Riding a bike carries risks of accidents, collisions, and mishaps. These incidents can damage your bike, cause injuries to you, or damage a third-party person or property. If the accident is caused by your bike, then the onus of compensating for the damages to the third party lies with you. Also, you will have to manage the costs associated with repairing your two-wheeler. A two-wheeler insurance policy offers protection from legal and financial liabilities arising out of such incidents.
When you buy a two-wheeler insurance plan, the insurer offers coverage based on the type of policy you select. There are two broad categories of bike insurance policies – third-party liability and comprehensive policies. In India, all bike owners need to mandatorily have a third-party liability cover. However, these plans do not offer coverage for damage to the insured bike. Hence, many people opt for a comprehensive bike insurance policy that includes third-party and own-damage coverage.
The insurer charges a premium for offering comprehensive coverage for a fixed period. You need to renew the policy on or before the maturity date to ensure that it stays in force. Today, we will talk about the bike insurance renewal and also list the documents required for the renewal of bike insurance.
Renewing Your Bike Insurance Policy
Bike insurance renewal in India is straightforward. When the term of your existing policy comes to an end, you are required to renew it. Failure to do so can result in the policy lapsing. This means that you will no longer be covered, and the policy will not be active. Since it is mandatory for all bikes to have an insurance policy, you will not be able to legally ride your bike in India. Also, if your bike meets with an accident, then you will have to bear the costs of repair.
When you decide to renew your policy, you can do it with the same insurer or a different insurance provider. Here are the documents needed under both scenarios.
Documents Needed to Renew Bike Insurance with the Same Insurance Provider
Since you have already submitted a range of documents while purchasing the policy, renewing it with the same insurer will be simple and involve minimal documentation. You need to visit the website of the insurer and click on Policy Renewal. The site will ask you to input the existing policy number and retrieve your details from the records of the company. You will have to provide documents only if there is any change in the information provided at the time of buying the policy.
Documents Needed to Renew Bike Insurance with a Different Insurance Provider
Many bike owners decide to change their insurance provider. The best time to do this is when you are renewing the policy. If you are dissatisfied with the services of the current insurer or are getting better features or lower premium policies, then you might want to migrate to a new insurer. Here are the documents needed while renewing your policy with a different insurance provider:
- Copy of the current insurance certificate
- Registration Certificate of your two-wheeler
- Proof of Identity
- Proof of Address
If you have earned NCB benefits, then you can transfer them to the new insurer. However, you will need to acquire an NCB transfer certificate from your current insurer and submit it to the new insurance company.
Remember, it is important to renew your bike insurance policy in time. Just like purchasing online bike insurance in India, renewing the policy is also very easy. Most insurers offer a 90-day grace period to policyholders for renewal. Once this period is over, your policy will lapse. This means that you will not be able to renew it but will have to purchase a new policy. Also, any NCB benefit accumulated by you will lapse. While the default tenure of bike insurance is one year, you can also opt for a long term two wheeler insurance policy to avoid the hassle of renewing it every year.
Summing Up
As you can see, the list of documents needed to renew your bike insurance policy with the existing insurer is minimal. You will be required to submit relevant documents only if there is any change in the original details provided by you. If you decide to change the insurer, then you will need to submit documents that allow the insurer to establish your identity and verify your policy details. Some insurers might require additional documents. Make sure that you check with the insurer before beginning the renewal process.