BBC News: Cyclists 'urged to get insurance'

Raymondavalon

Interesting article on the BBC New site
I know some of us MTB'ers commute to work and back by bike.
On weekends I commute to the shops and local areas on a bike, but does this justify comprehensive insurance or is this just another case of preventative paranoia?

cooldad

Probably sensible. But...

butcher of bakersfield

Stupid.

Yes, it would make sense on occasion. But the overall logistics, don't.

Not unless we want to treat the humble bicycle in the same as motor vehicles. Then we''l be going through MOT's, tax, etc....

That'll make for some expensive Crimbo presents for the kids.

bails87

"cyclists have been warned by the Association of British Insurers". Hmmm, I wonder why they'd want to tell people to buy more insurance

As for Pepe's story, the problem there is the illegal driver, not the victim's lack of insurance. If I run a pedestrian over in my car, and I'm uninsured, no-one would blame the pedestrian for not being insured!

As it happens I've got £1 million(or £10 million, can't remember!) of third party cover through British Cycling, as well as free use of their legal team if I'm involved in an incident while riding or pushing my bike, for £25 a year. That also gives you a 12% discount on everything at Wiggle, so I probably save the £25 just through that!

I'll probably (hopefully) never need the liability cover (despite the thousands of cyclists on here, I've never seen/heard of a cyclist having to pay out to a driver or pedestrian) because as well as the generally low odds, I'm a sensible cyclist, I don't ride on the pavement, jump red lights or try to squeeze through tiny gaps like some fixie riding hipster douche! However, I thought £25 for solicitors who specialise in cyclist v motorist cases would be a bargain if I got hit (again) and the driver was....'uncooperative'.

And lets not forget that there are apparently more uninsured drivers in Britain than there are regular cyclists!