By Scott Will
We buy bike insurance hoping never to have to raise a claim on our policies. However, sometimes the inevitable happens. After all, the road can be a pretty unpredictable place. Meeting with an accident can be quite traumatic for you; what could help is knowing the right procedure for raising a claim. The last thing you need when already under emotional distress is your claim getting rejected or unnecessarily delayed because of a few mistakes in the application procedure. To help you out, we have listed 5 important things to do before submitting your bike insurance claim.
- Call up the insurer
Even if you are aware of the process of filing a claim, it makes sense to still call up the insurer and inform them of your situation. Let them once again confirm the exact steps you need to take to file a claim. It is quite possible that in your stressful situation, you forget to do a thing or two. So, it is good to get proper guidance to ensure your claim goes through smoothly. Better yet, get a friend or family member to make the call for you. They can note down the procedure and ensure that you do things just right.
- File the FIR
If a claim has been raised for third-party damages, an FIR would be required. Make sure to file the FIR at the nearest police station. Skipping out on this can cause issues when you file your claim.
- Get your documentation in order
Prior to filing the claim, get all the required paperwork in order. The documents that will be needed apart from the FIR usually include the driver’s licence copy, copy of the two-wheeler insurance papers, copy of the bike’s RC, and any relevant bills. When you call up the insurer, make sure to ask the customer service representative for an exact list of all the documents they need you to submit.
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- Check your policy fine print
Meeting with an accident is a stressful situation, physically and financially. Your bike might have undergone major damage and you personally may have sustained a few injuries. During such a time, reading your policy fine print might sound like an exhaustive task. Yet, it must be done for you need to ensure that you do not raise a claim for anything that is deemed to be an exclusion by your insurer.
- Take legal advice
You may also consider calling up a lawyer and informing them of your situation too. You should consider doing this any time a third-party is involved in a road accident with you. Even if the accident is not too serious, the lawyer might be able to give some helpful inputs to you. And, if you eventually end up requiring legal advice, you will be glad that you spoke to the lawyer early on.
Keep these points in mind if you ever have to raise a claim on your bike insurance. Always keep your motorcycle insurance policy renewed each year to stay protected.
Wear a helmet and ride safely!
