In India, having a third-party insurance cover is mandatory to drive two-wheeler vehicles legally. What's also obligatory for two-wheeler owners is the personal accident cover.
A personal accident (PA) cover is an essential part of two-wheeler insurance as it covers the rider and his family in case of disability or death from a road accident. The maximum coverage allowed under PA amounts to INR 15 lakh. You can add this cover to your comprehensive, or third-party two-wheeler insurance policy for an additional premium. If you have a third-party liability policy only, upgrade it to a comprehensive policy first before adding a personal accident cover to the same. The reason is that a comprehensive policy covers you for the maximum events and makes you legally compliant. But if you want to keep a personal accident cover separate from the other policy, you can do that. But what should be the tenure of a personal accident cover? Most users like you would want to know the same. Recently, a few modifications have been made regarding the tenure of personal accident cover.
Let us learn more about this insurance cover and try to understand how you can choose the tenure of this cover when buying your two-wheeler insurance policy.
What is Personal Accident Cover in Two-wheeler Insurance?
One of the most crucial components of two-wheeler insurance, personal accident cover, is mandatory for every vehicle owner by law, just like a third-party bike insurance cover.
This coverage proves useful when the owner or rider sustains a permanent disability or dies in an accident involving the insured vehicle. The extent of the payout differs based on the type of eventuality faced by the insured.
It also offers monetary reimbursement in cases of physical injuries and temporary disabilities due to an unfortunate event. Such a cover also offers financial coverage to the family if the rider dies from an accident.
Choosing the Tenure of Personal Accident Cover
A few years back, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) introduced a guideline regarding personal accident cover whereby insurers cannot compel two-wheeler insurance buyers for multi-year PA cover. This means that policyholders are free to select the tenure of their PA cover and can buy an annual plan if they want.
The tenure you choose for your personal accident cover for two-wheeler insurance depends on several factors, including your budget. If you can afford a high premium at once, you can opt for a long-term PA cover as it saves you from having to remember to renew your coverage every year. It also locks the premium price for a longer term to save you money if the prices are revised.
However, depending on your preferences, you can opt for a yearly personal accident cover added to your third-party or comprehensive two-wheeler insurance plan and renew it yearly for complete coverage against injuries or death from an accident.
Updates about Personal Accident Cover
Let us look at a few key changes introduced in recent times to the two-wheeler insurance policy rules regarding PA cover.
Cover – The personal accident coverage has been increased to INR 15 lakh from the earlier mandatory coverage of INR 1 lakh. This change in coverage amount provides a lot of relief and advantages to policyholders.
Premium – The increase in coverage has also increased the premium for personal accident cover. The premium has increased from INR 50 to INR 750.
Tenure – According to the recent updates, policy owners can now select the tenure of their personal accident cover in their two-wheeler insurance policy. You can, therefore, choose a yearly cover for PA; it is not mandatory to have a long-term personal accident cover.
Unbundling – Recently, the IRDAI has unbundled the PA cover from the third-party vehicle policy. It means you are now free to have standalone PA coverage. This also implies that you don’t need to pay for this cover with the insurance of multiple vehicles. However, you must have the third-party policy for each two-wheeler you own and ride.
Read more - Is Personal Accidental Cover Mandatory for a Two Wheeler?
Conclusion
A personal accident cover not only helps you abide by the law when riding a two-wheeler but also gives you a higher compensation against unforeseen events.
The latest changes and guidelines introduced by the IRDAI for the PA cover can help you choose its suitable tenure according to your needs and preferences.
This update removes an unnecessary burden for policyholders, but it is advisable to opt for multi-year plans as you can avail yourself of discounted premium rates. You also eliminate the hassle of renewing the plan yearly and stay protected against price revisions.
If you are still struggling with indecisiveness, working with new-age marketplaces and comparison sites such as Paytm Insurance is the ideal course of action, with all offers, add-ons, and customizations compared.
Read more - Advantages of Personal Accident Cover With Two-wheeler Insurance
