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Aditi Joshi’s hatchback turned six this year, and her renewal quote still lists zero depreciation cover. The price has changed since last year. The car is paid off, and it sits on the road outside her Ahmedabad building. The panels have collected the usual city scratches. She wants to know whether a car this age gets enough back from the add-on. That depends on the value her car is insured for and on how steeply parts are cut.
Is zero depreciation car insurance available after 5 years?
Often yes, but it is not automatic. Zero depreciation cover is an optional add-on. On a car past 5 years, the insurer decides case by case, usually after a vehicle inspection. The policy wording does not bar it. If one insurer says no, another may still say yes.
Insurers offer the add-on most readily in the first 5 years from registration. Some will look at 7 or 8 years on a well-kept car, after an inspection. Past that it becomes hard to find.
So do not assume the add-on carries over at renewal, and read this year’s quote line by line. A refusal is a judgement about your particular car, since no rule fires automatically at 5 years. What changes at 5 years is the money involved. The add-on can save you more, because the cuts get steeper with age. But the most it can ever pay falls, because that ceiling follows your car’s insured value.
What is zero depreciation cover in car insurance?
Zero depreciation cover is an optional add-on to a comprehensive car insurance policy. When your car is repaired, the insurer takes a percentage off each replaced part. That is its allowance for wear. The add-on removes those cuts. Parts get paid for in full, and all you pay is your deductible.
You will see it sold as nil depreciation, zero dep and bumper-to-bumper cover. Zurich Kotak files it as Depreciation Cover under the Car Secure policy. Bumper-to-bumper is the loosest of those names, since the cover stops at parts.
Why two different cuts get confused
Your policy applies two cuts, and the add-on removes only one of them. The first applies to parts. The insurer approves your repair bill, then takes a percentage off each replaced part. How much comes off depends on the material and on your car’s age. This is the cut the add-on stops.
The second applies to your car’s insured value, called the Insured Declared Value or IDV. Set once a year at purchase or renewal, it reduces the listed price for your car’s age. That figure is what you receive if the car is stolen or written off. The policy wording is clear that this second cut applies to theft and write-offs only. It never touches a repair bill.
What are the depreciation rates in car insurance after 5 years?
On a car aged 5 to 10 years, 40% comes off most replaced parts. Past 10 years it is 50%. Plastic, rubber, nylon, tyres, tubes, batteries and airbags are cut by 50% at any age. Fibreglass is cut by 30%, and glass is not cut at all.
These are the rates written into the Car Secure policy. They come off your repair bill whenever you do not hold the add-on. Your car’s age on the claim date sets which row applies.
Depreciation on replaced parts, by the age of the car
Age of the car | Depreciation on most replaced parts |
|---|---|
Not exceeding 6 months | Nil |
Over 6 months to 1 year | 5% |
Over 1 year to 2 years | 10% |
Over 2 years to 3 years | 15% |
Over 3 years to 4 years | 25% |
Over 4 years to 5 years | 35% |
Over 5 years to 10 years | 40% |
Over 10 years | 50% |
Some parts are treated differently. These rates stay the same however old your car is. Material alone decides the cut here.
Depreciation that does not change with the car’s age
Type of part | Depreciation |
|---|---|
Rubber, nylon and plastic parts; tyres and tubes; batteries; airbags | 50% |
Fibreglass parts | 30% |
Glass parts | Nil |
Painting | 50% on the material cost. On a combined bill, material is taken as 25% of the painting charges |
Look at what that means for metal panels. Going from 4 years to 6 moves the cut from 35% to 40%, a smaller jump than expected. The heavier cuts sit in the second table, at 50% since the car left the showroom.
Which parts does zero depreciation cover save you money on?
It saves most when airbags go off, and on plastic panels, tyres and batteries. All of those get cut by 50% whatever the car’s age. It saves 40% on metal panels and mechanical parts at 5 to 10 years. It saves nothing at all on glass or labour.
Airbags are where the add-on earns its keep on an older car. The units and their control unit are expensive, and the 50% cut never softens with age. If they deploy, this is the largest single thing the add-on rescues.
Plastic comes next. Bumpers, cladding, lamp housings and dashboard trim all take the 50% cut, whatever your car’s age. The same goes for the battery and for tyres and tubes.
Metal sits lower down. Doors, bonnet, boot lid and roof take a 40% cut at 5 to 10 years. These are big panels, so the money still adds up. Engine, gearbox and suspension parts take the same 40%.
Then there is the part of your bill the add-on leaves alone. Glass carries no cut, so a windscreen claim pays the same either way, and labour is never cut. The add-on helps with kerb damage to bumpers and does nothing for a cracked windscreen.
Zero depreciation claim settlement after 5 years: two examples
On a single ₹25,000 plastic bumper on a 6-year-old car, the add-on puts ₹12,500 back in your hands. On a full ₹58,000 rear-end repair, it puts back ₹19,500.
Both examples use the Car Secure rates of Zurich Kotak General Insurance Company (India) Limited. The fixed amount you pay on every claim is your compulsory deductible. Motor tariff provision GR.40 sets it by engine capacity, ₹1,000 up to 1,500 cc and ₹2,000 above. These examples use ₹1,000. Your own schedule prints the figure that applies to your car, so rework the sums with that.
Start with one part. A plastic bumper on a 6-year-old car costs ₹25,000 to replace, and plastic is cut by 50%. So without the add-on you receive ₹12,500, less your deductible. With it you receive the full ₹25,000.
Real repairs are rarely one part, though. Here is the same car after a rear-end collision:
A ₹58,000 rear-end repair on a 6-year-old car
Item on the repair bill | Cost | Cut applied | Paid without the add-on | Paid with the add-on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Rear bumper, plastic | ₹9,000 | 50% | ₹4,500 | ₹9,000 |
Tail lamp assembly, plastic | ₹7,000 | 50% | ₹3,500 | ₹7,000 |
Boot lid, metal | ₹14,000 | 40% | ₹8,400 | ₹14,000 |
Rear quarter panel, metal | ₹11,000 | 40% | ₹6,600 | ₹11,000 |
Painting, combined bill | ₹12,000 | 50% on 25% of the bill | ₹10,500 | ₹12,000 |
Labour | ₹5,000 | Nil | ₹5,000 | ₹5,000 |
Approved total | ₹58,000 | ₹38,500 | ₹58,000 | |
Less your deductible | ₹1,000 | ₹1,000 | ||
Amount you receive | ₹37,500 | ₹57,000 |
The painting line catches people out. Material is taken as 25% of a combined bill, so on ₹12,000 of paintwork it comes to ₹3,000. The 50% cut applies only to that, making the deduction ₹1,500.
Now compare that ₹19,500 against the add-on price on your quote. Is the premium a small fraction of it? Does a claim this size look possible? And if finding ₹19,500 at short notice would be hard, that settles it.
What is not covered in a zero depreciation add-on?
The Depreciation Cover wording carries three exclusions, and none of them is a maximum age for your car. It sets no age limit at all. The 5-year limit owners run into comes from how insurers price and accept risk.
The first exclusion covers any part the insurer has not approved for replacement. Say the assessor decides a panel should be beaten and repaired instead of replaced. Then there is no replacement cost for the add-on to act on. The second leaves out consumables such as nuts, bolts and grease, which Consumables Cover handles instead. The third rules out anything already covered by a warranty, a recall campaign or another policy.
Because the age limit is the insurer’s judgement, a refusal is worth questioning. An inspection report showing the car in good condition can help, and so can a clean claim record. Ask what specifically ruled your car out, since another insurer may judge it differently.
What happens to your car’s IDV after 5 years?
The published scale for setting your IDV, the value your car is insured for, ends at 5 years. After that, your policy says the figure is settled by an understanding between the insurer and you. It gets agreed at each renewal instead of read off a table. That figure then decides when your car gets written off instead of repaired. A repair bill above 75% of it makes the car a write-off.
This is where Aditi’s 6-year-old hatchback behaves differently from the 3-year-old car she had before. Up to 5 years, the scale looks like this:
How your insured value is set for a car up to 5 years old
Age of the car | Reduction applied to the listed price |
|---|---|
Not exceeding 6 months | 5% |
Over 6 months to 1 year | 15% |
Over 1 year to 2 years | 20% |
Over 2 years to 3 years | 30% |
Over 3 years to 4 years | 40% |
Over 4 years to 5 years | 50% |
Past 5 years the table runs out. The same rule covers models the manufacturer has stopped making, so cars from departed brands fall into it. Ford and Chevrolet are the obvious cases, as is any discontinued variant.
Your insured value has therefore become something you can discuss. A higher figure means a bigger payout on theft or a write-off, but a higher premium too. Service history and condition support a sensible number.
That figure also sets the ceiling on what the add-on can ever pay you. Your car gets written off once the cost of recovery and repair passes 75% of its insured value. Above that line, the claim gets paid as the insured value less whatever the wreck is worth.
The repair bill at which your car stops being repaired
Insured value agreed at renewal | Repair bill above which the car is written off |
|---|---|
₹4,00,000 | ₹3,00,000 |
₹3,00,000 | ₹2,25,000 |
₹2,00,000 | ₹1,50,000 |
₹1,40,000 | ₹1,05,000 |
₹1,00,000 | ₹75,000 |
So the add-on is useful on repair bills between two points. Below the lower one your deductible absorbs most of the benefit. Above the upper one the car gets written off and the add-on pays nothing.
As your insured value falls each year, that upper point comes down with it and the window narrows. Take a car insured for ₹1,40,000. A front-end crash with airbags going off can cross ₹1,05,000 easily, and the add-on never comes into play.
How is zero depreciation premium calculated on an older car?
Zurich Kotak does not publish a fixed price for the add-on. It gets worked out from your car and your record. GST of 18% applies on top, as on the rest of your motor premium.
The price depends on:
Your car’s insured value, and its age and condition
Where you keep and drive the car
Your claim history
How many claims you want the add-on to cover
The deductible you choose
On an older car, two of those pull in opposite directions. A lower insured value means a lower premium, while higher claim risk pushes the price back up. Which one wins depends on the car, so your quote is the only reliable guide.
How do the deductible and claim limit affect your payout?
You can choose a voluntary deductible of ₹1,000, ₹2,000 or ₹3,000 under the add-on. That cuts the add-on premium by up to 10%, 15% or 20%, capped at ₹500, ₹750 and ₹1,000. In return you pay that amount on every claim under the add-on, on top of your existing deductible.
Voluntary deductible options under Depreciation Cover
Deductible you choose | Discount on the add-on premium | Most you can save | You pay on each claim |
|---|---|---|---|
₹1,000 | Up to 10% | ₹500 | ₹1,000 |
₹2,000 | Up to 15% | ₹750 | ₹2,000 |
₹3,000 | Up to 20% | ₹1,000 | ₹3,000 |
The discount is capped in rupees, so it saves at most ₹1,000 once. Take a ₹58,000 repair that pays out ₹57,000. A ₹3,000 deductible brings that to ₹54,000, so you give up ₹3,000 to save ₹1,000. Take the smallest. Car Secure also lists a Voluntary Deductible Protect add-on, which waives it at a preferred garage.
Your policy schedule names a number of claims for damage to your own car. The add-on runs from your first such claim up to that number. Later claims get the usual cuts. This is why two quotes labelled zero depreciation are hard to compare. One may cover two claims and another three.
Should you buy zero depreciation cover for a car older than 5 years?
Keep it if your car is insured above ₹3,00,000 and sees highway or heavy-traffic driving. The write-off line sits high enough that serious repairs stay repairs. The cut on a big bill is substantial.
Keep it, at any age, if your car has costly plastic panels, LED lamp units or six airbags. The 50% cut on plastics and airbags does not improve as the car ages. The add-on is worth the same in year 8 as in year 2.
Keep it if you could not comfortably find ₹20,000 at short notice for a repair. It protects your cash flow when you claim, whatever the sums say. A shortfall that size on a single bill is the kind that goes on a credit card.
Think harder if your car is insured below ₹1,50,000, or is over 10 years old. A serious crash is likely to cross the write-off line, and small claims go largely on your deductible. The cut reaches 50% past 10 years, but the write-off line is close.
Either way, the question comes down to your insured value and the add-on premium on your quote. Multiply the insured value by 0.75 to find your write-off line. Then ask what damage would produce a bill below it.
What to do when zero depreciation cover is not available
Several add-ons do a similar job for particular parts. The 5-year question does not limit them. Consumables are left out of zero depreciation cover entirely, and tyres are handled on their own terms.
Consumables Cover picks up exactly what Depreciation Cover leaves out. That means nuts, bolts, screws, washers, grease and lubricants. Clips, AC gas, bearings, engine oil, filters and brake oil are on the list too. It pays nothing on a write-off.
Tyre Cover pays for tyres and tubes damaged in an accident or by a sidewall bulge. The settlement depends on how much tread is left. At 7mm or more you get the full cost of a new tyre. From 5 to 6.9mm it is 75%, and from 3 to 4.9mm it is 50%. Below 3mm counts as normal wear and pays nothing, which is the catch on an older car. Where the car is damaged in the same accident, the base policy handles the tyres.
Battery Protect is one to read carefully. It covers the traction battery, drive motor and hybrid system of an electric or hybrid car. It does not cover the starter battery in a petrol or diesel car.
Engine Protect covers engine, gearbox and differential parts damaged by water entering the engine or oil leaking. A standard claim does not cover this, and it is a real risk in flood-prone cities.
Roadside Assistance brings towing, on-site repairs, a jump start, flat tyre help and fuel delivery. Breakdown risk rises with age, and depreciation does not come into it.
The one that does not fit here is Return to Invoice. It pays the gap between your insured value and the original invoice price on a write-off. Zurich Kotak’s own page describes it as suiting cars under 5 years old. On a 6-year-old car that gap is very wide, so availability is limited. If zero depreciation cover is off the table, do not drop back to a bare policy. Pick the add-ons that match how an older car really fails.
Does a zero depreciation claim affect your No Claim Bonus?
Yes. A claim under zero depreciation cover is still a claim for damage to your own car. Any such claim resets your No Claim Bonus at the next renewal. NCB Protect can hold your slab. That covers one own-damage claim in the year, and you must renew within 90 days.
The No Claim Bonus climbs on a fixed scale for every claim-free year, reaching 50% after 5. Losing it is a real cost that can exceed what the add-on recovers on a small claim. A claim for glass alone does not count against you under NCB Protect.
So before you file a small claim, put three numbers side by side. What the cut would take off the bill. What your deductible comes to. And the extra premium you will pay next year once the discount goes. If the second and third together come close to the first, pay for the repair yourself. Holding the add-on changes only the first of those numbers.
How to renew zero depreciation car insurance after 5 years
Work through this at renewal, because the add-on gets priced fresh every year:
Read the add-on section of the quote. The add-on gets priced every year, so if it is not listed, you do not have it.
Check how many claims the add-on covers, and compare quotes on that basis before you compare price.
Note the insured value offered and work out 75% of it. That is your write-off line, and the figure is worth discussing before you accept.
Decide what repair bill you expect, then weigh the add-on premium against the cut it would save.
If the add-on has been declined, ask whether an inspection would change that, and get one more quote.
Confirm your No Claim Bonus has carried forward correctly.
Renew before the current policy expires. A gap leaves you uninsured and can cost you the No Claim Bonus.
Zero depreciation after 5 years: the verdict
Aditi’s answer came down to two figures on her own quote. Her hatchback’s insured value put the write-off line well above a city collision bill. The add-on premium was a small share of the ₹19,500 or so that the cuts take. So she kept the cover and took the smallest voluntary deductible.
A different car gives a different answer, but the method stays the same. Find your insured value and take 75% of it. That is where your car stops being repaired. Then weigh the add-on premium against the cut on a bill below that line. Where the two are close, your ability to absorb a sudden repair bill decides it.
Zurich Kotak General Insurance offers Depreciation Cover under its Car Secure policy. Consumables Cover, Engine Protect and Roadside Assistance are available too. What you can get on your own car is confirmed when you take a quote.
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Frequently asked questions
Can I get zero depreciation car insurance for a car older than 5 years in India?
Often yes, though it is not guaranteed. The add-on is optional, so offering it on an older car is the insurer’s decision. An inspection is usually part of that. The Depreciation Cover wording under Car Secure sets no maximum age. Insurers offer it most readily in the first 5 years. Some will look at 7 or 8 on a well-kept car.
Why can’t I get zero depreciation cover for my 10-year-old car?
It is an underwriting decision. The policy itself does not forbid it. On a car that age, repair costs are high relative to its insured value, so insurers are cautious. The maths also works against you. Your car gets written off once a repair bill passes 75% of its insured value. On a 10-year-old car that line is low.
Which insurer gives the lowest premium for an older car with zero-dep cover?
Premiums are not published. The add-on gets priced on your car’s insured value, age, condition, location and claim history. The claim count and deductible you choose change it too. To compare fairly, get quotes on the same insured value and claim count. Then compare the add-on premium alone.
Is zero depreciation cover worth it for a car older than 5 years?
It depends on two figures rather than on the car’s age. Take 75% of your insured value. That is the repair bill above which the car gets written off. The add-on cannot help past it. Then weigh the add-on premium against the cut that would come off a bill below that.
Is zero depreciation the same as bumper-to-bumper cover?
Yes, they are the same add-on under different names. You will also see it called nil depreciation and zero dep. The name bumper-to-bumper is misleading, because the add-on does not cover everything. It removes depreciation on replaced parts and nothing more.
Does zero depreciation cover tyres?
It removes the 50% cut on tyres and tubes, but only when they are replaced in a claim. Your policy pays for tyre damage only when the car itself is damaged at the same time. A separate Tyre Cover add-on treats tyre damage as a benefit in its own right.
Is engine damage covered under zero dep?
Only in part. If engine or gearbox parts are replaced after an accident, the add-on removes the 40% cut on them. It does nothing for engine damage caused by water entering the engine or oil leaking. A standard claim excludes that too. Engine Protect is the add-on for that.
Does zero depreciation cover include consumables such as engine oil and nuts?
No. The Depreciation Cover wording leaves out consumables such as nuts, bolts and grease. A separate Consumables Cover add-on covers these. Its list runs to screws, washers, lubricants, clips, AC gas, bearings, engine oil, filters and brake oil.
Will the add-on increase my payout if the car is stolen or written off?
No. Those claims get settled on your car’s insured value, less whatever the wreck is worth. The add-on works on the cut applied to parts replaced during a repair. It does not apply here.
Can I add zero depreciation cover in the middle of my policy year?
Add-ons normally get chosen when the policy is issued or renewed. Some cannot be added mid-term at all. Where an insurer does consider it, expect a policy change and an inspection.
Can I negotiate my car’s IDV after 5 years?
Yes, within reason. The policy wording covers cars beyond 5 years and discontinued models. For these, the insured value is settled by an understanding between the insurer and you. You discuss it with the insurer instead of reading it off a table. Remember that a higher figure raises your premium as well as your payout.
Does the add-on transfer if I sell the car?
The add-on is attached to the policy on that car. It usually continues only if the whole policy transfers with the sale. The insurer has to agree. Your No Claim Bonus stays with you, and the buyer starts afresh.
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