Aviva Home Insurance - how good is it for bikes?

gabriel959

So I have been with M&S for a couple of years and they are great but my premium this year is prohibitive really and am looking for something cheaper.

I had a look at Hiscox but they want a £250 excess so no thanks. Direct Line only insure pedal cycles up to £2000, so no thanks either. Aviva seem good, they insure bikes in your home whatever the value and then outside the home they insure it to a maximum of £2500 (for an extra £63). What it isn't clear is if they will insure it whilst I am cycling and I have a crash like M&S does? Anyone here with Aviva Home Insurance that can share their experiences?

Thank you!

simonhead

The Churchill policy has been the best I have found so far, 60 days cover outside the UK as well which isnt bad and its reasonably priced. Wont cover me for crash but BC membership does I believe.

Bar Shaker

I have Aviva home insurance. I don't know the answer to the crash insurance but suspect we are not covered. Aviva 'in the home' cover includes in the garage too, also at full value.

I try never to leave my bike (locked or otherwise) when away from home with it.

gabriel959

simonhead wrote:

The Churchill policy has been the best I have found so far, 60 days cover outside the UK as well which isnt bad and its reasonably priced. Wont cover me for crash but BC membership does I believe.

As far as I know the BC membership does not cover damage to your bike if you crash it but correct me if I am wrong.

I will get a quote with Churchill to compare

simonhead

gabriel959 wrote:

simonhead wrote:

The Churchill policy has been the best I have found so far, 60 days cover outside the UK as well which isnt bad and its reasonably priced. Wont cover me for crash but BC membership does I believe.

As far as I know the BC membership does not cover damage to your bike if you crash it but correct me if I am wrong.

I will get a quote with Churchill to compare

Sorry yeh I have an upgrade that I think cost me £30 on my BC membership

gabriel959

simonhead wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

simonhead wrote:

The Churchill policy has been the best I have found so far, 60 days cover outside the UK as well which isnt bad and its reasonably priced. Wont cover me for crash but BC membership does I believe.

As far as I know the BC membership does not cover damage to your bike if you crash it but correct me if I am wrong.

I will get a quote with Churchill to compare

Sorry yeh I have an upgrade that I think cost me £30 on my BC membership

What does that extra £30 cover if you don't mind me asking?

simonhead

gabriel959 wrote:

simonhead wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

simonhead wrote:

The Churchill policy has been the best I have found so far, 60 days cover outside the UK as well which isnt bad and its reasonably priced. Wont cover me for crash but BC membership does I believe.

As far as I know the BC membership does not cover damage to your bike if you crash it but correct me if I am wrong.

I will get a quote with Churchill to compare

Sorry yeh I have an upgrade that I think cost me £30 on my BC membership

What does that extra £30 cover if you don't mind me asking?

I thinks its a discounted cyclosure policy that gives me worldwide cover for both injury and broken bike. I dont think I can race on it, the wife got me BC membership for my birthday and organised the insurance as well. Havent really studied the details.

socrates

I have my house, house contents and bike insured with More Than. House for £400,000, contents £70,000. The bike, a Cannondale Evo is insured for up to £5,000 away from the garage anywhere in the world - theft and accidental damage on a new for old basis. In the garage the maximum they would cover is £1,500 but my thinking was that the chances of anything happening at the house was not as likely more chance of something amiss on a club run etc. Cost for the year £242. Not bad considering the prices quoted by other companies for bike alone were higher than this and some were not even prepared to quote.

Dorset_Boy

We have our buildings and contents insured with the Pru and have 2 named bikes valued at £2500 and £1500 covered in addition to any number of bikes up to £1000 in value. The extra premium wasn't a great deal.

Cover is:
We will pay for accidental loss of, or damage to, Your Pedal Cycles anywhere in the British Isles. Your Pedal Cycles are also covered while they are with You if You take them outside the British Isles for up to 60 days in any Period of Cover.

They will pay out so long as the Pedal Cycle is in a locked building or has been chained to something which cannot
be moved and is immobilised by a security device

Although having not had to claim for bikes, I did have to claim for a camera stolen from outside a mountain restaurant (which was in a bag which I forgot to take with me, and had been pinched by the time I got back to said restaurant 30 minutes later, and they paid out, no problem. They also paid out for a grandfather clock that fell over and smashed after it had been moved (and clearly wasn't stable! :oops: )

rolf_f

I have Aviva insurance. This is the text from the policy document.

Pedal cycles
This cover only applies when shown on your
schedule.
We will provide cover for loss of or damage to
your pedal cycles anywhere in the world up to
the limit shown on your schedule.
What is not covered
Anything set out in the GENERAL
EXCLUSIONS section of this policy booklet.
We will not cover:
• loss or damage to tyres or accessories
unless the pedal cycle is stolen or
damaged at the same time;
• loss or damage while the pedal cycle is
being used for racing, pace making trials
or business purposes;
• theft unless the cycle is:
– in your immediate custody and control;
– securely locked to an object that
cannot be moved;
– in a locked building;
• any pedal cycle with a motor;
• anything set out in the GENERAL
EXCLUSIONS section of this policy
booklet.
35

General exclusions are just the usual terrorist explosion and volcano type things. It looks pretty sound to me and I can't see any obvious let outs!

c-mac

I have Aviva Home Insurance and added the Bike cover.

Bike was stolen from secure shared bike shed in our block of flats. They did not cover this. If you are in a block of flats the bike needs to be in your flat. Disaster. Only discovered when trying to claim, not very clear. Obviously this is not a problem if you have a house.

gabriel959

Rolf F wrote:

I have Aviva insurance. This is the text from the policy document.

Pedal cycles
This cover only applies when shown on your
schedule.
We will provide cover for loss of or damage to
your pedal cycles anywhere in the world up to
the limit shown on your schedule.
What is not covered
Anything set out in the GENERAL
EXCLUSIONS section of this policy booklet.
We will not cover:
• loss or damage to tyres or accessories
unless the pedal cycle is stolen or
damaged at the same time;
• loss or damage while the pedal cycle is
being used for racing, pace making trials
or business purposes;
• theft unless the cycle is:
– in your immediate custody and control;
– securely locked to an object that
cannot be moved;
– in a locked building;
• any pedal cycle with a motor;
• anything set out in the GENERAL
EXCLUSIONS section of this policy
booklet.
35

General exclusions are just the usual terrorist explosion and volcano type things. It looks pretty sound to me and I can't see any obvious let outs!

Thanks mate, Really helpful. From reading this I gather that they will cover damage to the bike in case of an accident, is that right?

Bike will be stored in a single garage next to a detached house so it should be ok, hopefully.

hugo15

socrates wrote:

I have my house, house contents and bike insured with More Than. House for £400,000, contents £70,000. The bike, a Cannondale Evo is insured for up to £5,000 away from the garage anywhere in the world - theft and accidental damage on a new for old basis. In the garage the maximum they would cover is £1,500 but my thinking was that the chances of anything happening at the house was not as likely more chance of something amiss on a club run etc. Cost for the year £242. Not bad considering the prices quoted by other companies for bike alone were higher than this and some were not even prepared to quote.

I'm with More Than too. My reading of the policy docs was that the garage limit did not apply to items that you declare in the policy. The bit below is copied from the "what's not covered" section of their policy guidelines".

Any amount exceeding £2,000 for contents in any garage or outbuilding (this does not apply to any item declared on your schedule).

bigaac

simonhead wrote:

The Churchill policy has been the best I have found so far, 60 days cover outside the UK as well which isnt bad and its reasonably priced. Wont cover me for crash but BC membership does I believe.

I know this is an old post but i currently find myself in a similar position (trying to find home insurance to cover £2,700 bike).

The Churchill policy states it will not pay for:

more than £2,000 for any one theft claim for items which
are in the garages or outbuildings belonging to your home

regardless of whether they are itemised!!!

The search continues......

Briggo

gabriel959 wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

I have Aviva insurance. This is the text from the policy document.

Pedal cycles
This cover only applies when shown on your
schedule.
We will provide cover for loss of or damage to
your pedal cycles anywhere in the world up to
the limit shown on your schedule.
What is not covered
Anything set out in the GENERAL
EXCLUSIONS section of this policy booklet.
We will not cover:
• loss or damage to tyres or accessories
unless the pedal cycle is stolen or
damaged at the same time;
• loss or damage while the pedal cycle is
being used for racing, pace making trials
or business purposes;
• theft unless the cycle is:
– in your immediate custody and control;
– securely locked to an object that
cannot be moved;
– in a locked building;
• any pedal cycle with a motor;
• anything set out in the GENERAL
EXCLUSIONS section of this policy
booklet.
35

General exclusions are just the usual terrorist explosion and volcano type things. It looks pretty sound to me and I can't see any obvious let outs!

Thanks mate, Really helpful. From reading this I gather that they will cover damage to the bike in case of an accident, is that right?

Bike will be stored in a single garage next to a detached house so it should be ok, hopefully.

Do not presume anything with insurance.

Aviva won't cover your bike at all even if its securely locked with a gold rated lock to a bike rack which is locked to the car roof rails as I found out the other day when I emailed to check.

The wording is very vague and its the detail you need to know so check with any insurer for specifics.

bigaac

hugo15 wrote:

socrates wrote:

I have my house, house contents and bike insured with More Than. House for £400,000, contents £70,000. The bike, a Cannondale Evo is insured for up to £5,000 away from the garage anywhere in the world - theft and accidental damage on a new for old basis. In the garage the maximum they would cover is £1,500 but my thinking was that the chances of anything happening at the house was not as likely more chance of something amiss on a club run etc. Cost for the year £242. Not bad considering the prices quoted by other companies for bike alone were higher than this and some were not even prepared to quote.

I'm with More Than too. My reading of the policy docs was that the garage limit did not apply to items that you declare in the policy. The bit below is copied from the "what's not covered" section of their policy guidelines".

Any amount exceeding £2,000 for contents in any garage or outbuilding (this does not apply to any item declared on your schedule).

Hugo15 - you are right. just signed up with More Than myself and they confirmed that specified items are covered to the full amount anywhere provided they are locked to something.

Having spend most of the week looking around, More Than were by far the most comprehensive with bike cover.

gbr236

Thanks
This is really helpful
So its goodbye to MandS

gabriel959

Briggo wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

I have Aviva insurance. This is the text from the policy document.

Pedal cycles
This cover only applies when shown on your
schedule.
We will provide cover for loss of or damage to
your pedal cycles anywhere in the world up to
the limit shown on your schedule.
What is not covered
Anything set out in the GENERAL
EXCLUSIONS section of this policy booklet.
We will not cover:
• loss or damage to tyres or accessories
unless the pedal cycle is stolen or
damaged at the same time;
• loss or damage while the pedal cycle is
being used for racing, pace making trials
or business purposes;
• theft unless the cycle is:
– in your immediate custody and control;
– securely locked to an object that
cannot be moved;
– in a locked building;
• any pedal cycle with a motor;
• anything set out in the GENERAL
EXCLUSIONS section of this policy
booklet.
35

General exclusions are just the usual terrorist explosion and volcano type things. It looks pretty sound to me and I can't see any obvious let outs!

Thanks mate, Really helpful. From reading this I gather that they will cover damage to the bike in case of an accident, is that right?

Bike will be stored in a single garage next to a detached house so it should be ok, hopefully.

Do not presume anything with insurance.

Aviva won't cover your bike at all even if its securely locked with a gold rated lock to a bike rack which is locked to the car roof rails as I found out the other day when I emailed to check.

The wording is very vague and its the detail you need to know so check with any insurer for specifics.

I did not presume anything. I went through all the scenarios on the phone that I am likely to experience and everything was covered. I am not surprised they don't cover anything to car roof rails, I wouldn't have thought any insurers do that.

From my extensive chats on the phone to most insurers the ones that covered the most scenarios from my list of possible ones were Marks and Spencer, Hiscox and Aviva in terms of accidents, damage whilst in transit, etc.

rolf_f

Briggo wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

• theft unless the cycle is:
– in your immediate custody and control;
– securely locked to an object that
cannot be moved;
– in a locked building;
• any pedal cycle with a motor;
• anything set out in the GENERAL
EXCLUSIONS section of this policy
booklet.
35

Do not presume anything with insurance.

Aviva won't cover your bike at all even if its securely locked with a gold rated lock to a bike rack which is locked to the car roof rails as I found out the other day when I emailed to check.

The wording is very vague and its the detail you need to know so check with any insurer for specifics.

Not sure it is really that vague. The bike rack is clearly an exclusion in the above - on the basis that the bike would not be securely locked to an object that cannot be moved so I would assume it isn't covered unless they confirmed otherwise. I would be concerned though that the bike looks like it wouldn't be covered whilst within an unattended car, even if not visible outside though maybe the car insurance covers that.

blinddrew

I used to work for Aviva and I'm sorry to say that, for decent bikes, I'd be careful with them. Friend of mine, member of staff there, had a friggin' nightmare trying to make his claim. If you've got a number of nice bikes be really sure you check what the maximums and exclusions are in the policy as well.

gabriel959

It says that they only cover bikes up to £2500 so if his bike was above that it wouldn't surprise me if he had a nightmare :O

arran77

I'm looking into this at the moment to see that we are adequately covered, from what I've read up on, John Lewis seem to cover a bike up to the value of £5000 if you go for the Premier Cover, haven't fully looked into the costs yet.

rolf_f

gabriel959 wrote:

It says that they only cover bikes up to £2500 so if his bike was above that it wouldn't surprise me if he had a nightmare :O

I work on the principal that, theft aside, most claims aren't going to result in a total loss - £2.5k might not cover the whole bike but it probably wouldn't need to.

Mind you, John Lewis tend to be good so if they have a good policy I'd be interested to see what people find the quotes like.

arran77

Rolf F wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

It says that they only cover bikes up to £2500 so if his bike was above that it wouldn't surprise me if he had a nightmare :O

I work on the principal that, theft aside, most claims aren't going to result in a total loss - £2.5k might not cover the whole bike but it probably wouldn't need to.

Mind you, John Lewis tend to be good so if they have a good policy I'd be interested to see what people find the quotes like.

Just spoke to JL and on their Premier Cover I specified a bike valued at £2,300 and another at £1,800 and combined with up to £20,000 general contents plus £5,500 for higher value items such as paintings and jewlllery the cover will be a little over £33 a month for building and contents.

Our two other bikes are each worth less than the £1,000 limit for any individual bike that the cover insures anyway so all seems pretty good.

I checked about bikes being ok stored in a garage and they said as long as you lock it in some way you are covered, they do not specify that it has to be a particular type of lock.

All seems ok to me and JL are generally pretty good so I think I'll go for that