You Need This Document to Make a Bike Insurance Claim! Do You Know About It?

When your bike suffers damage due to covered events, you can raise a claim with your bike insurance provider and get the expenses for the repair covered. However, for you to be eligible for financial compensation, your claim should be processed and approved first. There are several reasons why your claim may not go through the approval process, one of them being the unavailability of necessary documents. The IRDAI, recently issued a circular that states that the PUC, or the Pollution Under Control certificate, will be one such important document required for the claim processing. You can visit the official website of IRDAI for further details.

What is the PUC certificate and why is it mandatory now for a bike insurance claim?

As the name suggests, the PUC certificate is a document stating that the vehicle is in compliance with the government’s air pollution norms. The test conducted to provide the PUC certificate checks whether the vehicle’s emissions are exceeding the acceptable limits. If they are, then the test supervisor may reach out to the RTO office with your vehicle registration number. One can get their bike tested for the PUC certificate at a nearby fuel station or an independent PUC testing centre in their neighborhood.

Pollution levels are rising across the country, with metropolitan cities being the main targets of its side effects. To ensure that the vehicles plying on the roads do not contribute very heavily to these levels, the PUC test and certificate are mandated. If you have a new car, the test is generally conducted every six months. As the car ages, the frequency of the test and the validity of the certificate depend on the readings shown in the previous test.

It is also to be noted that the PUC certificate is already mandatory for every vehicle owner under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The recent IRDAI has only made it mandatory for bike insurance claim processing. You can visit the official website of IRDAI for further details. * Standard T&C Apply

Importance of PUC certificate for bike insurance

• Since the PUC certificate is a legally necessary document, you will require it during the purchase as well as the two wheeler insurance renewal

• You should not only have a PUC certificate to ensure the claim’s approval, but also make sure that it is valid. A PUC certificate that was expired or invalid when the accident/damage occurred will lead to the rejection of your claim.

• While this mandate is applicable to all regions of the country, the Delhi-NCR region has been especially emphasized as it suffers from dangerous levels of air pollution.

* Standard T&C Apply

Additional reasons your bike insurance claim may be rejected

• Other important documents are not submitted

Besides the PUC certificate, you need several other documents, such as a valid car insurance policy copy, the driving license of the driver, and a vehicle registration certificate. A copy of the FIR is also required in the case of theft or an accident.

• Riding the bike under influence/ flouting traffic rules

If your bike gets damaged in an accident, and it is found that you were riding the bike under the influence of alcohol or drugs, then your claim may be rejected. The same may occur if you are found flouting other traffic rules, such as over-speeding unnecessarily, not following traffic signals, and so on. *

• Using the bike for commercial purposes

If you are found to be using your bike for commercial purposes, then any claim raised for the bike in question will be rejected.

• Standard T&C Apply 

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