VIJAYAWADA: Vehicle owners from the flood-affected areas of Ajith Singh Nagar, New and Old RR Pet, Pipula Road, Vambay Colony, Kandrika, Nunna etc are lining up before motor mechanic shops and showrooms to get their vehicles repaired.
Vehicle owners visit the Insurance (floods) Claims Facilitation Centre set up at the sub-collector’s office to process the papers. Those without insurance, mainly motorbike owners, have rushed to local mechanic shops to repair their vehicles.
While the state government opened the facilitation centre at the sub-collector’s office, stalls from different insurance companies enter details of the damaged vehicles and ensure that the claims are settled at the earliest.
Tens of thousands of two, three and four wheelers along with heavy duty vehicles were damaged in the flooding. The state government prevailed on the insurance firms to provide claim settlements for all kinds of vehicle part damages, including engine motors.
“Since the vehicles were damaged due to a natural calamity, vehicle owners will be provided 100 per cent coverage for labour charges. Claims for replacement of parts will be settled at their depreciated value,” said a representative of the Oriental Insurance, adding that they have received over 100 insurance claims worth nearly `2.75 crore in the last two days.
However, many vehicle owners complained they the promised compensation was less than their expectations.
“My auto was inundated in floodwater, and the mechanic quoted around `15,000 for repairs. The insurance firm forced me to settle my claim for `4,500. If I were to give my vehicle to the showroom, it would take at least two weeks for them to deliver it back to me,” said Someshwara Rao, an auto-rickshaw owner from the Ajith Singh Nagar area.
