A bike insurance claim is when a demand is made on the insurance company to compensate the policyholder for damages incurred to the bike or because of the bike due to covered perils. The insurance company then compensates for the financial loss suffered and settles the claim.
A bike insurance claim is said to occur in the following circumstances:
When the bike is stolen, a claim takes place. If the bike is not recovered, the insurance company pays the Insured Declared Value of the policy which is also the sum insured.
If, due to the bike, any third party (any individual besides the insurance company and the policyholder) gets physically hurt or is killed, a third party liability arises. Even if the bike damages any third party property, a third party liability arises. In that case, the policyholder is financially liable to compensate the third party for the damages caused. A bike insurance policy covers such financial liabilities. Thus, in case any third party liability arises, a claim is made in the bike insurance policy. The company compensates the third party on behalf of the policyholder.
If the bike itself is damaged due to natural or man-made perils, an own damage claim arises. The insurance company pays for the repair costs of the bike.
The process of filing a bike insurance claim depends on the type of claim incurred:
Bike insurance claims can be of two types – cashless and reimbursement:
If the bike is taken to the preferred garage mentioned by the insurance company, the claim is settled directly by the company. This is called cashless settlement of claim.
If the bike is repaired at a non-networked garage, the policyholder would have to pay for the repair costs himself. Once the bike is repaired and delivered, the policyholder submits the repair bills to the insurance company. The company assesses the bills and reimburses the policyholder for the costs incurred.
Every bike insurance claim requires the policyholder to submit some documents along with the claim form. These documents are as follows:
Though the bike insurance claim process is quite easy, there are some things which the policyholder should keep in mind when making a claim. These things are as follows:
There are some instances which are not covered by bike insurance policies. For instance, claims occurring when driving without a valid license or when under the influence of alcohol or drugs are specifically excluded from the scope of coverage. In such cases, if a claim is made, it would subsequently be rejected. So, when making a claim in your bike insurance policy, check whether the claim is covered by the policy or not.
There is a compulsory excess amount in all bike insurance policies. In each claim, the amount of compulsory excess is to be borne by the policyholder. There is also a concept of voluntary excess where the policyholder voluntarily chooses to bear a portion of his bike insurance claim to avail premium discounts. So, when the claim is settled, the policyholder would have to bear the compulsory and voluntary excess (if any).
In case of own damage claims, the insurance company pays for the repair costs after deducting the applicable depreciation on the parts of the bike. This deducted depreciation would have to paid by the policyholder to settle the repair bills.