not sure im insured, anyone help?

andy83

After purchasing my lovely new bike today (just waiting for cycle 2 work vouchers to come) decided to check my insurance to make sure i was covered for my current bike

just been on the legal and general site and it says the following

We wont pay
Loss or damage caused by theft or attempted theft of an unattended pedal cycle unless:
i) in a locked building, or
ii) attached by a security device to a permanently fixed structure, or
iii) immobilised by a security device.

when i added it to home insurance was in s little side building but due to space is now in a bike shed at the front of the property

really dont know what to do as just spend £525 on a new bike and after leaving shop suddenly dawned on me that i may not be able to get it insured. even bought a abus granite xplus lock with it

is there anywhere that will insure a bike in a shed or am i better off leaving it chaned to a lampost or summin. really dont want to have no insurance on bike and no way of bringing it in the house

AndyManc

Fix a ground anchor in the shed and use your lock.

Anyway, isn't a shed a building ? :roll:


.

andy83

thats the problem, the shed is on stones not slabs so cant get a ground anchor in

also we rent so cant put slabs down and im sure insurance companies will do their best to not have to pay up

prawny

Might be worth calling your insurance company for a definitive answer. Most of them are pretty helpful if you've not had a claim. They'll record the call to so keep a note of the date, time and name of the person you spoke to and then you'll have some comeback if you do have a claims problem.

Before you do that though check the definition of a building at the front of your policy book (usually)

nation

I'm a claims handler for another insurance company, and for the policies I deal with your shed would almost certainly count as a building.

Best thing to do is call them. Make sure you speak to the claims department and not sales or customer service. I've had to deal with a lot of complaints that are down to people being given bad advice by salespeople.

Also regarding this:

"im sure insurance companies will do their best to not have to pay up"

You'd be surprised. If you think you've been treated unfairly by an insurance company, you can complain to the FOS. They will always, always rule against the insurance company if there's any ambiguity. Most of the time people develop this attitude because they haven't done what you're doing now and checked that the insurance they bought is the insurance they need.

prawny

Hey Nation who do you work for? I work for NU in brum. Good advice too I was thinking something like that but I'm an underwriter so I wouldn't like to say too much

nation

prawny wrote:

Hey Nation who do you work for? I work for NU in brum. Good advice too I was thinking something like that but I'm an underwriter so I wouldn't like to say too much

RBS. I dealt with Prudential Home policies back home in Glasgow, I'm dealing with Direct Line Motor down here.

You guys hiring? I was thinking about jumping ship.

GarethPJ

Ground anchors on concrete flags are virtually useless, a good whack with a lump hammer will usually crack a flagstone and it will generally break through stess points such as the holes you drilled for the ground anchor.

When you say the shed is on stones do you mean pebbles? If so it may be best to lift an area of pebbles, dig a hole set a decent ground anchor post and surround it with concrete then lay the pebbles back over the top.

AndyManc

GarethPJ wrote:

Ground anchors on concrete flags are virtually useless, a good whack with a lump hammer will usually crack a flagstone and it will generally break through stess points such as the holes you drilled for the ground anchor.

When you say the shed is on stones do you mean pebbles? If so it may be best to lift an area of pebbles, dig a hole set a decent ground anchor post and surround it with concrete then lay the pebbles back over the top.

I was going to say that but couldn't be bothered .. well done

andy83

nation wrote:

I'm a claims handler for another insurance company, and for the policies I deal with your shed would almost certainly count as a building.

Best thing to do is call them. Make sure you speak to the claims department and not sales or customer service. I've had to deal with a lot of complaints that are down to people being given bad advice by salespeople.

Also regarding this:

"im sure insurance companies will do their best to not have to pay up"

You'd be surprised. If you think you've been treated unfairly by an insurance company, you can complain to the FOS. They will always, always rule against the insurance company if there's any ambiguity. Most of the time people develop this attitude because they haven't done what you're doing now and checked that the insurance they bought is the insurance they need.

cheers for that

will be ringing them tomo

when i rang up to get the bike insured initially it was put in a brick shed that was attached to the house so they said this was fine, but forgot to contact when moved bike into bike shed.

think to be honest we aer going to move things out of brick shed and secure the door a bit better and change where my bike is kept. however if i get agreement that bike shed is ok then might use that

what about one of the dedicated bike insures, any idea how they would see a shed, as would rather bikes have own insurance as apposed to it being on the house

yes it is pebbles and cant really do that as said before we rent and cant mess bout with it

prawny

nation wrote:

prawny wrote:

Hey Nation who do you work for? I work for NU in brum. Good advice too I was thinking something like that but I'm an underwriter so I wouldn't like to say too much

RBS. I dealt with Prudential Home policies back home in Glasgow, I'm dealing with Direct Line Motor down here.

You guys hiring? I was thinking about jumping ship.

Nah they've just laid off all the claims handlers and all the personal lines underwriters and moved everything to leicester and glasgow.

andy83

phoned up today and she said as long as the shed is locked it counts as a building which is pleasing

i explained exactly where the shed will be kept and got her name for future reference

feel quite pleased now knowing my new bike will be ok

insurance people arent as bad and nasty as some make out lol

nation

andy83 wrote:

insurance people arent as bad and nasty as some make out lol

On the first day of training for my first insurance job they said to us "Never tell a taxi driver that you work in insurance. They all have 'I woz robbed' stories and you'll never shut them up".

andy83

lol

was the birmingham branch i rang and really pleasing someone could understand my horid brumie accent, usually on the phone i have to repeat everything

any idea how much it would bump up the insurance should i claim for a stoled bike. not intending to as bike has a lot of sentimental value and dont want to lose it, but just wondering if its worth keeping on my house or getting specialised bike insurance to keep no claims on house

Furbes

andy83 wrote:

thats the problem, the shed is on stones not slabs so cant get a ground anchor in

also we rent so cant put slabs down and im sure insurance companies will do their best to not have to pay up

It might be a stupid Question , but have you asked your Landlord with regards putting a Concrete Base for an Anchor in ? When i rented , i asked him could i do it because we didn't have the Room for our Bikes . He got it done for us & we just paid him for it .

GarethPJ

andy83 wrote:

phoned up today and she said as long as the shed is locked it counts as a building which is pleasing

i explained exactly where the shed will be kept and got her name for future reference

feel quite pleased now knowing my new bike will be ok

insurance people arent as bad and nasty as some make out lol

Indeed they are not, they are simply in the business of making money. Most people who think insurance companies are evil are the people who tried to cut corners on their insurance and then complain when it backfires. I have a friend who's car insurance policy comes with a £150 mandatory excess and she chose to add a £250 voluntary excess. Now she's complaining that the insurers are robbers because she's had to pay out £800 of excess in one year.

Anyhow I wouldn't feel my bike was safe if it was locked in a shed, insured or not. Most sheds are incredibly easy to break into. Ever lost the key to your shed? I did and it took me about a minute to get in causing no significant damage in the process. If you've ever had to make a claim for a stolen bike you'll know that it can take some time before you get your money. What do you do for transport in the mean time. Are you covered for travel expenses in the interim?