If you thought the recent price hike of diesel fuel was bad, then your in for another shock. Diesel care are more expensive to buy than their petrol counterparts, cheaper to run but slightly dearer to maintain. Being expensive to buy also means higher insurance on them and now insurance companies have taken the opportunity to make hay while the sun shines. General insurance companies claim to be faced with high losses in motor policy claims and are in for as much as a 30% hike in insurance premium, ouch! The logic seems farce as their is no theory to prove what Mr. Vijay Kumar is trying to say.
“An individual travelling long distances mostly chooses a diesel vehicle, leading to higher exposure to risk, which may increase the premium. Fuel has become an important rating parameter with the growing preference for diesel vehicles” Vijay Kumar , Head, Motor Insurance, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, said.
So basically interpreting the above statement, we can say that petrol car owners are a boring lot and don’t drive that often. That is total hogwash as no discrimination on driving pattern can be portrayed based on the choice of fuel of an individual. We know many people who would chose a diesel over a petrol just for the fantastic engine characteristics and fun to drive nature. Also some companies say that diesel cars are used more by commercial users, so why don’t you charge both accordingly? Why should the common man face the grunt of your assumptions, which are far from the truth? On the other hand, this is the second time petrol car owners can rejoice this year, the first being the diesel price hike, where petrol was left untouched. Meanwhile we are on our way to get ourselves a Reva!