Insurance?...

DanDax1990

Is it worth insuring my bike? It's only a Voodoo Bokor, Nothing amazingly expensive but I worked hard to earn the money to pay for it. I'd be gutted if it was stolen and seems as I live in a 'lovely' place called Bradford, I know there's always a risk of it being stolen.

I've had a look on Google and came across - http://www.cycleguard.co.uk

Anyone used these before and can recommend them?

And anyone got any other recommendations?

Cheers guys.

Twelly

I don't have bike insurance because all my bikes are kept inside in a locked room in a locked house or in a locked cupboard 6ft away from my desk at work so my risk is extremely low. Also, my contents insurance covers any damage at home. Your situation may be different.

If you are regularly leaving your bike chained up outside shops, in the garden, outside work or whatever, it might be a good idea to insure separately.

DanDax1990

At the moment the bike is in my shed whish has a fairly secure door and 1 single lock.

Going to get one of the engineers at work to make me some big bulky clamps to lock the top and bottom of the door with a padlock and getting a cheap but good alarm system, Shed will be nice and secure then.

More concerned about commuting tbh, If I need to pop in a shop and so on.

Twelly

Well you have to make the decision, no one on here knows your cirsumstances...

Is your bike likely to be stolen/damaged?
Can you afford the insurance premium?

If the answer to both is yes, get insured.

DanDax1990

Think I'm gonna go for it, Can anyone give me any recommendations please?

waby1234

I guess it all depends on your attitude to risk.

How inconvenienced would you be if you lost the bike? Would you be able to buy a new one or get a replacement easily? Is the cost worth it?

Personally, my bike is covered at home under my home contents insurance. The monthly insurance cost I find is better put into a 'bike fund' savings account which would be used to replace the bike of it were stolen or too damaged.

Twelly

waby1234 wrote:

The monthly insurance cost I find is better put into a 'bike fund' savings account which would be used to replace the bike of it were stolen or too damaged.

Everyone should do this.

Even if the bike doesn't get pinched/broken you then end up with a pot of money to spend on new shiny bits

turnerjohn

get a BIG lock...then buy another BIG lock....three should do it depending on the area !
Thing is with insurance their quite happily take your money but have to ask yourself what are they like with claims ?
Lock your bikes up like Fort Knox, alarm the area and house and make them as hard to get to / remove as possible.

EH_Rob

I use these, no problems so far but then have never had to claim.

http://www.eandl.co.uk/cycle-insurance

Best thing to do though is keep it locked up in your house using something that has a Sold Secure gold standard, and don't leave it anywhere outside unless you absolutely can't help it.

DanDax1990

£5.75 a month is peanuts... And I already save a minimum of £20 a week for upgrades/new bike.

turnerjohn

DanDax1990 wrote:

£5.75 a month is peanuts... And I already save a minimum of £20 a week for upgrades/new bike.

how much is the bike insured for though ? I've a £5.2k a £3.5k and £4k one...am guessing thats going to cost me a fortune !?

waby1234

DanDax1990 wrote:

£5.75 a month is peanuts... And I already save a minimum of £20 a week for upgrades/new bike.

There is your answer then!! :-)

EH_Rob

Think mine costs about £10 a month to insurance 1 bike valued at 2k.

cycle monster

Horses for courses this one. My existing contents insurers were happy to cover two bikes worth about £1,500 each if we paid an extra £300 a year and spent £400 on locks and stuff. With depreciation it was difficult to argue against self insurance to be honest. There are some contents insurers who won't cover a bike to any level if it is worth more than a certan amount. Have settled with one that covers everything up to £500 per item for a sub £200 premium which is par with what we already pay.

Our brokers found bike specific insurers that would cover both bikes, for full value for less than £100 each but that was on the basis that they would never be visible whilst in transit. Having misplaced my can of invisibility spray...

bails87

Morethan cover all bikes up to £1.5k by default, and bikes above that (possibly with a £5k limit) have to be added as named items.

It worked out a lot cheaper for me to do that than get a specific bike policy.

SPARTdAN

Wise to insure it, I need to insure mine... One of my mates had his bikes stolen from his locked garage while he was asleep in his home above. Lucky he had insurance, otherwise he'd have been gutted and without any bike for a long time.

Anonymous

I look at it this way... how many times in my life will I likely have a bike nicked? Chances are once and while plenty of people you know or read about have theirs nicked, it's still more likely that it will never happen than it will. At least if you use common sense and keep it locked up very securely, never unattended outdoors, etc.

One bike nicked in your life vs the monthly cost of insurance.

Of course, yes the insurance does (hopefully) pay up the cash to buy the replacement. If you live with no disposable and can't afford a replacement then maybe, but then can you really afford the insurance (or even the original bike in the first place)?

Personally - I'd just up the contents insurance if necessary to cover it. That's the cheapest insurance. Make sure they'll pay out enough for an individual item, and you have away from home cover. Sorted.

If you're in shared accommodation or a student - bad luck. If the latter, you might get cover under parent's contents but check the small print.

Dedicated I wouldn't bother with unless you have a lot of top end kit and even then I'd look for something covering use as well, especially if you do any events as often that's excluded. Contents insurance won't cover you for crashing the bike while riding

Also it helps to just think of it as an object of fun that's replaceable, not your pride and joy that you cannot stand to lose.

Oh and secure shed with big locks on the door? Crowbar on the door, or cut into the side of the shed, and with the right tools easy job to get through the most secure D locks etc that money can buy. If they wanted to.

waby1234

+1 on the post above

cooldad

Mine are in the house, in the car, or being ridden. So I don't bother. Have a cheapy ebay special if I feel the urge to ride into town etc.

DanDax1990

Looks like insurance isn't worth it then lol.

Getting some big clamps to lock up made at work anyway and got a spare CCTV camera somewhere to get fitted up.

bennett_346

TwellySmat wrote:

waby1234 wrote:

The monthly insurance cost I find is better put into a 'bike fund' savings account which would be used to replace the bike of it were stolen or too damaged.

Everyone should do this.

Even if the bike doesn't get pinched/broken you then end up with a pot of money to spend on new shiny bits

The thing is you'd have to save for years before you'd have accumlated the amount of money to cover a replacement, and hope it isn't stolen in that time. If you get insurance and your bike is nicked in the first week of cover then you get the full payout and have only paid in £6 or something.

Woody80

After having mine stolen twice despite being locked - locks are useless when they saw through your frame...... Mine are insured with cycle guard as the house insurance doesn't cover the same value. They are never left unattended as I am the most paranoid person in the world now!

Insurance can be expensive (mines £250 a year) but I don't want to risk being without a bike for any period of time whilst I save up again! Also buy the best locks you can and use several. I now use an Almax chain that's going nowhere, but as I said its the bike that's the weak point!