process of an RTI insurance is quite simple to understand. First, you buy RTI as an add-on with your main car insurance policy by paying a small extra premium for this protection. Then, when your car faces total loss due to theft, a major accident, fire or natural disasters like floods, RTI kicks in to help you. Instead of getting the reduced market value that regular insurance offers, you receive the full invoice amount without any deductions.

Now, when it comes to RTI premium calculation, it depends on multiple factors that insurance companies carefully consider. Your car's age plays the biggest role because newer cars have higher premiums since their invoice value is higher. Along with this, the make and model matter significantly - for example, a Maruti Alto will have a different premium than a BMW due to their different values. Your location is equally important in this calculation because if you live in a city with high crime rates or natural disaster risks, you'll naturally pay more for coverage.

When your car is stolen or completely damaged, we pay these two amounts:

• 1. Original invoice amount (car price + registration + road tax)
• 2. Current replacement cost of the same car model

This means if your car's invoice value was ₹8 lakhs but the same new car now costs ₹9 lakhs, you'll get ₹8 lakhs. But if the new car now costs ₹7 lakhs, you'll get ₹7 lakhs.

The best part is that there's no depreciation deduction. You get the full amount without any cuts for your car's age or condition.