Dedicated bike insurance

hfidgen

Hiya,

For various reasons I don't think my bike can be covered on my house insurance, so as I'm commuting across London I'm looking into bike insurance.

I've got a BMC Crossfire 2, so looking to insure £1500 or so.

£15 - http://cycle1st.totalcycleassist.co.uk/
£155 - https://www.eta.co.uk/insurance/cycle/
£159 - http://www.evanscyclesinsurance.com/
£130 - https://secure.eandl.co.uk/

Does anyone have any recommendations or knowledge of these companies? They all seem to be around the £110-£130 range for the year with the exception of the Cycle1st, which is £15?!

mobilekat

Think the main difference is that Cycle1st dont insure your bike, they just repair it if damaged- not much help if some one 'borrows' it.

E and L have an awful reputation for pet insurance- they are cheap but never pay out, also having a quick look at what they offer the bike is not allowed out of the house after 9pm or before 6am.....

The others are all underwritten by the FSA which should mean they are OK...

Good luck!

robd75

I am with Cycleguard and they have been pretty good. I crashed my Basso on the way home from work breaking the frame, they paid out new for old no problem (there was no one else involved in the accident either)!

Lycra Man

I am with ETA, but I haven't made a cliam yet.

£58 for my £750-worth.

Lycra Man

tomb353

halifax home insurance cover bikes up to £1500, there are one or two other home ins companies that offer half decent bike cover (i think Marks and Spencer Insurance). This works out much cheaper than a separate bike policy and there is less small print in the cover regarding type of lock etc, don't have any experience with claiming though.

biondino

£510.50/year to insure all five of my bikes. God that's a lot of money.

feltkuota

I'm with E&L and have been for a number of years. Never had an issue with a claim. They paid out over 4k when one of my bikes was written off.

tgotb

The Cycle 1st looks quite attractive to me; I don't want to pay a small fortune for theft insurance I don't really need, but would like to insure against the risk of damaging my bike in an accident.

Does anyone know the reputation of Cycle 1st? The cover only seems to apply to an accident that was someone else's fault (which is fine in principle), but does that mean they'll force claimants to prove they weren't liable?

biondino

I would just be so suspicious of their low low prices. Reading the small print makes it clear there are a LOT of conditions (you need to prove it's your bike, older bikes will get smaller payouts, it only mentions bike singular even though I have five, etc.). I imagine that, to keep their prices low, they stick to their terms fiercely so yes, I would imagien you do have to prove you're not at fault (or rather prove the fault of a third party).

tgotb

biondino wrote:

I would just be so suspicious of their low low prices. Reading the small print makes it clear there are a LOT of conditions (you need to prove it's your bike, older bikes will get smaller payouts, it only mentions bike singular even though I have five, etc.). I imagine that, to keep their prices low, they stick to their terms fiercely so yes, I would imagien you do have to prove you're not at fault (or rather prove the fault of a third party).

I fear you're right.

Especially since you clearly have supernatural powers; how did you know I have five bikes? :-)