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Which insurance company has best claim:settlement ratio? Given that insurance is not 100% reliable, is it even worth going for it?

Hey dude, it is a great ownership thread you got going and the kms on your bike, well-used I must say. My bike bought in 2014 has not yet crossed 6000km.
Anyways to the point of parts of Kawasaki being costly in India, its not specific. In fact when my speedometer died I tried to source it from somewhere out of India hoping it to be cheaper. It so happens that everywhere else Thailand, Singapore, Dubai, US, and Canada it was way more expensive than India. So we should be happy with Indian rates with legal taxation I guess.

Really sorry that you had that terrible wheel bend and more so that your insurance company cheated on you. Once the claim is rejected for the first time they go to all extent and stand by it. It is all in the hands of the branch supervisor. ICICI as it is a terrible company. All the best with your claim and hope you make it.
Who are the others in this forum who had wheel bent and got it replaced by insurance?


I guess damage by external force means purposefully damaging your vehicle.
Please forward the flatbed tow picture of the bike to the insurance company or the lawyer. That picture is worth to stat the effort you did not to damage it purposefully.

I've Bajaj Allianz insurance for my CBZ and Getz and I've never had any hassles with them.

Having your vehicle insured is important and if I'm not wrong, it's a legal requirement if you plan to ride/drive it on public roads. With the right insurance provider it's peace of mind in case you get involved in an accident.

Am good anil ��

It will be interesting to see how this pans out and I think it would need to go to the IRDA for resolution...this means time and effort on your part but who knows, this may set a positive precedent.

To the other question, third party insurance is indeed mandatory and while comprehensive cover (which includes own damage...this alloy case for example) isn't don't even dream of staying without one because it really matters if costly repairs are needed...a couple of contentious cases with insurers notwithstanding

It is very odd that ICICI claimed that this happened without any "external means". It really isn't like the alloy bends without external means.

In a similar vein, I had bent the front rim of my CBR250R (insured by Oriental) diving into a deep pothole and the entire claim to reimbursement process was done in a span of a week. This is terrible if ICICI can cheat like this.

Thanks for the warning, My Bike's Insurance Renewal was coming up and was thinking to shift to ICICI Lombard, I think i'll stick to New India Assurance for now (in this case I know the person in charge and will be atleast hassle free)

A strict No to ICICI.

I suggest you can even showcase the link of this thread to ICICI and show them the customers they have already lost, you can also put this on their Facebook Page / twitter handle (Facebook page / twitter handle has done wonders in the past for a lot of people, personal experience). Cheers all the best.

Coming to how expensive Kawasaki Spares are, Some Idiot biker carelessly did not brake for a red-signal and his crash guard came and broke the Right hand side gear holder plate (dont know what the technical term for it is) and that set me back by 18K just for a metal plate housing the gear-lever. Crazy.

After a long wait, yesterday I get a call from ICICI Mumbai office - Mr. Sunny, Customer Service Manager. He told me that the case has reached his desk and that he needs two days to investigate the details of the case, speak to the relevant people and seniors and get back to me. I explained the when what and the where of the case and also my conversations with the surveyor. He said he'd get back with a resolution.

I had to drive down to Kochi for some work today and on my way back I get a call from Mr. Sunny. He explained that after a lot of deliberation they (ICICI) have decided to uphold their decision of rejecting my claim. The reason given this time around is Mechanical Failure. I asked Sunny to drop me an email with the details.

Here it is:



Reson for rejection changed from not due to external factors to mechanical failure.

Now, I'm no expert, but mechanical failures happen due to material fatigue, improper maintenance and/or manufacturing defects. How can they just classify this accident as a mechanical failure? It was caused by an external force applied to the wheel of the bike. It was not due to improper maintenance or manufacturing defect.

Experts, please help me understand what is classified as mechanical failure in terms of vehicular accidents.

I think they are just taking you round in circles and they don't have any intentions of approving the claims. My suggestion is to ask them to define what they mean by Mechanical Failures in detail with respect to the cracked wheel and pothole and prove its a mechanical failure.

I won't be surprised their next reason is put up as Act of God.

My two bits: do write the insurance ombudsman immediately. Directing your energy in that direction might prove more fruitful, now that ICICI had provided their questionable reasoning in writing.

I am not insisting you follow up with the same rigour but it's our responsibility as consumers to haul their ass in situations as this, especially when you do appear to have valid grounds to do so.

Like v12 mentioned, better open a grivience with ombudsman. This behavior is not something new from ICICI. They are one of the biggest crooks when it comes to settling the claims. I know a couple of people who were made to run from pillar to post when their life insurance policy matured and had to struggle to get the claim money.

So, after the phone call when I went home and checked my mailbox there was an email from Sunny already there.



I was a bit confused, so I summed up his email and asked him if what I understood from his email was correct:


Well, he sort of confirmed:


So basically, the surveyor spent a few minutes looking my bike, took pictures (I presume) and concluded that the bend in the wheel was due manufacturing defect! He must have been a expert in metallurgy! :uncontrol I must sue Kawasaki for this! :D

Since Sunny has consulted his seniors and they've concurred his findings, it leads me to believe that the people at ICICI are either a special breed of stupid or that company's sole purpose is to cheat people. I'm kind of leaning towards the latter.

Anyhoo, off to the Ombudsman now.

I guess it might be time to change the insurance on the bike.

I just happened to look at the Bangalore CBR250R riders group on Facebook and noticed that someone had mentioned that while they were at the service center, the mechanic said that there were quite a few bent rims and ICICI had denied insurance claims on those.

"There were many bent rims in the showroom and Karthik told, most them were rejected by the insurance people mainly ICICI Lombard."

I went with "Dowco Guardian weatherall plus" for my Red beauty, considering the amount of rain and now snow here.

I never knew pothole in roads is an internal factor, till I read your ordeal, and looks like its mechanical failure now?:Frustrati please do take it up with Ombudsman and keep us posted on progress.

btw, can you cancel the policy with the ICIC Lombard and go with another insurance company like we do here? or do you have to wait for the current policy period to complete before you can make a switch?

I'm not sure. I read somewhere someone had done that and the insurer went incommunicado and that person is still waiting on the refund. I'm thinking it should be possible.

However, if I cancel the policy now, will ICICI refuse to reimburse the claim if the Ombudsman instructs them to pay the amount?

Well no, that should not be an issue logically speaking the case you are filling against ICICI is for time period when you had policy only with them.

As long as you do not try to claim this with the new insurance provider it should be safe.

Also please check if you can cancel before taking a new policy; here in USA I got to have a new policy signed before I can cancel the existing one.