Bike Insurance Add-on: Understanding Downtime Allowance

Suppose you are an employee of a big multinational company, and your office is 8 km away from your home. You use your bike to commute daily from home to office and office to home. But one day, you meet with a minor accident, and by the grace of God, you do not get much injury, but your beloved bike gets damaged badly.

As you have insurance for your bike, you immediately contact your insurance provider and start the claim process. But the repairing of your bike will take 20 days. Undoubtedly, now you have to manage the travel back and forth by public transport, which will cost you extra money.

What do you do in such a situation?

Here, the downtime allowance comes to your rescue and provides you with a daily allowance to bear the transportation cost. For this it is essential that you avoid buying cheap bike insurance and buy a suitable bike policy with the said coverage benefit.

So, in this article, let us briefly discuss the downtime allowance, its benefits and more.

 What is Downtime Allowance in Bike Insurance?

To understand this, let us first understand the meaning of “Downtime”. Downtime in the technical world refers to the system and services that are not functioning or unavailable. If we understand it in the insurance world, it means the unavailability of your vehicle or bike due to mechanical failure.

When you buy bike insurance online or offline, and you choose a comprehensive two-wheeler insurance plan, you can select the various add-ons on your policy to get extensive coverage. And one of those add-ons is the downtime allowance.

Downtime allowance is a bike insurance add-on that provides a fixed sum of money until your bike is repaired. This allowance helps you cover the financial cost you have to pay to move from one place to another( like commuting from home to the office daily) due to the unavailability of your own bike.

 Coverage under Discount Allowance

• Fixed daily commute coverage for a specified duration.
• Reimbursement for daily commutes during car repairs (usually 10-15 days).
• Allowance for daily commutes in case of total loss or theft (typically 15-20 days).

 Exclusions of Downtime Allowance

• Claim rejection will also lead to the rejection of the downtime allowance.
• Does not cover damage to the windshield or glass.
• Repair duration must meet the policy’s minimum days.

 Benefits of Downtime Allowance Add-On Cover in Two-Wheeler Insurance

1. Enhance Convenience and Save Cost

Downtime allowance enhances the policyholder’s convenience as they do not have to take leaves from the office or pay for daily transportation from their pocket until they get their bike back. They help them to continue with their daily work without any worries.

2. Peace of Mind

With the daily allowance, the policyholder will continue to break travel with the travel mode they like or specify in their policy without any worries.

Moreover, they don’t have to pay this transportation cost by themselves, ultimately giving them peace of mind even if their bike takes more time to repair than expected.

3. Enhanced Coverage

By adding the downtime allowance as an add-on, the policyholders can expand their coverage and leverage the benefits of this extended coverage at the time of need.

 How to Claim Downtime Allowance in Bike Insurance?

1. Contact the Insurance Provider

First and foremost, contact the insurance provider and tell them about the incidents. Ensure you provide accurate information about the incident and document the incident by clicking pictures and making videos.

2. Get the Estimation of Repairment

After that, you can take your damaged bike to the nearby repair shop and get the estimated cost and time for the repair of your bike.

3. File a Claim

You can log in to the insurer’s website, fill out the required claim form, and attach the necessary documents, such as a repair estimate, proof of loss of income during the downtime, and any other relevant documents.

4. Get the Daily Allowance or Reimbursement

Once your insurer approves your claim, you will receive the settlement, including the amount associated with the downtime allowance and the repairs.

 Wrapping up

Downtime allowance is a beneficial coverage for the people who use their vehicle to commute daily from one place to another.

So, research the various bike insurance plans, then add the required add-on to get the personalised bike insurance policy at a very affordable price.

Remember, a reliable insurance provider like Tata AIG, an appropriate insurance plan and add-ons are highly beneficial to meet the significant financial expenses due to the uncertain events of accidents, collisions and more.