Insurance Advice

dimmockg

contents insurance is due for renewal and the inevitable shop around starts, however something causing me a little concern is getting the FULL worth of my bike back if it were stolen.

I have a 2009 rockhopper expert, with a few upgrades (circa £350)

my concern is finding an insurer which would acknowledge these details and upgrades over and above the original spec bike. I have receipts and order details of all the extra parts purchased.

I have searched and read through some threads recommending M&S - which were too expensive by some way as well as specific cycle insurers

any other suggestions?

cheers

nonnac85

I got Evans to add my upgraded forks just insure the upgraded value and keep the receipts and make sure they write it into the contract.

cavegiant

This one is easy (ex insurance broker)

get your bike shop to value your bike for you,
When you get a quote make sure you ask if it is covered (they record all conversations, so it's on record).

The KEY thing on any insurance is the value of the item.
The value of the item is what it will cost to replace, not what you paid for it.
So if you bought in the sale, insure the RRP.

So ask your bike shop to put in writing how much it will cost to replace when stolen.

Also buy a good lock, most insurers will ask for a lock to rated sold secure gold.
There is a reason for this, buy one.

cavegiant

cycleguard does a polict with a franchise (not an excess) so that would get you the full sum back.

Contents insurance normally has an excess of a couple of hundred, so you would not get much back.

bails87

You don't need specific bike insurer. We're with Morethan and adding a £1k bike added a couple of quid to the policy. You'll just have to ask how much they'll cover, I'm sure the amount will be pretty unlimited as long as you specify at the start of the policy.

cavegiant

bails87 wrote:

You don't need specific bike insurer. We're with Morethan and adding a £1k bike added a couple of quid to the policy. You'll just have to ask how much they'll cover, I'm sure the amount will be pretty unlimited as long as you specify at the start of the policy.

No intended insult, but this confirms why you need to ask someone who knows insurance.

However more than covers bikes to £5000, which most insurers avoid. So I will check with them for rnwl.

bails87

cavegiant wrote:

bails87 wrote:

You don't need specific bike insurer. We're with Morethan and adding a £1k bike added a couple of quid to the policy. You'll just have to ask how much they'll cover, I'm sure the amount will be pretty unlimited as long as you specify at the start of the policy.

No intended insult, but this confirms why you need to ask someone who knows insurance.

However more than covers bikes to £5000, which most insurers avoid. So I will check with them for rnwl.

What does? :?

Our policy was actually with RSA, but underwritten by Morethan, so maybe a little different. But bikes up to £500 were covered. We phoned up and added the bike as a named item?

cavegiant

What is the excess on the policy?

bails87

cavegiant wrote:

What is the excess on the policy?

I actually don't know.

Although I'm sure we claimed on some damaged jewellery that wasn't very expensive a while ago, so it can't be too much.

All I know is that my bike was added onto the contents insurance as a named item and should be replaced new-for-old if it's stolen, with no stipulation on locks, as long as it's behind a locked door.

yoohoo999

as someone who reads very boring legal documents every day, and has also just had the annual delight of renewing my contents insurance, I feel I can add something to this thread.

the devil really is in the detail with most contents insurance policies when it comes to bikes.

for example, I had 4 quotes provided to me today by a broker, all of which quoted for my £2k bike as included in the cover.

I told the broker that my bike is kept in a steel shed, locked to a Kryptonite ground anchor which is embedded into 3ft of concrete. The shed is locked, but 4 other residents living in the gated grounds have access to the shed.

The broker (as have many others in the past), confirmed that this would be OK. To be honest, I was pretty sure that it wouldn't be covered so I asked for all the policy documentation to be sent across.

Sure enough, I wouldn't have been covered because of the communal access to the shed.

Some household policies are so strict that you need to keep the bike in your house (there is a specific carve out from the definition of "home" so that sheds are not included). Most people wouldn't notice this quirk. A broker may either not mention it, or simply be unware that it exists.


An insurance policy isn't worth the paper it's written on unless you are completely compliant with it's conditions.

You really really need to speak to a good broker, or someone that understands contracts/insurance policies.

I eventually spoke to a broker today (for contents insurance) called Fresh Insurance. By far the best broker I have dealt with in a long time. Very knowlegable, impartial and friendly (ie no hard sell). It's a small company and that is apparent from the level of expertise the person I spoke to had - no 18 year old reading from a screen on his day off from uni.

I must admit, I tried to find potential pitfalls in M&S contents insurance (which many people on here swear by) expecting it to be too good to be true, and the policy is drafted so wide that it does seem to cover bikes in most circumstances. Probably one of the best policies I've looked at.

Unfortunately for me, my address shows up as a "flood risk" on their system (which is odd given that I live on high ground with no water anywhere near me!), but they can't offer me a quote.

So, I use ETA, which is a cycle specific insurance company. It's pricey (about £165 per year for £2k of cover) but it's cheaper than replacing my bike!

bails87

I'm still not sure what was wrong with what I said.

But yes, as yoohoo says, obviously be very careful with the stipulations about locks, communal access etc.

No offence to the OP, but it's not into 'superbike' £5k-ish territory is it? Obviously you want the best deal and the best coverage, but someone like M&S may be a good bet, assuming you can meet their security criteria.

dimmockg

my biggest concern is being adequately covered, i had an instance last year where my rockhopper pro was stolen, i had opted on my contents insurance to have extra cover for possesions away from the home - thinking cycles came into this - i upped the cover to £1000 to cover the pro specifically. However i didn't check all the small print when the policy arrived and even upping cover for personal possesions still only left a limit of £500 for bikes - even though i named this in specified items.

This is/has made me more cautious to ensure i'm covered this time in the event of anything happened.

Bit of a minefield reading or trying to find all the items covered or not covered on some insurers sites!

The search continues.....