E and L insurance any good?

KonaKula09
KonaKula09 Posts: 23
edited July 2010 in MTB general
Hi,

I have just bought a new bike and really want to get it insured.
I want to insure 2 seperate bikes each for £1000.

Ive been looking at a few different insurance companies and I noticed E and L was quite a lot cheaper than everywhere, they offer 10% discount online and another 10% for insuring 2 bikes.
It worked out at about £110 a year compared to £150-160 from other companies.
Ive been trying to find out about them and read some bad things about them not paying out and having poor customer service etc. Some of this was related to their pet insurance.

Can anyone recommend them or anyone else?
Im not planning on locking this bike up anywhere (ive got a cheap battered bike for that) so ideally I would get a policy that just covers the bike being stolen directly off me or from my house. Any ideas if anyone offers such a policy?!

Thanks for any help

Comments

  • Mr Wu
    Mr Wu Posts: 1,238
    Check your home insurance, most policies cover you if you specifically name your bikes on them, home and away. Saves you taking on a seperate policy.

    Check the small print too as most require that you use a Sold Secure Gold standard lock AND have proof that you brought it/used it etc.
  • Andy B
    Andy B Posts: 8,115
    I have had the misfortune to use E&L for bike insurance.

    I had 4 bikes, one was stolen from inside my locked alarmed property.

    I claimed on the house insurance as the particular bike was not insured with E&L

    I got a replacement bike from the house insurance & decided to get all my bikes insured with one insurer (E&L)

    I rang E&L & explained the situation, and as part of the application process I had to declare any thefts, so I did (stupidly)

    E&L's response was that will will not insure any cycles at my property as it is a high risk

    WTF!!! My house has approved locks & a regularly serviced alarm, how the frick can that be high risk!!!

    If that was too long to read....


    ... AVOID E&L, THEY SUCK DONKEY BALLS!
    2385861000_d125abe796_m.jpg
  • nickfrog
    nickfrog Posts: 610
    £110 seems an incredibly high amount in relation to the value of the bikes, bit of a rip off.
    Surely it's better value to include them on you contents insurance...
  • Briggo
    Briggo Posts: 3,537
    Andy B wrote:
    WTF!!! My house has approved locks & a regularly serviced alarm, how the frick can that be high risk!!!

    If that was too long to read....

    Of course you're high risk, you've been broken into, those approved locks and alarm did sh*t all didn't they.

    As the lil c*nts know you have that sort of bike, you're likely to get a replacement and may target you again.

    Sad to say but once a house is broken into the chances of it happening again is very high according to national stats iirc, hence why insurers cringe when you mention theft from house.
  • KonaKula09
    KonaKula09 Posts: 23
    PostPosted: Mon Jul 5, 2010 5:07 pm Post subject:
    £110 seems an incredibly high amount in relation to the value of the bikes, bit of a rip off.
    Surely it's better value to include them on you contents insurance...

    Thats for both bikes per year, or is that still bad value for money!? Cheaper than other quotes ive looked at.

    Check your home insurance, most policies cover you if you specifically name your bikes on them, home and away. Saves you taking on a seperate policy.

    I'll look into that, is it usually cheaper to do that than a separate bike insurance, can you give a rough example? I don't have contents insurance at the moment, living at a new address and need to get it sorted. Might be able to put it on my dads home insurance back home....

    Thanks for the help guys.....I think i'll avoid E and L
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    I would never ever recommend Equine and Livestock they have not treated the farming community very well.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • sparrowlegs78
    sparrowlegs78 Posts: 2,583
    E and L, whatever name they call themselves are robbing swines !
    I had a hre insure with them and I had to claim for vets bills, and they said I wasn't covered because I got the vet out withouth their permission ! FFS I had to get the vet as it was an emerency, the horse was going to die....as if anyoe would hink "hang on I'll just ring the insurance and ask if the vet can come and save my horses life"
    I left them pretty sharp and will damn them to hell to save anyone else paying money to the gits!!!!
    Caz xx
  • ianrams
    ianrams Posts: 51
    I used E&L for photographic equipment and there customer services were shocking. They failed to deliver lists of equipment on 12 different times over 3 years, failed to respond to questions/queries so I would have hated to have claimed.

    Best avoided.
    Specialized Rockhopper Expert Disc 2009
  • andreaslc
    andreaslc Posts: 20
    I did a bit of a comparison of bicycle insurance companies a little while back. Found that ETA were good and pretty popular. Also they were the ones that picked up the phone first compared to all the other insurers, which is always a good sign. I remember I was on the phone to another company on their sales line for 10 minutes before someone picked up (thats for a new customer!)
    Find me on: http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/
    I'm also the founder of the Bike Doctor iPhone/Android app
  • cavegiant
    cavegiant Posts: 1,546
    I used to be an insurance broker, and am trained in insurance law, so when I look for insurance I do it properly.

    First things first, LOL at Andy B.



    They are OK, you get what you pay for.
    When you insure with them make you are VERY specific about what you need cover for, and ask if it is covered. Don't ever lie to an insurer, especially in an application process. They love it when you do as they take the premium but don't have to pay claims =-)

    As long as you know what you are getting into you are fine, they are dicks, they will piss you arround, but you will save a LOT of money.

    Once you have made a claim with them, they will no longer insure you and refund any remaining premium back.


    If they would let me I would use again.


    They provide cover for accidental damage, household does not, you pay a premium for this.



    On a side note, NEVER insure your livestock with them, your bike is not going to die waiting for approval for a repair, your horse might ;-)


    Insurance companies are evil, expect it.
    Why would I care about 150g of bike weight, I just ate 400g of cookies while reading this?