Bike insurance

topcattim

I've posted elsewhere about a spate of bike thefts in our area. I'm following the advice there about how to secure my bike as well as possible in the garage.

I also want to make sure that I'm properly insured. We've got household insurance, which names one bike (valued at £2k), but there are several others, valued at £1k, £750, £400, £400 and £250. In other words, if they all went, it would cost more than £4.5k to replace.

I've spoken today with our insurers (AA) who confirmed that they are insured in the garage, but that, even though one bike is named, they will only pay up to £3k on a single claim for theft from the garage. So, with the excess to pay as well, I'd be nearly £2k down on a garage theft.

So I'm looking at trying to insure the two higher end bikes separately. Searches on this forum recommend british cycling insurance which gives me a quote of £250 per year to insure both, at a value of £3k. What I can't work out, though, is how much, if at all, the rate would be lower if I joined British Cycling first (at a cost of £28 per year). This advertises "preferential rates" but I don't know if the reduction would offset the cost of joining.

Does anyone have any advice about the best way to insure the family of bikes?

All this is working out very expensive to protect our bikes against thieves. :x

Grill

5% for Silver and 10% for Gold.

I have 7k worth of bikes insured with BC and it costs me roughly 500 per annum. Not the cheapest but to put it in perspective my car is worth less than a grand and see half the miles of my bikes and is the same amount to insure.

topcattim

Grill wrote:

5% for Silver and 10% for Gold.

I have 7k worth of bikes insured with BC and it costs me roughly 500 per annum. Not the cheapest but to put it in perspective my car is worth less than a grand and see half the miles of my bikes and is the same amount to insure.

That's helpful, thanks Grill. That makes their claim under the "Ride" membership category of

New and improved British Cycling Bike Insurance - preferential rates for members

possibly strictly accurate, but potentially also misleading - if you're right, the preferential rate for Ride members is 0% reduction!

jgsi

For 500 smackers a year, you obviously get a no quibble payout in full then?

supermurph09

Grill wrote:

5% for Silver and 10% for Gold.

I have 7k worth of bikes insured with BC and it costs me roughly 500 per annum. Not the cheapest but to put it in perspective my car is worth less than a grand and see half the miles of my bikes and is the same amount to insure.

Not really fair to make a comparison between bike and car imo. The car insurance also covers you if you crash into someone else, not just theft. That might run in tens of thousands of pounds. Hopefully you'll never has to use either.

Grill

JGSI wrote:

For 500 smackers a year, you obviously get a no quibble payout in full then?

Yes. My Foil was damaged in transit on the way back from Arizona after Christmas (I have worldwide travel cover as well as race cover) and the cheque for the full RRP of a new frame plus labour was mailed to my LBS 5 days after the claim. You get what you pay for.

lawrences

while on the subject of insurance. When you insure your bikes do you go off the price you payed for the bike or what a replacement would cost? because I insured my felt for 2k but it's 2.6k rrp. Since you can't get one for 2k anymore I'm worried I'm under insured.

jgsi

Grill wrote:

JGSI wrote:

For 500 smackers a year, you obviously get a no quibble payout in full then?

Yes. My Foil was damaged in transit on the way back from Arizona after Christmas (I have worldwide travel cover as well as race cover) and the cheque for the full RRP of a new frame plus labour was mailed to my LBS 5 days after the claim. You get what you pay for.

Obviously it 'pays' in your case, but for a more run of the mill setup where the risks are low or acceptable.. then a high insurance premium could be deemed a luxury.. as you can tell I am relying on my M&S home contents for the disaster scenario of a chip pan fire ... luckily dont have a chip pan... yes the bike tends to live in the kitchen overwinter

Grill

lawrences wrote:

while on the subject of insurance. When you insure your bikes do you go off the price you payed for the bike or what a replacement would cost? because I insured my felt for 2k but it's 2.6k rrp. Since you can't get one for 2k anymore I'm worried I'm under insured.

RRP

Grill

JGSI wrote:

Grill wrote:

JGSI wrote:

For 500 smackers a year, you obviously get a no quibble payout in full then?

Yes. My Foil was damaged in transit on the way back from Arizona after Christmas (I have worldwide travel cover as well as race cover) and the cheque for the full RRP of a new frame plus labour was mailed to my LBS 5 days after the claim. You get what you pay for.

Obviously it 'pays' in your case, but for a more run of the mill setup where the risks are low or acceptable.. then a high insurance premium could be deemed a luxury.. as you can tell I am relying on my M&S home contents for the disaster scenario of a chip pan fire ... luckily dont have a chip pan... yes the bike tends to live in the kitchen overwinter

I don't think that 500 per year is high when you consider it's for 7k of bikes. It works out to 42 quid a month which is more than reasonable when you consider the items insured and the circumstances they're insured from. Most of us spend more than that on food/hydration products. Had I skimped on a lesser insurer like M&S I would have been out a frame. Seems like a terrible way to "save" a few quid.

I have paid tens of thousands over the years for car insurance and have seen no return. Does that mean I'm going to stop carrying it? Nope.

cookeeemonster

lawrences wrote:

while on the subject of insurance. When you insure your bikes do you go off the price you payed for the bike or what a replacement would cost? because I insured my felt for 2k but it's 2.6k rrp. Since you can't get one for 2k anymore I'm worried I'm under insured.

some insurance companies (such as ETA) will pay out the RRP of the bike regardless of age, so you dont get depecation.

they worked out cheaper for me than British Cycling even with the BC discount, but it will vary from person to person obviously

jgsi

Grill wrote:

JGSI wrote:

Grill wrote:

JGSI wrote:

For 500 smackers a year, you obviously get a no quibble payout in full then?

Yes. My Foil was damaged in transit on the way back from Arizona after Christmas (I have worldwide travel cover as well as race cover) and the cheque for the full RRP of a new frame plus labour was mailed to my LBS 5 days after the claim. You get what you pay for.

Obviously it 'pays' in your case, but for a more run of the mill setup where the risks are low or acceptable.. then a high insurance premium could be deemed a luxury.. as you can tell I am relying on my M&S home contents for the disaster scenario of a chip pan fire ... luckily dont have a chip pan... yes the bike tends to live in the kitchen overwinter

I don't think that 500 per year is high when you consider it's for 7k of bikes. It works out to 42 quid a month which is more than reasonable when you consider the items insured and the circumstances they're insured from. Most of us spend more than that on food/hydration products. Had I skimped on a lesser insurer like M&S I would have been out a frame. Seems like a terrible way to "save" a few quid.

I have paid tens of thousands over the years for car insurance and have seen no return. Does that mean I'm going to stop carrying it? Nope.

Car insurance is a legal requirement... to keep you out of nick and your car from being crushed.. it is not exactly an investment for return unless you are of dubious character from around Rochdale area.
As you are a frequent flyer then it makes sense to have good cover.. I thought something like Bikeboxalan was pretty indestructible though to stop airlport handling morons from being prats in the first place with your pride and joy?

FJJ

I was with Cycleguard (who do BC insurance) before, but my worry was always about the spec of locks required - e.g. locked to a ground anchor in the garage with a sold secure gold lock. That isn't really practical when out and about as sold secure gold locks weigh a lot - I'm with MoreThan home insurance now with extended bicycle cover, they just specify that it must be locked. I have heard about locks which were previously of a specific sold secure rating being dropped from the register and causing issues with claims.

Grill

JGSI wrote:

Grill wrote:

JGSI wrote:

Grill wrote:

JGSI wrote:

For 500 smackers a year, you obviously get a no quibble payout in full then?

Yes. My Foil was damaged in transit on the way back from Arizona after Christmas (I have worldwide travel cover as well as race cover) and the cheque for the full RRP of a new frame plus labour was mailed to my LBS 5 days after the claim. You get what you pay for.

Obviously it 'pays' in your case, but for a more run of the mill setup where the risks are low or acceptable.. then a high insurance premium could be deemed a luxury.. as you can tell I am relying on my M&S home contents for the disaster scenario of a chip pan fire ... luckily dont have a chip pan... yes the bike tends to live in the kitchen overwinter

I don't think that 500 per year is high when you consider it's for 7k of bikes. It works out to 42 quid a month which is more than reasonable when you consider the items insured and the circumstances they're insured from. Most of us spend more than that on food/hydration products. Had I skimped on a lesser insurer like M&S I would have been out a frame. Seems like a terrible way to "save" a few quid.

I have paid tens of thousands over the years for car insurance and have seen no return. Does that mean I'm going to stop carrying it? Nope.

Car insurance is a legal requirement... to keep you out of nick and your car from being crushed.. it is not exactly an investment for return unless you are of dubious character from around Rochdale area.
As you are a frequent flyer then it makes sense to have good cover.. I thought something like Bikeboxalan was pretty indestructible though to stop airlport handling morons from being prats in the first place with your pride and joy?

I have a full hardshell case- that was written off too, and I now have a BBA on order. That box is over 400 quid, which most would say is ridiculous, but considering the value of the bike that it's protecting I find it perfectly reasonable. Insurance is simply peace of mind in case something goes wrong (as past experiences have proven).

Are you trying to say that car insurance is useless if you never use it? I find that incredibly naive, especially if you have a family. I lived in the US for over 20 years. I paid for health insurance even though it wasn't a legal requirement. Did I use it? Nope. Do I want my money back? Nope.

topcattim

FJJ wrote:

I was with Cycleguard (who do BC insurance) before, but my worry was always about the spec of locks required - e.g. locked to a ground anchor in the garage with a sold secure gold lock. That isn't really practical when out and about as sold secure gold locks weigh a lot - I'm with MoreThan home insurance now with extended bicycle cover, they just specify that it must be locked. I have heard about locks which were previously of a specific sold secure rating being dropped from the register and causing issues with claims.

Thanks FJJ. That's a perhaps understandable but fairly hefty set of conditions that BC insurance put on the type of locks you buy. I've bought some pragmasis protector chain which is SoldSecure Gold but my lock is only a squire cp60 which is SoldSecure bicycle silver - in other words not secure enough for BC's conditions for locking up my bike in the garage.
ETA looks like the way to go (and maybe MoreThan when the house insurance comes up for renewal)

jgsi

Grill wrote:

Are you trying to say that car insurance is useless if you never use it? I find that incredibly naive, especially if you have a family. I lived in the US for over 20 years. I paid for health insurance even though it wasn't a legal requirement. Did I use it? Nope. Do I want my money back? Nope.

I dont think I wrote anything to give that impression did I?
Of course you have to have car insurance...anyway last word on this look before this gets too heated for some reason.. You are seeing value for money.. fair do's. I have never written - don't get insurance.