best bike insurer

jasonj

Hi all,
im in the market to cover my bike ( theft only , probably ) the only issue I have is the huge cost !!!! its more than my car...........
Fair enough im looking to insure it for the rebuild cost , that stands at about £3500. even so , a premium of £300 and above seems a little excessive to me.
Can anyone recomend a good insurance policy that doesnt cost massive premiums.
cheers folks
jason
ps i have looked on the site for links to insurers but cant seem to find any . maybe its something that could be added , im sure im not the only person that would like to cover their treasured steed for reasonable money .

RealMan

You tried M&S?

Eranu

M&S is 4K cover I think give them a ring.

smallred

Of the places I've tried so far I don't recall any of them caring where the bike is kept (ie in the house, a garage, shed, side of the road) - surely this should make a difference to premiums and they should quote based on that?! I don't fancy paying the same for my EX8 that's kept Almaxed and under lock & key at home as someone who bungs theirs unlocked in a rotting shed at the end of the garden!

Briggo

smallred wrote:

Of the places I've tried so far I don't recall any of them caring where the bike is kept (ie in the house, a garage, shed, side of the road) - surely this should make a difference to premiums and they should quote based on that?! I don't fancy paying the same for my EX8 that's kept Almaxed and under lock & key at home as someone who bungs theirs unlocked in a rotting shed at the end of the garden!

Household insurers are all the same, they dont want to place restrictions too much on users due to the competitiveness of the market.

You arnt just paying for someone else leaving their bike anywhere, you're paying for the amount of claims the company has made for anything.

M&S are good though, they're really quite relaxed and as said cover upto £4k without having to individually name the item and pay a higher premium.

abarth_1200

Yeah heres a tip, insurance companies are nice and relaxed and very vague about terms of cover and claims, they say yeah sure that will be fine until bang your bike gets nicked and you tell them it was locked up and they say what lock and where then your stuck with no cover.

Unless you know their terms which is hard to get out of them your pretty much a sitting duck until it does get nicked to find out how much cover you really have.

Briggo

Hard to get the terms out of them? You ring them up and ask them while being very specific asking if there is any particular lock required etc or read the policy documents, calls are recorded and the wording is in black and white.

yoohoo999

smallred wrote:

Of the places I've tried so far I don't recall any of them caring where the bike is kept (ie in the house, a garage, shed, side of the road)

Trust me, they care.

They don't bother telling you because you are assumed to have read the t&c's yourself (there is usually a quick legal disclaimer about this).

If you are trying to sell a product, you're not going to reiterate all the restrictions if you don't have to.

You will never be able to get an insurer to confirm that your potential claim will be successful, because they can't, it's not legally possible. The claims handler makes that decision and they have no control over that.

At the end of the day, regardless of what the insurers tell you, all they are doing is confirming that they will insure you, not that your claim will be successful.

ETA are one of the better ones. Pricey, but have a greater degree of certainty for the insured. I know contracts inside out, and insurance t&c's even make me nervous.

Miggins

www.ilovemybike.co.uk (ETA). Hunted around alot before deciding on which insurance to go for and weighed quite a few up against each other. These guys came out on top.

abarth_1200

Yeah on 2 occasions I called my insurance company and asked to confirm how I am covered, they told as long as it is locked either inside a building or outside using a bike lock, so we have absolutely no standard of lock just a bike lock, I had to ask her to repeat it just to make sure.

Its not until the claims handler decides that the lock wasnt suitable so we are still a sitting duck.

NDawn

Quick q, and apologies for the hi-jacking of the thread. I've just got my bike specifically insure through Halifax for an extra £20 a year on my annual policy, specified cost for replacement and exact model. Now when I was being told the conditions, one of them was, they won't cover if my bike is damaged racing.

I forgot to ask at the time, is this basically signing up to a proper race or racing in the broader sense of the word, as in just going fast and damaging it because of that. Granted only the insurance company knows the real answer, was curious if anyone else had come across this condition before.

Briggo

abarth_1200 wrote:

Yeah on 2 occasions I called my insurance company and asked to confirm how I am covered, they told as long as it is locked either inside a building or outside using a bike lock, so we have absolutely no standard of lock just a bike lock, I had to ask her to repeat it just to make sure.

Its not until the claims handler decides that the lock wasnt suitable so we are still a sitting duck.

Unless its in the T&C or the adviser told you over the phone a specific lock was required they dont have a leg to stand on.

Briggo

NDawn wrote:

Quick q, and apologies for the hi-jacking of the thread. I've just got my bike specifically insure through Halifax for an extra £20 a year on my annual policy, specified cost for replacement and exact model. Now when I was being told the conditions, one of them was, they won't cover if my bike is damaged racing.

I forgot to ask at the time, is this basically signing up to a proper race or racing in the broader sense of the word, as in just going fast and damaging it because of that. Granted only the insurance company knows the real answer, was curious if anyone else had come across this condition before.

Its usually for actual racing events, amateur or professional.

But best to double check the T&C's

jasonj

Ok thanks for that folks,
ill look into the reccomendations and see what comes out top...
just as an aside , i tried my own house insurer first and they are also stupid expensive.
ta
jason

cavegiant

Most people do not realise that Inurance law is EXCEPTIONALLY biased towards the user in the UK.

You just need to know your rights, or know someone who does.
Just becuase a company has rejected a claim does not mean they could legally.

When you insure your bike, tell them exactly what you will be using it for, how it is locked and where.
Then ask them if you are covered for that.

It does not matter what the T&C say, if they told you yes, you are covered. Make sure the call is recorded (usually are) if not demand it in writing.

Ex-insurance broker here, trust me you would be horrified what insurance companies try and pull, and be amazed what your rights are.

My sister succesfully claimed on an insurance policy, 6 months in, that she did not ask for, and did not pay any premiums for.

So never asked for cover, cover was never set up, cover was never paid for, under insurance law, cover was there.

(I should add she is 100% right in claiming, i just don't want to give details) Just using this as an example of how biased the law is.


For bikes with cover for accidental damage in use, you are normally looking at 10% of the value of the bike. For household it is rated on the house, so irelevant.