What Happens If Bike Insurance NCB Is Not Claimed?

No Claim Bonus or NCB is the discount offered by insurance companies to customers for not filing a claim in the previous year. The NCB in bike insurance helps you get a discount on renewal of insurance premiums if you have not filed any claim in the past year. However, this benefit is only available when you purchase comprehensive bike insurance. 

While a lot of bike owners have a basic idea about NCB, not many know its intricacies. For instance, what will happen to the NCB if it is not claimed? This and a few other important questions related to bike insurance NCB are discussed below. But before talking about them, let us have a quick look at what NCB is and how much discount it can offer. 

What is No-Claim Bonus?

You earn NCB for not filing any bike insurance claims. This also means that you don’t get any NCB for the first time you purchase comprehensive bike insurance as there is no preceding claim-free year.

In the 2nd year when you renew the insurance and have not filed any claims in the past year, you will be entitled to receive a 20% No-Claim Bonus or a 20% discount on the policy premium. Similarly, for every following claim-free year up to the 5th year, the NCB discount increases. 

Here is a simple breakdown of how NCB increases with every passing year-

Claim-Free Year	NCB Percentage
1st Year	20%
2nd Year	25%
3rd Year	35%
4th Year	45%
5th Year	50%

So, in the 6th year of your bike insurance when you have five claim-free years, you can get an insurance renewal discount of up to 50%. This 50% discount is the maximum NCB limit. Even if you do not file any claims in the 6th year, the NCB will not increase any more for the 7th year. 

Some Other Important Points About NCB 

• NCB is only applicable if you have not made a single claim in the previous year. 
• Some insurance providers like IFFCO Tokio do offer NCB protection add-on, which allows you to keep your NCB protected up to a certain limit even if you file claims.
• NCB is transferrable. This means that you can carry your NCB even if you purchase a new bike or switch to a different insurance provider. But the NCB of bike insurance cannot be transferred to car insurance.
• Many of the top insurance providers like IFFCO Tokio have a Calculator on their websites to help us in calculating No Claim Bonus for your bike insurance. Make use of this tool to know the exact discount you will get for insurance renewal. 

What Happens to NCB If It Is Not Claimed?

If you have accumulated NCB, but your current bike insurance expires, you then have a window of few days to renew your insurance. If you do not renew your bike insurance within this window, your unclaimed NCB will be terminated.

Also, if for some reason you sell your bike but have unclaimed NCB, it will remain valid for up to 2-3 years. The duration varies between insurance providers. For instance, if you have a 35% NCB but for some reason want to sell your bike, the discount will remain valid for 2-3 years. If you again purchase a motorcycle within this duration, you can continue using your 35% NCB. 

How to Transfer or Use Unclaimed NCB?

If you are switching to a new insurance provider and want to carry your NCB, you will need an NCB Certificate. You can get the same from your current insurance provider. At the time of purchasing a bike insurance policy online from a different insurance provider, you can submit this NCB Certificate for successful NCB transfer. 

What happens to NCB if your bike is stolen or you meet with an accident?

If your bike is involved in a road accident and it is established that the other party involved in the accident was at fault, your bike insurance provider will try to recover the damage expenses from the insurance provider of the other party. However, you might lose your NCB if your insurance provider is not able to recover full or at least the majority of the expenses. 

If it cannot be determined who was responsible for the accident, your insurance provider and the insurance provider of the other involved party will share the expenses. You will not lose your NCB in such a scenario. If you caused the accident, you would mostly lose the entire NCB.

If your bike is stolen, you might lose your entire NCB as the insurance provider will then not be able to recover the expenses. So, you might lose your NCB if you are involved in an accident or if your bike is stolen.

Making the Best Use of NCB

NCB is one of the biggest benefits of timely bike insurance renewal. So, make sure that you always renew your bike insurance on time and avoid making small claims, and if possible continue accumulating NCB. Also, do consider purchasing the NCB protection add-on as it will help you retain your NCB in most cases. 

If you are a first-time insurance buyer, select a reputed company that offers feature-packed bike insurance plans at affordable prices. Prefer purchasing and renewing bike insurance online as it is known to be cheaper and more convenient.