Today, in India, insuring one’s bike is a legal requirement that every two-wheeler owner must abide by. A bike insurance plan enables policyholders to receive financial compensation against damages caused to the insured motorcycle or scooter from any accident, theft, or natural disaster.
How Many Claims Are Allowed in Bike Insurance?
Typically, there are no restrictions on the number of claims one can make under the bike insurance policy in a year. Nonetheless, one must remember that the bike insurance claim affects the NCB (No Claim Bonus). As repeated claims in a year may raise the premium when one renews the policy. However, if one has opted for a zero depreciation cover for the bike insurance plan, there may be limitations on the number of claims one can make in a year under the zero depreciation cover. Also, the number of claims permitted under this cover differs from one insurer to another.
What Happens in the Case of Repeated Claims?
1. Loss of No Claim Bonus
No Claim Bonus is a benefit that is presented in the form of a discount at the time of policy renewal. In case the policyholders have not raised a single claim within the policy term of the motor insurance policy. The percentage of discount rises with every claim-free year and ranges from 20% to 50%. Also, policyholders will lose all accumulated NCB discounts if they file a claim during the policy period. Therefore, policyholders must evade filing claims for small damages as it will keep NCB intact.
2. Increased premium
If there are repeated filing of claims, it will prompt the insurer to raise the premium amount at the time of the renewal of their existing motor insurance policies. They start charging higher premium amounts, once multiple claims increase insurers’ financial risk.
3. Reduced compensations
It is better for policyholders to avoid filing a claim if the repair bill incurred after the harm is less than the mentioned deductibles. Also, filing a claim for minor harm will result in policyholders receiving inadequate compensation. Policyholders who have claimed for a zero depreciation cover on their comprehensive bike insurance plan can limit the number of claims they can make under their insurance plan.
4. Zero depreciation cover limit
When one chooses zero depreciation add-on bike insurance cover along with their bike insurance policy, they are limited on the number of claims that can be raised under the same within a year.
When is the best time to raise claims?
- It is better not to raise a bike insurance claim if the repair charge would cost less than what one might receive as NCB or No Claim Bonus.
- Also, if the repair amount is possible to be little as compared to the deductibles one would pay, then one may not raise a claim.
- If there is third-party damage that caused your bike harm, one must not talk about bearing the expense and let the third party pay for it.
Each and every bike owner must avail of a bike insurance plan and be prepared for incidents like an unprecedented bike accident or a theft scenario. However, if the damages to the car are severe, the foremost thing one should do is notify the insurer and file a claim with relevant documents. Also, it is clear now, that there is no limit to the number of claims one can raise in their bike insurance policy. It is better if one does not raise multiple claims within a year as this won’t affect your other related policy benefits. Also, one should try to intimate the insurer about the accident as early as possible, so that the insurance company does not refuse the claim based on the disclaimer about timely intimation.
