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Hi guys... hoping you could help answer some of the points raised by my colleagues were having lunch when the hot topic on cars popped up again. the younger colleagues are really keen to get a car now so they bombarded me with tonnes of questions but some I could not answer - hope to find some help here. 1) How to ensure the dealer won't take my money and run road? 2) After bank loan approved, how to ensure dealer will transfer the car to me (like what happened recently)? 3) How to ensure the dealer fully settle my car before I transfer the car to him? (I suggested bringing cashier's order to the bank.... am I right? Have done this before) thanks a lot

Taken from vehicleowners.com - for sharing only ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAQs on Motor Claims and Loss of NCD Q: Why is NCD reduced after a claim, even if the insured does not seem to be at fault? A: The reason is: once any accident / claim is made known to the insurer, the insurer, by virtue of the insurance contract to indemnify the insured, has to reserve some funds in anticipation of any claim. Q: What is the fastest way for the insured to get back his / her NCD? A: However, if the insured is rather sure that the accident / claim is not due to his/her fault, the insured may ask the insurer to disregard the claim and reinstate the NCD. Depending on the circumstances, the insurer may ask the insured to sign a Letter of Indemnity* or Letter of Undertaking* to take over conduct of this claim. In other words, should there be any claim later on from any party with respect to this accident, the insurer would not be responsible. Instead, the insured would have to deal with the claim himself/herself. * this is normally subject to there being no injury/death involved in the accident, ie only property damage is involved. If there is any injury/death in the accident, the insurer is then bound by Statue / Road Traffic Act to satisfy injury/death claims arising from road traffic accidents and therefore the insurer is in no position to accept such a letter / undertaking. Q: Under what condition is it safe for the insured to give an undertaking to get back the NCD? A: Thus, it is only advisable for the insured to sign such a Letter of Indemnity or Letter of Undertaking if the insured is rather sure he/she is not at fault. Otherwise, the insured, while saving some money upfront because of having the NCD, may end up paying a claim out of his / her own pocket later on. Some clients may ask: is there any alternative: ie NOT having to sign the Letter of Indemnity / Letter of Undertaking but still get back the NCD. Well, the alternative is to wait for the insurer to be satisfied that there is no more claim or liability on the policy and hence it would close the file without liability. The insured, in this manner, would also have his/her NCD reinstated. Q: How long does the insured have to wait? A: However, do note that this may take some time**. Under common law, the time bar for Third Party Property Damage claims is 6 years, ie within 6 years of the accident date, the third party can file a claim for property damage. For Third Party Injury claims, the time bar is 3 years. So the insured may appreciate that it is not that the insurer wanting to keep the file open but under the law, the insurer has an obligation to do so! The insurer would also like to close the file soonest and release any reserve funds put under this case! Q: What else can the insured do to get back his NCD sooner? A: Another way for the insured to assist the insurer to closing the file sooner (and get his/her NCD reinstated sooner!) is to keep his own insurer of his/her third party informed on the claim status against the third party. Suppose, the insured was sure it was the third party