With the country in lockdown, Indians are staying indoors to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic. As people are not using their vehicles at this time, their insurance for the month remains unutilised. To support customers during this time where their car/bike will not be in use, Acko General Insurance, a new age online insurance provider, has decided to not charge insurance for one month and has announced an industry-first initiative that gives a 1-month insurance extension to car and bike owners. Customers who renew or are first time buyers of Acko’s auto insurance policy, will need to pay only for 12 months and will get a 1-month extension, at no extra cost. This initiative will provide relief to customers for the month of the lockdown where their car or bike has not been used.
The Ministry of Finance has announced a grace period for premium payments for third party policies till April 21. In addition to that, Acko is offering a 1-month extension on tenure of third party and own damage policies at no extra cost.
For existing Acko customers, the timeframe for availing the 1-month lockdown extension is for the full financial year, from April 2, 2020 to March 31, 2021. They will receive a 13-month policy for the premium amount of 12-months on renewing. New customers can avail the 1-month lockdown extension on auto insurance till the lockdown period i.e. April 14, 2020.
“In the wake of the current lockdown, we appreciate that people have been acting responsibly by staying indoors, practising social distancing and not using their cars/bikes. Since most vehicles are parked and not in use during this period, we want to support our customers and do the right thing in a transparent manner by extending their insurance policy by a month for no additional cost. Given these challenging times, we all need to support each other and ease the burden in whatever small way possible,” said Animesh Das, Head of Product Strategy, Acko General Insurance.