New Delhi [India], September 27: If you are the proud owner of a bike, you have the freedom to ride. However, with this freedom comes some risks associated with being on the road. Basic insurance coverage is not guaranteed to respond to every scenario, which can lead to added costs and stress.
Must-Have Add-Ons for Every Bike Owner
Each motorcycle has unique risks; comprehensive bike insurance helps you prepare for the dangers. Choosing the appropriate add-ons improves coverage and makes your policy more thorough and reliable. Here are the essential add-ons that every motorcycle owner should include:
- Zero Depreciation Cover: Repair costs can increase rapidly post-accident, especially for certain vehicles. New bikes or premium motorcycles usually include expensive spare parts. If you take a zero depreciation cover, you will receive 100% of your claim without any deductions for depreciation. A zero depreciation cover is always reassuring when protecting your investment.
- Roadside Assistance: Sometimes you find yourself in an unexpected breakdown, far from home or in an unpredictable situation on the road. With roadside assistance, you’ll have 24/7 support for towing, emergency fuel delivery, or a quick jumpstart.
- Personal Accident Cover for Pillion Rider: Riding with a passenger increases the rider’s responsibility. This cover ensures we will provide financial protection to the pillion rider in case of injury or accident. This especially applies to those riders who frequently carry family and friends, ensuring safety for both the rider and the pillion rider.
Useful Optional Add-Ons That Make Your Policy Complete
Optional add-ons allow riders to shape protection based on their riding patterns and circumstances. Whether riding downtown or heading out for a long weekend ride, Add-Ons provide peace of mind for events outside typical day-to-day situations. Here is what would be valuable coverage on your motorcycle policy:
- Engine Protection: Heavy rain and flooding can destroy a motorcycle’s engine, making repairs expensive. Engine protection will protect against that risk and covers damage from water entering the engine or oil leaks. Engine protection can be valuable for riders in flood-prone locations or a city that gets a lot of rain during the rainy season.
- Critical Components Cover: When a bike is repaired, there are always the smaller components like nuts, bolts and screws and lubricants, engine oil, etc., to consider, which sometimes go neglected in a policy. However, the costs of those components can add up quickly to the total repair costs. This extension ensures that the cost of components is built into your claim and reduces surprise repair costs.
- Protection of purchase price: If you experience a total loss of a motorcycle because it was stolen or something outside of your control, the insurance payout will pay its depreciated value. With purchase price protection, you will receive both the original purchase amount of the bike, plus tax and registration. This is especially beneficial and worthwhile if you have a new motorcycle.
How Do Add-Ons on Your Insurance Affect Your Premium?
Bike insurance add-ons help improve your coverage, but will increase your premium. The type and quantity of your add-ons will directly correlate to the cost of your coverage. Understanding this process will allow you to make better and more educated decisions, so you are not left overpaying. Here is how add-ons in your insurance affect your premium:
- Increased Annual Premiums: Every add-on to the bike insurance coverage you selected incurs an extra cost, which will be added to the total premium of your base policy. Accordingly, adding multiple optional covers can increase your total annual premium.
- Value of Protection Provided: While your total annual premium could increase based mainly on how many add-on coverages you choose, it will ensure better coverage and leave you confident to pay for various unexpected situations.
- Claim Background: Insurance companies will closely monitor how often a rider makes a claim, since this reflects risk behaviour. Prior history of frequent claims, even for minor damages, may cause add-ons such as zero depreciation or engine protection to cost more. However, if the rider has a clean riding history, add-ons should generally be cheaper or easier to obtain.
- True Value of Add-on Coverage: Add-ons offer their actual value during expensive repairs or unexpected breakdowns. An engine protection add-on may increase your premium, but could save you thousands in repair costs.
How to Choose the Right Add-Ons for Your Bike Insurance?
A few factors, like age, condition, and riding style, will determine the best add-ons for your bike. What would work best for those who commute on a newer bike daily may not be considered a need for the older or occasional bike rider. Below are some examples that can help you think through how you can use these add-ons to your advantage:
- New Bikes: A new bike is an expensive investment, and the value should be maintained in the first years of ownership. Having add-ons like zero-depreciation and purchase price protection means that anytime the bike is repaired or replaced, it will pay for the whole cost, including the original purchase price, registration, and taxes.
- Older Bikes: As a bike ages, insurance coverage shifts from preserving the purchase value to one that solely addresses the risk of the bike’s practical use and its appropriate maintenance. Coverage for add-ons like roadside assistance and personal accident becomes more relevant after five to seven years, providing practical protection for breakdowns or injuries that riders and their families are more likely to need.
- Regular Commuters Versus Casual Riders: Regular commuters are continuously dealing with traffic, weather, or road conditions, so they will derive more value from add-ons like engine protection, compartment cover, and roadside assistance since these will have them spend less on a repair bill and reduce time spent on motorcycle reliability. Casual riders spend less time on a motorcycle, therefore, they benefit more from add-ons for significant events, like accident assistance or purchase price protection.
- Personal and Family Needs: Personal accident coverage is necessary if you frequently ride with a passenger. Subsequently, if you are utilising your motorcycle as the family’s primary mode of transportation, practical coverage to ease sudden financial strain is more critical than resale-oriented add-ons.
- Account for the Weather and Environment: Riders from flood-prone areas or who ride through waterlogged regions should pay close attention to engine protection cover, as water can enter a motorcycle’s engine and create catastrophic issues. This is often not insured under a standard policy. Similarly, extreme heat and dust can cause wear on smaller components so that a component cover would be beneficial.
- Match Add-Ons to the Value of Your Bike: Expensive or premium-priced bikes often require a higher degree of protection, so add-ons such as zero depreciation, purchase price protection and components protection might be needed for protection.
In contrast, older bikes with low market value would require basic add-ons like roadside assistance or engine protection. In terms of insurance for electric bikes, riders should focus on add-ons that deal with battery care, charging problems, or even breakdown assistance.
Mistakes to Avoid While Selecting Bike Insurance Add-Ons
Riders frequently pay for add-ons that they don’t need or don’t add value to their insurance policy in the long run, simply because they misunderstood their add-ons’ purpose. By taking a few moments to understand your insurance needs fully, you can avoid expensive mistakes and ultimately only pay for add-ons that will benefit you. The following are common pitfalls to watch for:
- Buying Every Single Add-On: Although you may feel better about purchasing every add-on, there’s no need to do so, and it typically comes with a higher premium. You should only invest in add-ons according to how you ride, how often you ride, and the risks you feel, because, as mentioned before, you want to pay for coverage you will use.
- Not Considering the Age and Value of Your Bike: Add-ons are only profitable when they align with your bike’s value. For instance, a purchase-price protection is helpful for new or high-value bikes. On the other hand, add-ons that cover roadside assistance or personal accident will be more beneficial for an older bike.
- Not researching the Policy’s T&Cs: Every add-on has particular exclusions and terms and conditions. Sometimes we don’t think through a policy thoroughly and miss essential gaps in coverage. Therefore, confirm the terms with the insurer to be confident that your policy add-on offers the protection you expect.
- Ignoring How You Ride: Purchasing an add-on without considering your riding habits can incur unnecessary expenses. This is because riders will have varied needs depending on how frequently they use their bike. In particular, daily commuters may need an add-on that covers engine protection and roadside assistance. At the same time, occasional riders may only require basic covers such as accident protection, theft protection or third-party liability.
- Overlooking Claim Settlement Processes: Some add-ons can have complex claim processes or may have specific paperwork requirements. If you haven’t verified these add-ons, it may result in lower claim payouts or unforeseen delays during critical times, and you might be left paying out of pocket.
- Choosing Add-Ons Based Solely on Price: Choosing an add-on solely due to its lower price may mean compromised protection. The cheapest add-on will typically have limited benefits and might not be highly advantageous when needed.
Choosing the correct bike insurance add-ons will help you transition your policy from a legal obligation to a tailored safety net for when you hit the road, so that you can ride with less stress. In addition to the financial protection, it instils confidence and convenience whenever you ride, ensuring that the unforeseen does not affect your day-to-day life or plans. With the right mix of add-ons, you can easily raise your claims and simplify your ownership experience.
