Insurance mickey takers!!

rbk1967

Hi everyone

Can anyone direct me towards an insurer to cover me and my bike out on the road fully comp?

I'm a member of CTC so get the 3rd party benefits but when I apply for fully comp with the online quotes i am getting whacked a premium of @450 (bike is worth @ 4k). I am quite shocked at this given I have cars insured for at least half that price.

Oh, before i forget, I tried doing it through my house insurance but they had no interest.

Any feedback gratefully received.

Ty

Rob

andyk19

I've insured my bike, for £2,400, for £180. That's with British Cycling using my Gold membership discount but covers me for all cycling including road racing.

TakeTurns

Pretty sure you should be able to get a quote for a lot less than that. Maybe about £350 if you don't race on it.

From what I've gathered, if you want racing cover then it's going to be around 1% of the value of your bike per month. I'm with ETA, it's an all inclusive cover for my requirements so it works out relatively better than others. I pay 0.9% of my bikes value per month. In return I get:

Theft, accidental damage & vandalism (including races & events)
No de-valuation of your bike over time
£1m third party and personal accident
Shed and garage cover
Cycle Rescue (breakdown cover for your bike)
90 days Europe + 60 days worldwide

Grill

I'm with BC bike insurance and pay about 560 a year for two bikes (worth 7k) including race cover on both and worldwide travel on one of them. They've been excellent so far (claimed for a frame damaged in transit and they sent the check 5 days later) and I have no complaints. I do 3 times the annual mileage on my bike as I do on my car so I don't mind paying a few quid to know I'm in good hands.

bigpikle

All you guys planning to fly with a bike need to triple check your small print carefully - after a recent scare I found that none of the cycling policies I personally checked (BC/CTC included) would actually cover your bike in the event it went missing in transit.

Several insurers I spoke with told me there was NO policy that would cover a bike in those circumstances, and unless it eventually turned up and was damaged, they wouldnt pay out. CTC for example will only pay out for theft (thats what disappearing in transit is classed as) when the bike was locked to an approved immovable object, so therefore when in transit the bike isnt covered

If you check the specific wording on the BC insurance policy for example you will find 2 exclusions in addition to the 'not locked to an approved immovable object' that detail when they WONT pay out:

1. when the theft is by someone that you entrust the bike to
2. unexplained theft

That 2nd clause is more worrying as I defy anyone to explain why the bike they checked in at airport A never made it to the baggage reclaim at airport B...

As I said, this is a major blind spot I'm surprised more people dont talk about. Once you check in your bike its only covered if it comes back in pieces - if it doesnt come back at all then tough luck. I suffered this exact issue back at Xmas and not only was the insurance effectively useless but the rules on compensation from airlines are so ridiculous that you wont get any meaningful compensation for an item of expensive sports equipment eg you might get a few hundred £££ if you are lucky.

slowbike

I'm glad my bike isn't that expensive!

Looked at insurance and we'd quickly payout the value of the bikes in insurance premiums ... I think we'll stick with the BC membership with 3rd party ins ...

Bar Shaker

I have also been looking at this.

I have settled on adding my bike to my home insurance bike cover scheme, but the value insured will not make the full value of replacing the bike (£4k with Garmin, pedals and cages). This cost an extra £4 a month.

The best on-line quote I found was £27 a month for a bike worth up to £5k.

NITR8s

Slowbike wrote:

I'm glad my bike isn't that expensive!

Looked at insurance and we'd quickly payout the value of the bikes in insurance premiums ... I think we'll stick with the BC membership with 3rd party ins ...

Careful, I had to change home insurance companies to get one to cover the value of my bike. I was gonna settle for one that was slightly less until they informed me that if the value of the bike is more than there max amount covered then they will not pay out a penny. Its the same as car insurance if you told your insurer that your car was worth £2000 and it was actually worth £4000 they can invalidate your insurance as you have effectively lied.

Bar Shaker

I have also heard of this.

I told my company the value of my bike and they explained that they would only cover my £4k bike to £2.5k if it was stolen. They then asked if I wished to proceed.

I am happy that I have some cover and maybe insuring part of the value is a cost effective solution for me. The calls are all taped and I was clear in what I said and they said.

paulg99

NITR8s wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

I'm glad my bike isn't that expensive!

Looked at insurance and we'd quickly payout the value of the bikes in insurance premiums ... I think we'll stick with the BC membership with 3rd party ins ...

Careful, I had to change home insurance companies to get one to cover the value of my bike. I was gonna settle for one that was slightly less until they informed me that if the value of the bike is more than there max amount covered then they will not pay out a penny. Its the same as car insurance if you told your insurer that your car was worth £2000 and it was actually worth £4000 they can invalidate your insurance as you have effectively lied.

I don't think they can invalidate your insurance if you have underinsured. ICOBS will not allow them to do this. They will only pay out the value you have insured for though, so in the event of a total loss you are only cheating yourself.

slowbike

NITR8s wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

I'm glad my bike isn't that expensive!

Looked at insurance and we'd quickly payout the value of the bikes in insurance premiums ... I think we'll stick with the BC membership with 3rd party ins ...

Careful, I had to change home insurance companies to get one to cover the value of my bike. I was gonna settle for one that was slightly less until they informed me that if the value of the bike is more than there max amount covered then they will not pay out a penny. Its the same as car insurance if you told your insurer that your car was worth £2000 and it was actually worth £4000 they can invalidate your insurance as you have effectively lied.

As I said - it isn't that expensive ... believe me ... (although it isn't a £200 halfords job! )

Bar Shaker

PaulG99 wrote:

I don't think they can invalidate your insurance if you have underinsured. ICOBS will not allow them to do this. They will only pay out the value you have insured for though, so in the event of a total loss you are only cheating yourself.

I am looking on it as paying 13% of the premium for 63% of the cover. I am happy that my £4 a month would provide a contribution towards the cost of replacing the bike.

I have just bought a ground anchor and lock, all Gold Standard, so they should reduce the likelihood of an opportunist theft. A determined thief will always get your stuff, so that's what the insurance is for.

danlikesbikes

PaulG99 wrote:

NITR8s wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

I'm glad my bike isn't that expensive!

Looked at insurance and we'd quickly payout the value of the bikes in insurance premiums ... I think we'll stick with the BC membership with 3rd party ins ...

Careful, I had to change home insurance companies to get one to cover the value of my bike. I was gonna settle for one that was slightly less until they informed me that if the value of the bike is more than there max amount covered then they will not pay out a penny. Its the same as car insurance if you told your insurer that your car was worth £2000 and it was actually worth £4000 they can invalidate your insurance as you have effectively lied.

I don't think they can invalidate your insurance if you have underinsured. ICOBS will not allow them to do this. They will only pay out the value you have insured for though, so in the event of a total loss you are only cheating yourself.

If you underinsure they will not pay out the value you state & you could possibly be invalidating your cover. Typically you tend to find that average or 'under insurance' applies. Basic rule of thumb is is you undervalue your goods from £1,000 to £500 so by 50% & say a claim occurs to half the ACTUAL value (of £1,000) so claim damage is only £5,00 you will tend to find the first port of call for a claims department would be to apply average to the claim. Therefore the same % you elected to underinsure for will also apply to your claims payout so your payout would be reduced accordingly by 50% so you would only be paid £250.

Sorry to jump in with both feet & know it sounds nerdy but I work in the industry. This may or may not apply in all cases but certainly is the most common case & is found in most vehicle insurance policy wordings.

rbk1967

Ty for all your replies.

I think the cycle mkt needs a shake up where insurance is concerned for sure.

Rob