Bike Theft Insurance

whittie19

Hi All

I have 2 bikes (valued at around £9,000 together) but am really struggling to find a viable insurance to cover my bikes. My home contents will not cover bikes over £2000 and the additional cost is £700 per year to specify them on the insurance.

Just wondering what others are doing and if you can point me in the direction of some good and reasonable insurers.

Thanks

Anonymous

Use M&S. They were originally £4000 per bike but have now gone down to £2k for existing and £1k for new customers.

My excess premium seems a lot less than yours but you would be a new customer if you switched.
Their cover generally seems really good which is the main reason we are with them.

If you get specific insurance I thought it was about 10% of the bikes value per year.

The best thing may be to lock your bikes up very well and put the premium in the bank in case the worse happens.
Risky in year one but by year five you feel a lot more comfortable, and year ten you buy a new bike ;-)

marcusjb

Carbonator wrote:

The best thing may be to lock your bikes up very well and put the premium in the bank.

Quite probably.

Spend what it takes with someone like this http://securityforbikes.com/ and then stick the premium in the bank each year.

Speckled

Home protect is worth looking at for home contents insurance.

Think mine cost £20 a year extra to name my bike with a value of £2500 and it includes away from home theft/damage.
Not sure what the maximum value is, worth asking

Anonymous

marcusjb wrote:

Carbonator wrote:

The best thing may be to lock your bikes up very well and put the premium in the bank.

Quite probably.

Spend what it takes with someone like this http://securityforbikes.com/ and then stick the premium in the bank each year.

Or even better...........buy premium bonds ;-)

marcusjb

True these days. Mine have done okay for the past few years (no big prizes, but a few £100 prizes and quite a lot of £25 prizes), and you get that little bit of gambling rush when you check whether they've won this month!

Iamnot Wiggins

The best thing to do is to PM me and we can chat. Helped a few members on here previously and more than happy to assist if required.

Mods, as we seem to have a regular repeat of insurance based threads cropping up, could we perhaps make sticky thread for this? I am more than happy to assist BR members in sourcing insurance for their bikes but am aware that posting my work contact details up and offering business services is somewhat frowned upon!

Anonymous

marcusjb wrote:

True these days. Mine have done okay for the past few years (no big prizes, but a few £100 prizes and quite a lot of £25 prizes), and you get that little bit of gambling rush when you check whether they've won this month!

We have had loads recently. Three in one day once!
Cheque comes in the post and you recognise the envelope so know its a win.

It was a lot of fun opening them even if they were all just £25 and not big wins.
One was a grand a few weeks earlier though :P
Agent Millionaire could always knock on the door too

You have to be in it to win it

Anonymous

You only need insurance for things you cannot afford to replace/pay for.

I think the reality is that if you have a £600 phone or expensive bike then you could probably have made plans to avoid paying high premiums and be able to keep the money yourself.

casatikid

If possible then keep them indoors.Its got to be the safest option.
I have three bikes,two are in the garage which is as secure as can be and the best bike stays nice and warm in a spare bedroom and never leaves my sight when out riding sportives etc.
I have an understanding wife but even she draws the line at all three being indoors.

Mikey23

Same here, best bike in spare bedroom, other two in the garage. Not worth extra marital disharmony!

Scotter

I keep all my bikes (2 road and 2 MTBs) plus the kids MTBs in my (attached) garage.

They are all chained to wall-mounted security brackets with high security chains.
There are two PIR motion detection alarms (one is a battery backed up model) in there.
I also have a big dog! 8)

The things you need to do to keep thieving scum at bay. :evil:

Grill

Carbonator wrote:

You only need insurance for things you cannot afford to replace/pay for.

I think the reality is that if you have a £600 phone or expensive bike then you could probably have made plans to avoid paying high premiums and be able to keep the money yourself.

Looks like you've missed the entire point of insurance... :roll:

Iamnot Wiggins wrote:

The best thing to do is to PM me and we can chat. Helped a few members on here previously and more than happy to assist if required.

Mods, as we seem to have a regular repeat of insurance based threads cropping up, could we perhaps make sticky thread for this? I am more than happy to assist BR members in sourcing insurance for their bikes but am aware that posting my work contact details up and offering business services is somewhat frowned upon!

This. Iamnot Wiggins put together a policy that saved me a lot of money for a ridiculous amount of bike coverage.

ic.

Buy a couple of geese. Far better than a dog.

But if you are looking for an insurance just for bikes, I've been more than satisfied with my BC bike insurance. Premiums not too bad and they've paid out for both of my thefts without increasing premiums.

Pickled Pig

Carbonator wrote:

You only need insurance for things you cannot afford to replace/pay for.

I think the reality is that if you have a £600 phone or expensive bike then you could probably have made plans to avoid paying high premiums and be able to keep the money yourself.

+1
the point of insurance is to cover things like a house, which if lost you could not replace, so the risk is spread across a number of people.
It is NOT an efficient way to absolve yourself of any personal responsibility. If you can afford to replace then self-insure. No admin costs and you have an incentive to lower risk and no hassle getting a payout when some absurd clause in 6 pt font suddenly rears up.

Where do insurance companies profits come from?

slowbike

Grill wrote:

Iamnot Wiggins wrote:

The best thing to do is to PM me and we can chat. Helped a few members on here previously and more than happy to assist if required.

Mods, as we seem to have a regular repeat of insurance based threads cropping up, could we perhaps make sticky thread for this? I am more than happy to assist BR members in sourcing insurance for their bikes but am aware that posting my work contact details up and offering business services is somewhat frowned upon!

This. Iamnot Wiggins put together a policy that saved me a lot of money for a ridiculous amount of bike coverage.

Indeed - he sorted me a quote earlier this year - whilst I wasn't in a position to take him up on it, I hope he'll be in a position to do so again later this year ...

Grill

Pickled Pig wrote:

Carbonator wrote:

You only need insurance for things you cannot afford to replace/pay for.

I think the reality is that if you have a £600 phone or expensive bike then you could probably have made plans to avoid paying high premiums and be able to keep the money yourself.

+1
the point of insurance is to cover things like a house, which if lost you could not replace, so the risk is spread across a number of people.
It is NOT an efficient way to absolve yourself of any personal responsibility. If you can afford to replace then self-insure. No admin costs and you have an incentive to lower risk and no hassle getting a payout when some absurd clause in 6 pt font suddenly rears up.

Where do insurance companies profits come from?

Sometimes sh!t happens. That's what happened to my Foil, it was completely out of my hands as it was done in transit by the Department of Homeland Security. Could I have afforded to replace it myself? Sure, but I would have been out £2000 for something that I had no control over. Insurance isn't about minimising risk, it's about having a safety net for the inevitable. I don't care how much money you have, it never feels good to have to come out of pocket more than is necessary.

Anonymous

Grill wrote:

Carbonator wrote:

You only need insurance for things you cannot afford to replace/pay for.

I think the reality is that if you have a £600 phone or expensive bike then you could probably have made plans to avoid paying high premiums and be able to keep the money yourself.

Looks like you've missed the entire point of insurance... :roll:

Sounds like you sell it rather than need it lol.

I have not insured a phone for decades so if I went out and bought an iPhone 5s tomorrow I would not really need to insure it because I have saved up more than its replacement cost in all the years I have not bought phone insurance.

You can do the same thing with a bike.

If you have house insurance and its a minimal cost for the peace of mind then fine, but otherwise self insuring is better IMO.

If you start young you can be free of many insurance premiums for life and spend the money on yourself.

Grill

Carbonator wrote:

Grill wrote:

Carbonator wrote:

You only need insurance for things you cannot afford to replace/pay for.

I think the reality is that if you have a £600 phone or expensive bike then you could probably have made plans to avoid paying high premiums and be able to keep the money yourself.

Looks like you've missed the entire point of insurance... :roll:

Sounds like you sell it rather than need it lol.

I have not insured a phone for decades so if I went out and bought an iPhone 5s tomorrow I would not really need to insure it because I have saved up more than its replacement cost in all the years I have not bought phone insurance.

You can do the same thing with a bike.

If you have house insurance and its a minimal cost for the peace of mind then fine, but otherwise self insuring is better IMO.

If you start young you can be free of many insurance premiums for life and spend the money on yourself.

This is best case scenario. Best case scenario has never happened to me. If something were to happen my Plasma or Wyndy I would be out an absolutely stupid amount of money. Paying the replacement yourself is simply robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Would you rather pay £10k to replace a bike because you wanted to save a negligible amount each year, or pay said negligible amount and put that £10k to use elsewhere? You wouldn't self-insure your car, why do it for your bike(s)?

Anonymous

I think you have to have a crack at best case scenario and see how it goes.
If it works out you are laughing.

I would not self insure a car because I could not afford to.

If you can self insure then its way better. If you do not then you are caught in the trap of always having to pay to insure things.

I do not self insure my bike/s because I have only just had to pay an additional premium this year and its not too much.
I only mentioned it to the op because his insurer wanted pretty much 10% of the value in the premium.

Grill

Carbonator wrote:

I think you have to have a crack at best case scenario and see how it goes.
If it works out you are laughing.

I would not self insure a car because I could not afford to.

If you can self insure then its way better. If you do not then you are caught in the trap of always having to pay to insure things.

And if it doesn't I feel like an absolute tit because I could have easily protected myself. I paid £1000 for my car almost 3 years ago. My bikes are substantially more. We all have our priorities...

Anonymous

Self insuring only works if you accrue the replacement value in saved premiums before having the expensive item, so it is difficult with bikes.

Bikes are between a mobile phone and a car. I have done it with mobile phones (and T.V.'s and washing machines, and computers, and........) but I could not afford to do with a car.

I guess I have saved enough on the premiums of the things I have done it on to replace my bike/s, but I still prefer to pay a small additional premium to my house insurance for the peace of mind.
If it went up to anywhere near 10% of the new replacement cost................I would self insure them too.

Scotter

I`ve always wondered if there are any insurance companies that will check out your personal circumstances and give a custom quote based on your own specific risk, rather than just give a generic quote based on everyone elses.

I am a much much lower risk to cover than someone who keeps a couple of £2-3000 bikes in a poorly secured garden shed.
And yes, I do know people that do this!!!! :shock:

Anonymous

What do people think is a good percentage to pay (assuming all cover is equal)?

I think mine is about 2-3% of the bikes new cost since they massively reduced the bike allowance on my home insurance last year.

Grill

I'm paying just under 4% of RRP for all my bikes. This includes full worldwide travel as well as race cover. Oh and also my home contents insurance. :P

Anonymous

That is a good deal ;-)

Grill

I'm not kidding when I said IamnotWiggins sorted me out!

My BC renewal quote was more expensive than I pay now with less than half the coverage (on only 2 bikes) and no travel (or home contents obviously) cover.

oldhairylegs

Grill wrote:

I'm paying just under 4% of RRP for all my bikes. This includes full worldwide travel as well as race cover. Oh and also my home contents insurance. :P

Grill - when you say including race cover, does this cover all types of racing - specifically, bunch racing?
Or do your insurers not differentiate TT and bunch racing and just cover it all regardless?

Grill

oldhairylegs wrote:

Grill wrote:

I'm paying just under 4% of RRP for all my bikes. This includes full worldwide travel as well as race cover. Oh and also my home contents insurance. :P

Grill - when you say including race cover, does this cover all types of racing - specifically, bunch racing?
Or do your insurers not differentiate TT and bunch racing and just cover it all regardless?

All types as long as I am not a paid pro.

oldhairylegs

Grill wrote:

All types as long as I am not a paid pro.

Well that is an absolute bargain.
The guys I know who have race insurance are paying around 10% of the bike value!

Grill

oldhairylegs wrote:

Grill wrote:

All types as long as I am not a paid pro.

Well that is an absolute bargain.
The guys I know who have race insurance are paying around 10% of the bike value!

That's close to what BC were charging me.