Insuring your bike

secretsam

Hey all

Need to insure my best bike as my home insurance policy doesn't cover bikes worth £1k+ without a mahoosive increase in the premium :evil:

Any recommendations on where to get good value insurance? Am a British Cycling member if that helps

secretsam

Anyone?

drlodge

Lots of threads on this subject. I concluded...don't bother. You'll pay so much in insurance premiums that you can replace your bikes within a 12 year period i.e. premiums are typically around 8% of the bike value.

Of course the value of insuring your bikes depends on the risk (probability of a claim and amount)

Dippydog2

Thinking laterally it is probably better to change your house insurance. Mine has a 10k single item limit. With Axa.

drlodge

My house [er, flat] insurance is with Direct Line and my bikes are fully covered while in the flat. That's with a £40 annual premium..all my expsneive hifi, bikes etc are all fully covered.

Outside of the flat my bike is under my bum, but more vulnerable at a coffee stop. I use a cheap lock to avoid casual theft but there are loads of other bikes to nick and I reckon its a risk I'll take.

Not sure what the situation would be if the bikes were in a shed...

hugo15

I'm with More Than. From memory I think the limit is £5k. There are quite a few insurers who will cover up to £2.5k per bike but a lot fewer willing to quote above £2.5k.

secretsam

hmmm...may need to consider an alternative insurer when we renew, as ours will only cover bikes up to £1k, above that it's named bikes only and the premium was something insane like 10% of the bike's value!!!! Think I'll take the DrLodge approach...

patrickf

I chose to invest the premiums in a proper bike shed instead. Insuring my good bike would cost more than insuring the car!

norvernrob

SecretSam wrote:

hmmm...may need to consider an alternative insurer when we renew, as ours will only cover bikes up to £1k, above that it's named bikes only and the premium was something insane like 10% of the bike's value!!!! Think I'll take the DrLodge approach...

Plenty will do more, you can get quotes on Moneysupermarket and put in the specific bike and value. (Then ring them to check the details before purchase). Hastings Direct quoted me under £200 for buildings, contents inc accidental damage plus £10k of bike cover which includes theft away from home and accidental damage. That's with 5 years NCD, obviously it will vary depending on area but to put it into perspective it's only around 20% a year more than I was paying before with the cheapest quote.

Specialist cycle companies were quoting me £400+.

drlodge

patrickf wrote:

I chose to invest the premiums in a proper bike shed instead. Insuring my good bike would cost more than insuring the car!

Certainly if my bikes were in a shed, I would be spending a lot of money on ground anchors, sturdy chains and strengthening the shed door etc too!

ScottieP

Dippydog2 wrote:

Thinking laterally it is probably better to change your house insurance. Mine has a 10k single item limit. With Axa.

I'm just looking into insurance as well and it looks like AXA is only up to £1000 per bike on their policy working not £10k - in fairness, I've not found any that say over £2,500 in reading their documentation this evening... Are you guys sure you're covered? It looks to me that bicycles are excluded from the £10k specific item limit.

Just checking...

jameses

Does anyone know of any other options besides home and contents or bike-specific cover? I'm currently renting and have little of value besides the bikes, but bike insurance is even more absurd than car insurance :evil:

Jimbeam3678

I used ETA cycle insurance it was 7-8%~ of the value of the bike, however it doesn't just cover theft. Covers you if you smash it up or smash a car up.

As I found out to my cost 8 weeks ago , one written off bike and 1.5K worth of damage to the car. Bar a couple of niggles insurance paid out for everything. Shame they they can't do anything about my broken leg

Dippydog2

ScottieP wrote:

Dippydog2 wrote:

Thinking laterally it is probably better to change your house insurance. Mine has a 10k single item limit. With Axa.

I'm just looking into insurance as well and it looks like AXA is only up to £1000 per bike on their policy working not £10k - in fairness, I've not found any that say over £2,500 in reading their documentation this evening... Are you guys sure you're covered? It looks to me that bicycles are excluded from the £10k specific item limit.

Just checking...

Silly me. My policy is with Royal Sun Alliance (the policy is called Prime Choice), not AXA.

£10,000 single item limit. Bikes covered everywhere.

bendertherobot

Aa insurance cover mine over 1.5k for free providing I specify them.

chippyk

We're with L&G, max £10k single item but £500 on bikes so pay about 25 a mth for cover for my Bianchi, Ridley, B'Twin and MTB. If the Bianchi and Ridley are kept in the hut, they need to have a certain standard lock and a ground anchor. The guy on the phone couldn't get his head around the fact that I wouldn't leave them outside the shop. Yeah but what if you go for a pint of milk? I'd walk. Yeah but....

bendertherobot

Right, so, AA, this is what they do.

1. Bikes under £1.5k automatically covered provided they are a) in a locked building or b) locked to a secure thing when outside.

2. Bikes over £1.5k same deal as above but have to be specified.

No extra premium.

StillGoing

Change your insurer. Both bikes are named on my house insurance and covered whilst in the house and out of it. The cover also extends to accidental damage and liability claims. Before realising they were covered under the house insurance, I looked at the various companies out there that do cycle insurance, and was amazed to find the premiums were bigger than when I was riding motorcycles. That is ridiculous and I wonder how they hell they do any business.

e999sam

I'm with AXA and I have up to £10'000 of cover on bikes.

Grill

Message member Iamnotwiggins. He got me a great deal covering £23k on bikes worldwide including transit and race cover. Was previously with BC insurance and his package made thirs look like extortion.