Consumables cover, explained

Consumables cover is an optional cover that pays for the consumable items a repair uses up. A consumable is any small item that is used once and gone: the engine oil, coolant, gear oil, brake fluid, air-conditioning gas, grease, nuts, bolts, screws, washers and clips a garage bills alongside the parts. A standard plan leaves every one of them off the payout, and this cover puts them back on it.

Most people read the word for the first time on a repair invoice rather than in the policy document. The claim is approved, the parts are paid, and a group of small items on the invoice, the fluids and fasteners the work used up, lands on you. On a small repair that is a few hundred rupees. On engine or gearbox work it can run to several thousand.

Consumables cover, also searched for in the singular as consumable cover, closes that gap. With it on the policy, the insurer pays for the consumables used in a claim it has accepted, and your share of the bill comes down to your deductible.

Optional cover, add-on and rider mean the same thing

You will see optional covers called add-ons or riders too. All 3 words mean an extra protection you choose on top of your base plan, for an extra premium. So a consumables add-on, a consumables rider and Consumables cover are one and the same thing, and the next section lists every name it is sold under.

It attaches to an Own Damage cover or a Comprehensive Plan

Consumables cover attaches to the own-damage side of a policy, as optional covers do with one exception, Personal Accident cover. So before you can add it, you must hold a Comprehensive Plan or a standalone Own Damage cover. It cannot be added to a Third-Party plan, because a Third-Party plan pays for damage you cause to other people and never for repairs to your own car.

It only pays inside a claim

The cover works on the consumables a repair under an accepted claim uses. It does not pay for servicing, top-ups or maintenance, where the same items are money out of your own pocket that you would have paid anyway.

The word "consumable" is the part that trips people up, not the word "cover". The next section lists every item that counts as one, so you can see exactly what you would be buying.

Item by item, and who pays for it

Consumables cover pays for every item in this table except fuel, when the item is used in a claim your insurer has accepted. Which items are on the list is set in the policy document, so check what applies to yours.

None of these items is a part, so no amount of cover on parts pays for them. That is the whole reason a separate cover exists for them.

Not sure whether something is a part or a consumable? The test a garage uses is simple. If it comes off the car and could go back on, it is a part. If it is poured in, packed in or snapped off and thrown away, it is a consumable.

The short version. Consumables cover pays for the small items a repair uses up, which a standard plan skips. It does nothing at a service, and nothing on a claim that fails.

Most policies do not put a separate rupee cap on the consumables in one claim. What a repair genuinely uses is usually paid in full, whether that is ₹400 of clips on a bumper job or ₹9,000 of oils and gaskets on a gearbox rebuild. The limits are set in 2 other places: the number of claims a year you can use the cover on, and the list of items that count.

This matters because the amount of consumables on an invoice has nothing to do with the size of your premium. A big repair uses a lot and a small one uses a little. The cover follows the repair, not a fixed ceiling.

A few policies may set a rupee limit on consumables, so read the policy document before you compare 2 quotes on price alone. Kiwi Insurance allows [number] Consumables cover claims a year. The rupee limit on consumables in a single Kiwi Insurance claim is [amount, or none].

Claim counts, rupee limits and item lists differ between insurers. If you are comparing quotes, check all 3 in each policy document.

On most policies the cover is not capped by a rupee figure. It is limited by how many times a year you can use it, and by the items on its list.

No. Consumables cover applies to any Own Damage claim your insurer accepts where the repair uses consumables. That includes accident damage, but also repairs after a theft or an attempted theft, flood and fire damage, storm damage and damage from riots. The trigger is the repair, not the reason for it.

The one case where it pays nothing is a claim with no repair at all. If your car is stolen and never recovered, or damaged beyond repair, the payout is the Insured Declared Value (IDV) of the car. There is no garage bill, so there are no consumables to pay for, and Return to Invoice cover is the cover that raises that payout instead.

Amounts shown are indicative for a repair in a large Indian city. What a garage actually bills depends on your car, the damage and the maker's specification.

The premium for the cover also follows the car, because it is worked out from the Insured Declared Value (IDV). So a large SUV pays a little more for the cover and gets a lot more back from it, which is why the cover is usually worth more on a bigger car than on a small one.

Driving an electric car? There is no engine oil to pay for, so the cover looks smaller at first glance. It still pays for the battery cooling fluid, the brake fluid, the air-conditioning gas and the clips and seals, and on an electric car those are almost the whole list.

Availability on older cars differs between insurers. Your quote shows whether the cover is offered for your car once you enter the registration number.

Age does not change what counts as a consumable, and it does not change the claim count. An 8-year-old car that needs a gearbox repair uses the same oils and gaskets as a 2-year-old one, and the cover pays for them the same way.

This is the cover that outlives the others. Most insurers stop offering Zero Depreciation cover once a car turns 5 years old. Consumables cover normally carries on, and the older the car, the more often you use it.

Which items appear depends on the job. The pattern above is what a garage typically bills for each kind of repair.

That is the practical case for the cover. It is not held for a once-in-a-decade event. It is used on the ordinary claims most drivers actually make, which is why it is usually taken with the first optional cover rather than after it.

“People do not argue about the parts on an invoice. They argue about the line they were not told existed. This cover is there so that line is paid before you ever see it.” — Saurav Jaiswal, Co-founder, Kiwi Insurance

Take a front-end repair after a city accident on a 3-year-old hatchback with an engine up to 1500cc, such as a Maruti Suzuki Swift or a Hyundai i20, where the deductible is ₹1,000. The invoice comes to ₹18,000, and Zero Depreciation cover is already on the policy.

Zero Depreciation cover has already removed the amount that would have been taken off the parts for their age, so the parts and the labour are paid in full. What is left on the invoice is the group of small items: fresh coolant, air-conditioning gas for the system that was opened, grease, and the clips and bolts the repair broke getting the bumper off. That comes to ₹1,400.

Amounts shown are an illustrative example and use the smaller end of what a repair like this costs. Your own bill will depend on the car, how bad the damage is and which plan you hold.

Consumables add anything from a few hundred to several thousand rupees to a repair bill, and a standard plan pays none of it. The cover usually costs less for the year than the consumables on a single repair.

The garage lists the consumables on the invoice with the parts and the labour. When the payout is worked out, that invoice is checked against the covers named on your policy document, and the consumables are included because Consumables cover is one of them. At a cashless partner garage, you then pay only your deductible at the counter. Once you have registered the claim, a personal Claims Specialist is assigned to you and stays with it until the final payment, so you do not have to explain your case again each time you call the customer support helpline.

Your deductible is outside the cover, fixed by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), and your No Claim Bonus (NCB) is decided at the renewal after the claim rather than at the claim itself, which is where Kiwi Insurance Super NCB does its work.

Which items count as consumables, and whether filters are included, is set in the policy document, so check what applies to yours.

No. They are 2 separate covers that do 2 different jobs, and holding one does not give you the other. Zero Depreciation cover pays for the parts in full. Consumables cover pays for the items the repair used up. They are so often taken together that people assume one includes the other, and that assumption is what leaves a bill at the cashier.

• They are bought separately. Each one is named on your policy document. If Consumables cover is not named there, you do not hold it
• They are often sold together. An agent may offer the 2 as a package, and some insurers group them into a single named pack. That is a way of selling them, not a sign that one contains the other
• They pay for different things on the same invoice. The parts line and the consumables line are separate, which is exactly why 2 covers exist
• They can end at different times. Most insurers stop offering Zero Depreciation cover once a car turns 5 years old. Consumables cover normally carries on past that, so you may hold one without the other
• Check the names, not the price. Whatever the quote is packaged as, read the list of covers on the policy document and look for Consumables cover by name

Buying through an agent? Ask for the list of covers that will appear on the policy document, not just the total. A package price is fine. What matters is that every cover you are paying for is named in writing.

Can you hold all of these covers on one policy?

Yes. A car insurance policy has no upper limit on optional covers, and choosing one never stops you choosing another. Each cover closes a different gap in the base plan, so 2 covers do not pay for the same thing twice. Consumables cover and Zero Depreciation cover are the pair taken together most often, because between them the parts and the items used up around those parts are both paid.

Many optional covers have their own claim limit, and Zero Depreciation cover and Consumables cover are the ones that most often do. One cover reaching its limit does not reduce the others. If you use every Consumables cover claim you are allowed in a policy year, your Zero Depreciation cover and Engine Protect cover claims are still there to use. What the covers do share is the claim process. You raise one claim for the damage, and your personal Claims Specialist checks which covers on your policy document apply and what each one pays.

These premium ranges are a guide for a mid-size car in a large city, before Goods and Services Tax (GST). Your own price depends on the car's Insured Declared Value (IDV), its age and the insurer you choose, and the same cover can cost noticeably more with one insurer than with another.

Consumables cover pays for one group of items on a repair invoice. What it does not do is pay for those same items anywhere else, and its limits are worth knowing plainly before you add it.

The cover works only inside a claim your insurer has accepted. A service, a top-up and routine maintenance use the same oils and fluids, and none of that is covered, because outside a claim they are money out of your own pocket that you would have paid anyway. If the claim itself is turned down, there is no payout for the cover to add to.

Things to know before you add it

• You can only add it when you buy or renew. It cannot be added part way through a policy year, so if you skip it now, it cannot be added after a dent next month
• It never pays at a service. Oils and fluids outside a claim are money out of your own pocket, however recently you claimed
• Fuel is never a consumable. Petrol, diesel and compressed natural gas (CNG) are never paid for by the cover
• It does not remove your deductible. The fixed part of every claim stays yours to pay
• It does not pay for the parts. The amount taken off parts for their age belongs to Zero Depreciation cover, not to this one
• It carries a claim limit. Kiwi Insurance allows [number] Consumables cover claims a year. Once they are used, consumables come off the payout again for the rest of that policy year
• It does not pay for damage that was already there. If a dent, a leak or a cracked part was on the car before the cover began, repairing it is not a valid claim, so the consumables that repair uses are not paid either. When you buy or renew after a break in cover, the insurer may inspect the car first and note any existing damage. That damage stays outside every cover on the policy until it has been repaired
• Check the item list. Whether filters and paint sundries are included varies between insurers, and it is set out in the policy document
• It pays nothing where there is no repair. On a theft with no recovery, or a car damaged beyond repair, there is no garage invoice for it to act on
• It does not rescue a claim that fails. If the claim is turned down, for example because the driver had no valid licence or had been drinking, this cover cannot change that

Who decides a borderline case? When it is not clear whether an item on the invoice is a part or a consumable, Kiwi Insurance checks it against the list in the policy document, and your personal Claims Specialist explains which cover pays for it and why. If you disagree, you can raise a grievance with Kiwi Insurance, which is a formal complaint it must acknowledge within 3 days and resolve within 14 days. After that you can go to the Bima Bharosa portal run by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), and then to the Insurance Ombudsman.

Adding it at renewal

Renewal runs the same 6 steps with 2 differences. Your car is a year older, so the amount the cover adds has changed a little, and your No Claim Bonus (NCB) is already built up and carries into the new premium. If you renew before the policy ends, the cover carries on and the bonus is kept, with no gap in between.

Renewing from another insurer? Consumables cover does not move across by itself. Pick it again on the new policy, and bring your No Claim Bonus (NCB) certificate. The discount comes with you if the old policy is renewed within 90 days of its expiry. After 90 days, the bonus is lost. Kiwi Insurance Super NCB carries over only if you move straight to the new insurer.

Mid-policy changes like these follow standard rules called India Motor Tariff (IMT) endorsements. Read the full guide to IMT endorsements →

Most insurers sell Consumables cover, and the cover works in much the same way everywhere. The difference with Kiwi Insurance is what comes with it: a personal Claims Specialist who handles your claim, a No Claim Bonus that one claim does not wipe out, and extra covers included at no extra cost right now.

And what comes with every plan, at no extra cost

Kiwi PayFirst, Kiwi Insurance Flexi Repair and Kiwi InstaCash are optional covers too. At present Kiwi Insurance includes all 3 with your plan at no extra cost.