Bike Insurance Renewal

When you purchase a bike insurance policy, it comes for a period of 1 year called one policy year. While you can also choose an insurance policy for more than one year (usually 2 or 3 years), a bike insurance policy also comes with an expiry date. This date is usually referred to as the policy term end year or can also be looked at as a date by when you must renew your bike insurance.

When you renew your bike insurance, it basically means that you will be able to avail the services of your insurer and get the benefits and coverage mentioned in your policy document for another year. Let’s take an example to understand this better:

Joe and Joseph are two brothers who had bought two Hero bikes on June 26th 2023. Both Joe and Joseph took a one year stand alone own damage and three years third party bike insurance. Now after a year on June 26th 2024, Joe chose not to renew his stand alone own damage bike insurance while Joseph renewed his stand alone own damage bike insurance. Now, if anything happens to Joe’s bike in the year 2024 after June 26th, he will be liable to financially bear all the burden of repair and damage. On the other hand, if Joseph’s bike gets damaged after June 26th 2024, Joseph’s insurer will take care of major expenses of his bike damage.

It is important to note that if you forget to renew your bike insurance by the assigned date, there is a grace period or a window granted to you by the insurer (usually a period of 15-30 days depending on the insurer), during which you can choose to renew your insurance. Note that if any damage happens to your bike during this grace period or if you accidently harm a third party or damage their property during this grace period, your insurer will not cover the financial burden for you.

It is also important to note that if you do not renew your policy in time or within the grace period granted to you, your policy will expire and all the benefits of the policy will also be revoked immediately.

Factors Affecting Bike Insurance Renewal Premium

Here are a list of factors that impact the premium of your bike insurance during renewal:

• Type of bike Insurance: The type of bike insurance you take during renewal - stand alone own damage, third party or comprehensive bike insurance - has a role to play in determining the cost of your insurance premium. While having a third party bike insurance is mandatory by law, the price for the same is very low as compared to that of a comprehensive bike insurance which covers both stand alone own damage (SAOD) and third party bike insurance.
  Note that as per the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), the rates for all motor insurance is standardised irrespective of the insurer you choose. Hence, the base price will always be the same.
• Purpose of Use of Vehicle: Depending on the reason you are buying your bike for, the price of premium may vary. If you are buying a bike for personal use, the cost of premium will be relatively lower than when you are buying a bike for commercial purpose. This is because your exposure to risk increases in the case of a commercial vehicle as compared to when you buy a vehicle for personal use. There are separate insurance policies for both personal and commercial bike insurance types.
• Insured Declared Value: Your bike’s insured declared value is the maximum sum assured to you in case of theft or loss of your bike. This value is set by your insurer and also has an impact in determining the price of the premium during renewal.
• Age of Your Vehicle: As the age of your vehicle increases, the risks associated with the vehicle also increases. When the age of your vehicle is less than 5 years, it is considered a low risk vehicle. As soon as its age increases from 5 years, the amount of maintenance needed increases, chances of vehicle part damage increases and the value of your vehicle also decreases.
• Driving History: Your driving record has a big impact on your bike insurance renewal premium price. If you are someone who has been caught in a drink and drive case or has made certain legal violations, the price of bike insurance premium will be very high compared to a person who has a clean driving history.
• Credit History: It may not seem like a big thing but your credit score actually has a huge impact on the price of your bike insurance renewal premium. A good credit history shows that you are responsible, you can make payments on time and do not heavily rely on credit or loans. Whereas, a bad credit score can imply otherwise, giving a reason for your insurer to not trust you in paying your premiums properly.
• Add Ons Taken: Depending on the add ons you choose to take with your bike insurance policy while renewal, your policy premium price will change. If you choose to not take any premium, your policy price will decrease, if you choose to enhance your coverage, and opt for add ons, your policy price will increase. Note, that there are no add ons available with a third party bike insurance.

Steps to Check Renewal Dates & Reminders

There are various ways in which you can check the status of your bike insurance expiry or renewal (note that your bike insurance expiry date is also your policy renewal date). The details are mentioned below:

Checking Bike Insurance Expiry/ Renewal Date Using VAHAN E-Service

You need to follow the instructions below in order to review your bike insurance renewal dates from e VAHAN Service:

Step 1: Visit VAHAN e service website [1]

Step 2: In the header, look for the “Know Your Vehicle” option and click on it

Step 3: Enter your registered mobile number to get the verification code. Enter verification code or captcha as prompted

Step 4: You will now enter a dashboard which will showcase your bike insurance policy expiration date (which also is your insurance policy renewal date), and other relevant information about your bike like make, model and variant details.

Checking Bike Insurance Renewal Dates Through Policy Document

The simplest way to check for your bike insurance renewal date is by referring to your bike insurance policy document. Look for the policy expiry date as your policy expiry date is also your policy renewal date. If you have bought your insurance from InsuranceDekho, you can simply login to the customer portal where all your policies purchased through us are listed and you can download your policy document from there in case you are unable to find it.

Reminder Options

For reminders note that your bike insurance provider will reach out to you 15 days before your bike insurance renewal date to remind you on renewing your insurance. They will reach out through email, SMS or whatsapp basis the service options chosen by you.

In case you have taken your bike insurance from InsuranceDekho, you will also be getting a reminder from us on your registered mobile number, email address or whatsapp.

What are the Benefits of Renewing Your Bike Insurance Policy?

The major benefits of renewing your bike insurance policy are mentioned below:

• Attain Continuous Coverage: When you buy a bike insurance policy, it provides financial coverage to your bike and legal and financial safetynet to you in case you meet with an accident damaging a third party’s bike or injuring a third party person. Your bike insurance also provides benefits like no claim bonus, engine protection, zero dep etc depending on the plan and add ons you choose. However, this coverage is valid for a particular period of time only, and if you do not renew your bike insurance, your coverage will lapse leaving you unguarded financially.

• Abide by Motor Laws: As per the Motor Vehicle Act of 1988, it is mandatory to have at least a third party bike insurance. In case you do not take this insurance and have a vehicle on the road, you are liable to be fined for the same since driving an uninsured bike is illegal in India.

• Benefits of No Claim Bonus or NCB: When you do not take any claim in a given policy year, you get a no claim bonus percentage. At the time of renewal, this no claim bonus percentage acts as a discount making your policy premium price lower than before. Note that the discount percentage of no claim bonus will depend on your insurer. While some may offer 10 or 20% NCB, others may also offer up to 50% of NCB.

• Prevent Premium Price Hike: When you renew your bike insurance policy on time, you safeguard yourself from paying a higher premium price. Note that if you skip renewing your bike insurance, the price will increase since you will have to buy a completely new policy. This also means that your old bike will be in a bad condition as compared to a new bike and the depreciation will be high and premium will be high owing to increase in the risk or probability of damage.

Let’s look at an example to understand this better. Joe bought his bike insurance on 26th June 2023 and he chose not to renew his insurance in the year 2024. Now, in the year 2028 Joe feels like buying a new insurance policy. In this case, now that Joe is buying a bike insurance for a bike which is more than 4 years old, his bike’s value must have depreciated further as compared to year 1, at the same time the value of his bike’s part must have gone down, scope of coverage may get decreased and at the same time since the risk of damage or repair of his bike has increased owing to the age of the bike, Joe will have to pay a higher premium than what he would end up paying if he had renewed his bike on time.

Consequences of Not Renewing Your Bike Insurance Policy

Renewing your bike insurance policy should be something to keep in mind as not having a bike insurance has many downsides. Listed below are some of the major reasons why you must consider renewing your insurance:

• Loss of Coverage: When you do not renew your bike insurance, you lose the entire coverage that is offered to you. This includes all benefits of no claim bonus, financial coverage for repair and damage of your bike, or from theft and burglary, financial and legal coverage in case of a third party damage or injury caused.
• Pay Challan: When you do not renew your bike insurance on time and you are caught without a third party bike insurance by a traffic police, you will have to pay a fine or challan price since it is mandatory by law to have a third party bike insurance. Note that the challan price is about INR 2000 while you may also get imprisoned for over 3 months if you are caught without a third party bike insurance.
• Legal Action in Court: There may be a legal action taken against you in case you are caught without a third party insurance and you have been in an accident where your bike was responsible for a third party’s property damage or body injury or death. In case you are caught and found guilty, a criminal case will be filed against you for being a negligent driver and you will also have to compensate the third party out of your pocket in case they are injured or their property is damaged. In case of death of a third party, you will have to compensate their family members or dependants.
• Loss of No Claim Bonus: When you renew your bike insurance on time, you get a discount of your previous year’s unclaimed no claim bonus amount. However, when you choose not to renew your bike insurance, your no claim bonus discount bounces or expires. It is always better to renew your insurance to reap benefits of NCB discounts.
• Chances of Proposal Rejections Are High: In case you have not renewed your bike insurance on time and then choose to buy a new one, there are chances of getting rejection on your policy proposal request. This is because if your policy payment history or your credit history or your claim frequency have been impacted in any way or your past accidents track record is not clean, there is a high chance your insurer will reject your proposal.

Documents Required For Renewing Your Bike Insurance Policy

Here are the documents that you must keep with yourself for immediate access while renewing your bike insurance policy:

• Proof of Identity (Passport or Ration Card, Driving Licence or Aadhaar Card or a Voter’s ID)
• Proof of Address (Voter’s ID Card or Passport or your Aadhaar Card)
• Your Bike’s Registration Certificate (RC)
• A recent passport size photograph
• Old policy number or policy document

Renewing your bike insurance online is very simple. There are a few steps to follow depending on your insurer and you are all set. You can also choose to buy and renew your bike insurance with InsuranceDekho to get an easy and quick solution.

Steps To Renew with InsuranceDekho

Here are the steps you need to follow in order to renew your bike insurance with InsuranceDekho:

Step 1: Visit InsuranceDekho Website

You must visit https://www.insurancedekho.com/bike-insurance first and click on the “Renew” tab from the header.

Step 2: Enter Mobile Details

Enter your registered mobile number and click on “Continue.”

Step 3: Enter OTP

You will now receive an OTP on your registered mobile number, enter the OTP and click on continue.

Step 4: Choose Policy & Renew

You will now be redirected to your dashboard on InsuranceDekho’s website. Here you will be able to see a list of all policies you have bought from us. Select the bike insurance policy that you want to renew.

Step 5: Review Details, Compare and Make Payment

Review all the details of the policy, compare your current policy with other policies in the market, select add ons of your choice once you are sure of the policy to take. Then make payment and download your policy document.

Note: while you may choose to renew your old policy adding or subtracting the add ons as per your requirement, insurance plans and policies keep changing as per IRDAI’s updates. It is advisable to learn about the recent changes and updates to make sure you choose the right policy for yourself as per your current requirement. While renewing your bike insurance policy, you can also choose to buy a new policy. When you do so within the time frame of renewal, your benefits like no claim bonus gets transferred to your new policy.

In case you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us. Our insurance advisors will be happy to assist you in making the right choice.

Things to Consider While Renewing Bike Insurance Policy

Before you choose to renew your bike insurance plan, you must consider to look at the following parameters to ensure you are making the right choice:

1. No Claim Bonus: You must check the discount you are getting for your no claim in the previous year. You must also check and compare this with other insurers in the market.
2. Policy Coverage Details: Every insurer is different, so are their policy coverages. Make sure you have checked the benefits you are getting within your policy and compare it with other top insurers in the market to make an informed decision about which insurer to go with based on your needs.
3. Insured Declared Value: Your bike’s Insured Declared Value or IDV has a huge impact on your bike’s current value. Make sure you verify your bike’s IDV to make an informed decision.
4. History of Previous Claims: Make sure you disclose the details of your previous claims made as this will also help you check on the kinds of benefits being offered to you by various insurers.
5. Policy Terms and Conditions: In order to ensure you have made the right choice, it is important that you read the insurer’s policy terms and conditions and also review it in comparison to another insurer of your choice to make the right decision based on your requirement and bike condition.

How To Renew Expired Bike Insurance Policy?

If your bike insurance policy date has passed and you have not renewed your insurance even during the grace period, that means your policy has expired. In this case, you will have to buy a new bike insurance policy and you cannot renew your expired bike insurance policy.

Customer Support and Assistance

If you have any query or in case you would like to renew your bike insurance (or buy a new one), feel free to reach out to us on call +91-7551196989 or on email at support@insurancedekho.com. Our insurance advisors will be happy to assist you in making the choice that best suits your requirements.