Bike insurance or house insurance including bikes

hegyestomi

Hi all
wondering what insurance you are using: I need to insure my bike against theft and maybe crash.
I heard that there are home insurances that would cover bikes inside and while away/on the bike.
Any recommendations? What's to look out for? I don't want to pay and realise when something happens that they won't cover because of etc.etc
Thanks

bails87

Morethan cover my bikes as part of my home contents policy.

Accidental damage and theft in and away from home are all covered. Much cheaper than a specific bike policy.

Plenty of other insurers will cover them too.

vitesse169

Got my buildings/contents insurance thru Admiral with the 2 expensive bikes 'named' on the policy; the other bikes are much less than £500 each; and still the policy cost was less than half the renewal cost with roland smith insurers...!

rubertoe

I like bails have mine through more than and bikes are covered both in and out of the house (I only have contents insurance as i live in a leasehold flat).

hegyestomi

What do you do when asking for previous claims? I was asked if I had claimed (I didn't) or had an "accident" but not claimed (which I had) but then my no claim status becomes invalid?!?
I suppose they didn't think the forms through on the website but it can mean that if anything happen they come back and say "you didn't declare this on your application" so invalid claim.
How much do you pay: I got a variety of offers from £200 up to £500.

bails87

"Have you had any accidents" preusmably includes "have you ever dropped a glass, spilt a drink or had a puncture on your bike?". They're all accidental damage and all things that you could theoretically claim for (even if the damage would be less than your excess).

So while the obvious answer is yes, I'd be tempted to say no. Unless I'd claimed from an insurance co, in which case I'd say yes.

arran77

Lots of advice here.....

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=12933441

and a little here......

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40010&t=12938975

I just changed to John Lewis Home Insurance, £34.30 a month specifying a bike valued at £2,300 and another at £1,800, their premier cover then also covers me for the other bikes that are worth less than £1,000 each (upto a maximum of £5,000), they said the bikes were ok in a garage or outbuilding and they didn't insist on a certain type of lock, just that the bikes were locked in some way.

Seemed ok to me as lots of insurers seem to limit the value of an individual bike to £1,000 or £1,500.

hegyestomi

bails87 wrote:

"Have you had any accidents" preusmably includes "have you ever dropped a glass, spilt a drink or had a puncture on your bike?". They're all accidental damage and all things that you could theoretically claim for (even if the damage would be less than your excess).

So while the obvious answer is yes, I'd be tempted to say no. Unless I'd claimed from an insurance co, in which case I'd say yes.

From Churchill:
Claims or losses
You must tell us about any claims or losses you, and any adult living with you has suffered in the last 3 years – whether insured or not.
It is important that you are accurate with your answer as this information may affect the premium and cover offered.

Now I didn't claimed but got burgled (which must increase the premium).If I say no claim they might come back saying you didn't tell us so goodbye. If I say I claimed (=loss in their dictionary) then it will push up premium.

Arran:
Do you actually have to lock it onto something or it's enough if you just lock the wheel to the frame? I probably going to keep mine inside and don't mind locking it but haven't got enough space to lock it to something.
Also I'll try to insure it around £3000 as if anything happens I still need to pay my part of £250 (with morethan or churchill, can't remember).

arran77

hegyestomi wrote:

bails87 wrote:

"Have you had any accidents" preusmably includes "have you ever dropped a glass, spilt a drink or had a puncture on your bike?". They're all accidental damage and all things that you could theoretically claim for (even if the damage would be less than your excess).

So while the obvious answer is yes, I'd be tempted to say no. Unless I'd claimed from an insurance co, in which case I'd say yes.

From Churchill:
Claims or losses
You must tell us about any claims or losses you, and any adult living with you has suffered in the last 3 years – whether insured or not.
It is important that you are accurate with your answer as this information may affect the premium and cover offered.

Now I didn't claimed but got burgled (which must increase the premium).If I say no claim they might come back saying you didn't tell us so goodbye. If I say I claimed (=loss in their dictionary) then it will push up premium.

Arran:
Do you actually have to lock it onto something or it's enough if you just lock the wheel to the frame? I probably going to keep mine inside and don't mind locking it but haven't got enough space to lock it to something.
Also I'll try to insure it around £3000 as if anything happens I still need to pay my part of £250 (with morethan or churchill, can't remember).

They just said that the bike had to be locked, they didn't specify any more than that although we do have a ground anchor type thing concreted into the floor that we run a cable thing through that then goes through all the frames / wheels, might be worth just giving them a call, they were very helpful.

As for value, you just tell them the make / model and what it's worth so a £3,000 bike should be ok, we set the excess at just £100 on our policy.

redhanded

AFAIK if the bike is outside needs to be locked to something to be covered by house insurance. A friend had a bike nicked from his back garden when someone climbed over the fence and was told it wasn't covered as it wasn't locked to anything. The same person (who is very unlucky... ) also had a bike nicked from inside the house when someone got in during some building work, and this was covered by insurance.

arran77

redhanded wrote:

AFAIK if the bike is outside needs to be locked to something to be covered by house insurance. A friend had a bike nicked from his back garden when someone climbed over the fence and was told it wasn't covered as it wasn't locked to anything. The same person (who is very unlucky... ) also had a bike nicked from inside the house when someone got in during some building work, and this was covered by insurance.

I can tell you when we get the full policy through but ours are locked to a ground anchor anyway so I'll be covered whatever it says.