Long Term Comprehensive Policy for Two- Wheelers will be Costly

Three year comprehensive insurance plan is considered beneficial for insurance seekers as it eliminates the need of renewal every year which also means that they cannot change the amount of insurance premium as there is a lock in period. Pricing is the most important criteria for an insurance seeker and is a decision influencer regarding selection of a plan. With addition of compulsory coverage’s, premium is all set to rise by 2.5 times higher than normal insurance premium plan for one year term. Hence, all future plans are set to become expensive as insurers will take claims, historical data and inflation into consideration while pricing the product.

Third party insurance is regulated by IRDA in India and regulatory is responsible for any revision in rates. The regulatory body is responsible for analyzing trends every year and basis several factors including claim rates; it changes or revises the premium rates of the insurance. The Authority further emphasized the importance of third party coverage as it said that the total premium charged for the three year lock in period will be thrice the annual premium charged for the same policy for one year. It is also expected that regulatory body will extend same policy guidelines for four wheelers too. The pricing model will remain same.

Regulatory body also provided future insight of the motor insurance plans. They added that there is a requirement of long term third party coverage including own damages and third party damages. It will help to meet and cover every possible risk as own party damages provide for losses to self during accidents while third party damages cover losses to third party caused by the owner of the vehicle.

The regulatory body aims to increase the penetration of the insurance by reducing uninsured vehicles on the road. New India Assurance, one of the largest general insurance companies in India, has already received consent from the body to issue long term comprehensive policy for two wheelers with minimum lock in period of three years. The insurer is expected to launch the product in this segment in coming weeks with premiums being calculated on the basis of guidelines set by the regulatory body which is expected to be around three times higher than the policy for one year.

(Source: This article has been adapted from the article "Long-term comprehensive policy for two-wheelers to be an expensive affair" that appeared on February 11, 2015 in business-standard.com)