How To Get Your Car Insurance e-Policy During The MECQ And GCQ

3 min read By eCompareMo on May 13, 2020

Whether you’re looking for a compulsory third-party liability (CTPL) or comprehensive car insurance, you don’t have to worry about securing your much-needed policy.

As the entire country—or world, for that matter—enters a new normal, expect changes in a lot of things, including the way insurance companies conduct their businesses. Once we enter a state of General Community Quarantine, know that safety precautions will remain in place to arrest the spread of COVID-19.

For car owners, renewing their LTO registration while insurance companies are working with a reduced capacity can pose a challenge. This is more taxing for drivers who need to renew their vehicles and must get a CTPL insurance before they renew their registration. How exactly should you navigate getting a car insurance this Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ)?

What a car insurance e-policy is all about

How do you get a CTPL or comprehensive car insurance during the quarantine period? That’s where the electronic policy, or e-policy, comes in.

For the uninitiated, an e-policy is a digital copy of your car insurance policy, and it’s just as good as the hard copy.

In the past, e-policies were treated mostly as a temporary copy of your certificate of cover with the provider. This, as you wait for the document to be delivered to your home or office.

Clearly, that has changed. Social distancing dictates that an e-policy sent to your email or messaging app is now much preferred. The pros? Since it can be stored in your mobile phone, it goes wherever you go. And you get that extra space in your glove compartment.

Insurance companies and brokers that issue e-policies don’t just give you the convenience of making your documents readily accessible, some of them also offer electronic payment channels. That means there is no need for you to transact face-to-face with an insurance agent.

If you need help setting up digital payment for your insurance premium, here are some tips on how you can pay your policy.

Is it legitimate?

Getting an online copy of your insurance documents is easy—but do banks and regulators accept an e-policy?

For car owners who have encumbered vehicles, having comprehensive car insurance within your auto loan term is mandatory. This means that that on top of your monthly repayment on your loan, you also have to get an insurance coverage every year.

Your bank will ask you for documents such as official receipt and your insurance policy as proof of coverage. Fortunately, banks in the Philippines are more than happy to recognize your e-policy.

Once you get your digital certificate of coverage from your insurer, you can simply forward the document to the banking agent in charge of your account and you’re good to go. Just make sure that your expiring and upcoming insurance coverages don’t have a gap, lest you’ll be slapped with penalties.

But what about the regulators? Will the LTO accept electronic copies of your CTPL coverage to complete your registration or renewal? This can get a little bit tricky.

When you go to any government office, one prudent practice is to bring the original copy and duplicates of your documents. This will save you from going back and forth to the photocopy machine.

When you renew your vehicle registration, the best practice when it comes to online copies of your CTPL coverage is to print them out as copies for the LTO. Disclose to them that you got your CTPL insurance online and you opted for an online copy of the policy as part of being prudent during COVID-19 pandemic.

If you’re adamant in getting a physical copy of your insurance documents, you can have them delivered to your home too. Just talk to your insurance agent and tell them you want a hard copy of your documents. However, keep in mind that one of the big reasons why there is a push for e-policies is to minimize contact with other people during the pandemic.

With our transactions becoming more reliant on online platforms, it’s great to see insurance companies changing with the times. It’s about time we embrace paperless and cashless transactions and go digital, after all.