Insuring bikes - what value to use?

jimothy78

Right, impending home insurance renewal has got me thinking about this again.

When applying for insurance (or looking at comparison sites, etc) you're asked to give a value for the bike, but I'm not sure how to go about it. I've gone through the bike one component at a time (none of which bear any resemblance to the original spec on the frame in question, and most of which were bought secondhand), taking photos of every part and drawing up a spreadsheet. But when estimating values, I'm a bit stuck. Do I:

a) use the last-recorded RRP of each component (which comes up with a figure of about £1700).
b) use more realistic replacement values for new parts (substituting parts of equivalent quality where the parts i have are no longer available), but taking into account today's actual retail prices (which would probably work out at about £1200)
c) Use approximate secondhand values that i could reasonably expect to pay to replace like for like, old for old (probably around £800-900)
d) use the values that i actually paid for items (nearer to £500, but I'd be seriously lucky to get the same spec again at this price due to several genuine never-to-be-repeated bargain buys)

My gut instinct is to go high, so I'm not under-selling it and potentially reducing any future payout.
However, i'm sure that no insurer would actually agree that my bike was worth the top figure, and i don't want to artificially inflate my premium, only to find that the payout doesn't come anywhere near the value I've been paying to insure.

Hope that all makes sense - how would you proceed?

njee20

Get a valuation from a bike shop, who may charge accordingly.

.blitz

Usually looking at what it would cost to replace your bike with an equivalent, not necessarily an exact replica of what you have. Maybe the next model up in the range depending on what you've changed, minus betterment of course (wear and tear)

njee20

Simplest thing to do would be to ask the insurance company, but a lot will want some sort of valuation, either through receipts, or a proper valuation certificate.

It's not your job to factor in wear and tear, if you have a new for old policy it's irrelevant, if you don't then they'll do it.

Briggo

Ask your insurance company, how would we know how they handle claims.

jimothy78

Briggo wrote:

Ask your insurance company, how would we know how they handle claims.

I'm not asking about one particular insurance company, and I'm not asking about how anyone handles claims.
I'm asking what method insurance companies en masse intend us to use to put a value on something that is an accumulation of lots of parts (instead of a simple off-the-shelf product) before a policy is even taken out.

Liam1611

Your bike may already be covered under general contents insurance, against loss and the Insurance company should pay out to the value of the bike, you will need to inform your Insurance company of the perceived value of your Bike and they will include it as a single high value item. Most companies employ a specialist team who will evaluate the bikes value if the worst does happen and you may not need to take out extra cover. Although the bike is only insured if it taken from your home and if it is secured within the house itself or an outbuilding. You can also add extra cover for when you are out and about with the bike, but most Insurance companies will only pay out up to £1000 even with the extra cover.

http://faqs.churchill.com/help/home/opt ... s/bicycles

http://www.directline.com/home-insuranc ... ycle-cover

http://www.confused.com/home-insurance/ ... ome-policy

Check your policy and if they don't offer free cover then swap to one that does. Take lots of pictures of every component and if it ever does go missing you have proof of ownership and the parts that were on the bike at the time. It doesn't matter how much the components cost to build the bike, but the overall value, as the Insurers will replace it like for like. If it's custom built they will find a bike with a similar spec and either offer you that as a replacement or pay you out.

Kind Regards

Liam

njee20

^^ he's along the right sort of lines, but really the specifics vary by company.

If you've got high value bikes then Direct Line select come out favourably. Nationwide, John Lewis and NFU are meant to be good as well. Axa may well be worth a look too, they underwrite M&S, who used to have excellent terms, but have recently changed them.

At the end of the day there is no "en masse" methodology for valuing high end bikes and it really will vary by company. Check for limits on outbuilding cover and stipulations on lock requirements etc.

Briggo

jimothy78 wrote:

Briggo wrote:

Ask your insurance company, how would we know how they handle claims.

I'm not asking about one particular insurance company, and I'm not asking about how anyone handles claims.
I'm asking what method insurance companies en masse intend us to use to put a value on something that is an accumulation of lots of parts (instead of a simple off-the-shelf product) before a policy is even taken out.

There is no en masse calculation, it really is about individual companies and the way they work.

Claiming is what it comes down to, thats what you want to ask - in the event of a claim how do you work out X Y and Z. You'll find sometimes what happens at the point of sale and what happens when a claim occurs can be two different things, it shouldn't be but it can happen so to save yourself the agro if complaining etc understand the companies claims processes.