Anyone involved with a bike insurance policy would have come across the term NCB. NCB stands for No Claims Bonus and it can be a very effective way to slash your bike insurance premium. No points for guessing, that it is a type of discount that you can avail of on your bike insurance renewal.
An NCB discount allows you to bring down the premiums by a minimum of 20% for one claimless year to a maximum of 50% for five consecutive years. This discount will help you reduce your premium by a considerable margin. However, there is much more to NCB than just being a type of discount. Understanding the following points will help you avoid any form of disappointment when it comes to bike insurance renewal.
1. How to Get NCB?
An NCB essentially comes into the picture when you do not claim your policy during its term. For each year (maximum five years) that you do not claim your policy, you receive benefits. Thus, it is recommended at times to skip minor repairs so that you can retain your NCB bonus. This retention will help you save even more in the next bike insurance renewal.
Also Read: Know about Insuring Your Bike If You are a Road-Trip Enthusiast
2. Is it Transferable?
One of the fundamentals of an NCB is that it is issued to a policyholder and not a vehicle. This means, that in the event of you selling your bike, you can still keep your NCB. You can carry forward your NCB benefits to the new bike as well. When you wish to buy a bike insurance policy, you can use the transferred NCB to avail discounts.
3. Can It be Transferred to another Insurer’s Policy?
Since NCB is awarded to a policyholder rather than a bike, it can be transferred to another insurer as well. The new insurer might take a few additional steps to verify if there genuinely weren’t any claims made or not.
It is only when you renew two-wheeler insurance that you would come across NCB. Irrespective of whether you opt for the online mode or the offline mode. When you set out to renew two-wheeler insurance the next time around with a different insurer, do not forget to inquire about NCB and how it lowers your bike insurance policy’s premium.
4. Impact of Claims
Should you claim your bike insurance policy, your NCB will reset to zero. Your NCB counter will restart from scratch and your accumulated NCB will vanish.
5. Can you Protect NCB?
Given the nature of the discount, insurers have come up with protection plans for NCB. You can opt for add-ons that protect your NCB discount. As per the add-ons, you can proceed with making a limited number of claims during a policy’s term without impacting your NCB. For example, you can claim your policy once or twice during its term without losing your NCB benefits. It is important to understand that the add-ons do not keep the policy prices constant over the years. They merely preserve the NCB in the event of a claim.
6. NCB and Renewal
You should ensure that you renew your insurance policy before its expiry date. Failing to do so will expose you to financial risks as your insurance coverage will be termed invalid. Such a scenario can be detrimental to NCB as well.
You are given a bracket of 90 days from the date of your expiry to renew your policy and keep your NCB intact. If 90 days have passed after the expiry date of your policy, and you still haven’t renewed the policy, you shall lose the accumulated NCB.
