maintaining your car is set to cost more from this month courtesy insurance regulatory and development authority irda the insurance regulator has hiked the thirdparty motor insurance premiums in line with its decision last year to review the rates annuallyalso some insurers are planning to revise their own damage rates put these two pieces of news together and it is a fair guess that your overall premium will go up when you buy or renew your motor insurance depending on the engine capacity of your cars and twowheelers the thirdparty premium increase will be in the range of 48 thirdparty insurance cover is mandatory and it comes with the comprehensive motor policy it covers death or injury caused to a third person or damage to the persons property the extent of hike in own damage premiums is yet to be ascertaineddont lose hope yet though there are many ways to keep the total premium on the comprehensive motor policy under control thanks to a more liberalised or detariffed regime for nonthirdparty components read onstick to mandated part of the coveras per the prevailing laws you have to buy a minimum cover of rs 6000 to compensate thirdparties for any property damage sure you have the option to buy a higher cover which may come handy if there is a huge payout but remember that your premium will also rise with the cover so if you are keen on keeping the premium low opt only for the mandatory limited liability requirementlet go of smaller claimsyou are entitled to noclaim bonus ncb for every claimfree year if you dont make any claim for a few years the ncb can enhance your cover by as much as 50 that is why it makes sense not to rush to make a claim for fixing every small dent on your car stick to this simple formula if the amount you are going to spend on repairs is lower than the noclaim bonus you are likely to accumulate it is better not to claim the amountstick to this principle every time you spend to fix minor things always weigh whether its worth filing a claim for it or is it smarter to try for another claimfree year ncb will come handy when you are buying a new car as it is linked not to the vehicle or the policy but to the policyholderyou can also opt for a higher deductible amount in the policy says amarnath ananthanarayanan ceo bhartiaxa general insurance opting for the deductible is akin to forgoing a small claim the company will pay its share only after you foot the bill for the initial preagreed amountshare more informationmany insurers offer better rates these days to customers who are willing to share a lot of personal information like age gender marital status occupation claim history and driving track record for instance berkshireinsurancecom which distributes bajaj allianzs motor insurance policies offers a discount of 5 to those who provide details about themselves by answering