Bike Insurance

matt86

Hi,

Picked up my first road bike last night, an orbea aqua tsr 2012 (reduced in the sale from £750 to £550), and am now looking to sort out insurance for it. Never taken out bike insurance before so looking for a bit of advice.

I have buildings and contents insurance with Legal & General which does not include any cycle cover. Phoned them up earlier and for 6 months of cover (until the end of my current policy) of £750 with an excess of £150 they quoted me £11 (i.e. around £20 p.a).

This seemed low to me as I did a quick look online and e&l gave a quote for an annual policy for £750 cover (with an excess of £59) of £68, and ETA gave a quote for an annual policy for £750 cover (with an excess of £37) also of £68.

I know it's difficult an exact answer without seeing full policy details but is there likely to be any particular reason why these other providers are more expensive (other than the lower excess)?

Are there any particular things I need to make sure the Legal & General policy covers before taking it out?

Thanks

sungod

i've got mine on contents, excellent worldwide cover cost less for contents+bike than some really crappy restricted uk-only cover on just the bike

sadly that was m&s and it seems they have now dropped the policy for new/renewal customers

there's no apparent logic to insurance pricing, always read the complete policy and make sure you understand any exceptions/limitations

VTech

My wifes best friends husband works in insurance and once quoted a business which was totally new and had never been covered before, it wasnt a bad risk but they didnt know how to quote (i.e, no stats) so he took a bunch of coins and threw them up the wall and depending on where they landed closest to the wall they related to the quote, for example;

wall then 1p - 10p - 50p - 20p = £1,152.00

The above is actually true !

cerv52

VTech wrote:

My wifes best friends husband works in insurance and once quoted a business which was totally new and had never been covered before, it wasnt a bad risk but they didnt know how to quote (i.e, no stats) so he took a bunch of coins and threw them up the wall and depending on where they landed closest to the wall they related to the quote, for example;

wall then 1p - 10p - 50p - 20p = £1,152.00

The above is actually true !

If that's true its disgraceful, PM me the company name please so I never go to them for a quote

cookeeemonster

ETA will give pay you the 'new' value of the bike without deprecation, your home insurance peeps may say it's worth half what you think because they found someone selling it on Gumtree for £350 etc etc

Also your home insurance may insist on certain types of locks on your shed - 5 latch mortice lock (or something, cant remember what all the insurance companies I checked out wanted).

I didnt build my shed and have no idea what the lock is and thankfully ETA didnt care, just that its in the shed and out of sight.

Does your home insurance also cover 3rd parties when you're out on the road? And does it cover theft when you're out? (as in, parked/locked on the street where you work)

If so then you may have an excellent deal...but it does seem really low, so check out the small print.

matt86

Also your home insurance may insist on certain types of locks on your shed - 5 latch mortice lock (or something, cant remember what all the insurance companies I checked out wanted).

I didnt build my shed and have no idea what the lock is and thankfully ETA didnt care, just that its in the shed and out of sight.

I think L&G only care that it's in a locked shed - will check if the lock must be of a certain type.

does it cover theft when you're out? (as in, parked/locked on the street where you work)

The L&G cover does cover this as long as the bike is locked to unmovable object.

Does your home insurance also cover 3rd parties when you're out on the road?

This is the kind of thing that I hadn't considered, and will need to check - thanks!

nawty

Only insure against losses you can't afford.

I'd question then value of insuring a £500 bike when most excesses are over £100 plus the policy price - the maths just doesn't stack up.

That said, when I finally find my frame number I'll be insuring my Cannondale through ETA who have by far the best value policy I can find.