Bike Theft Insurance Home Only

[MacB]

It's that time of the year again and just received my renewal notices and, lo and behold, there are some policy changes which bugger up my previously cheap cover....this is via Halifax/Aviva.

I've had a play with a few and M&S, despite it's changes, is coming out best...but it's still £600+ per year for the bikes. Put another way adding in the bikes trebles our insurance costs for the year. It's even comparable with what Jane and I pay for car insurance for the two cars.

The real problem is that I don't want a lot of what you're paying for, in particular the theft when away from home. For this last year I had managed to get the bikes covered as high value contents on the house. They are kept in the garage which is an integral part of the house with rooms behind it. The garage itself has deadlocks and ground anchors etc. You can't open the garage from the outside and have to go in via the house to open it. Strangely they would all be covered no problem if I wheeled them through the door from the garage into the utility room, or beyond.

I don't want all the bells and whistles, accidental cover, travel cover...I just want them covered in event of a burglary. But that doesn't seem to exist as an option for the online quotes and speaking to a sales bod doesn't really get me anywhere....in a 'computer says no' type of way.

Has anyone been through this dance recently and how was it resolved?

 

[mossj88]

Would it be cheaper to go for home insurance without bike cover, then find a specialist bicycle insurer like ETA?

 

[srw]

As always you get what you pay for - and for some reason people think that home insurance should still cost them what it did 25 years ago. Find a High Net Worth specialist. Not cheap, but good value and you're more likely to be able to tailor your cover and speak to a person with authority rather than someone in a call centre. The particular insurer I use (with a staff discount) has a 96%+ rating from claimants.

(Or get out on your bikes - then you'll think theft cover away from home is worth it...)

 

[BikeLiker]

The bottom line with insurance is you pay for the cost of covering the GREATEST risk PLUS extra to cover administration and profits. As you say, you also pay for elements of cover you don't require. The greatest risk is that posed by people who only implement the minimum required precautions against loss - anything extra you do doesn't help because it is not cost effective for insurance companies to assess risk on an individual basis. If you can afford to cover the risk yourself, i.e. buy new bikes if they are stolen, then don't insure. This also incentivises you to minimise risks, making loss less likely. If you can't meet the cost of loss then you have to face up to paying the extra.

 

[PK99]

I

I don't want all the bells and whistles, accidental cover, travel cover...I just want them covered in event of a burglary. But that doesn't seem to exist as an option for the online quotes and speaking to a sales bod doesn't really get me anywhere....in a 'computer says no' type of way.

Has anyone been through this dance recently and how was it resolved?

When my 4 bikes were stolen from the garage 50m away at the end of the garden, Norwich Union (it was a while ago) paid happily, Hiscox now cover the garage to £10k of contents

 

[MacB]

As always you get what you pay for - and for some reason people think that home insurance should still cost them what it did 25 years ago. Find a High Net Worth specialist. Not cheap, but good value and you're more likely to be able to tailor your cover and speak to a person with authority rather than someone in a call centre. The particular insurer I use (with a staff discount) has a 96%+ rating from claimants.

(Or get out on your bikes - then you'll think theft cover away from home is worth it...)

come on, did you read the OP? I have no beef with paying for my home buildings, contents and emergency cover. The point is very simple, if I wheeled all of the bikes into the dining room then they would be covered as part of my high value contents at no additional charge. They would also be fully visible via the patio doors and may even miff Jane a little as it would make dining tricky.

Just by having the label 'garage' my bike area is automatically falling under the general description of outbuilding, when it is anything but. I don't claim it's super secure but it would be easier and quieter to get into the house.

As for cover away from home being worth it, well I will never lock a high value bike up in public and I use a folder for going to the shops. It comes in with me, if the shop doesn't like it then I don't go in the shop.

I will ring around a few more and see what they have to say, I have no problem with paying for the service I want I just have a problem with paying for a service that doesn't match my needs.

 

[MacB]

Well I've just set up a new policy via Barclays Finer which gives me all the cover I require(plus the away from home I couldn't get shot of that) and comes in at about 30% less than the best of the other 9 quotes which was M&S.

Basically covering all of the garage contents, and all bikes away from home, is costing me another £240 per year....I can live with that. All the other quotes were effectively 3 times, or more, this value to make sure the bikes were covered properly.

 

[fossyant]

Try co-operative. I have contents that include bikes to £1k then have an extension policy that covers the two bikes over that. Costs less than £10 per month per policy x2, so £240 for year.

 

[billy1561]

Only just saw this thread sorry, but i reinsured with the AA this time. Can't remember exactly the details but it was at home only cover for a £2500 bike and 2 others under a £1000 which were inclusive. I can dig out the policy if it helps any Mac..

 

[MacB]

Ta guys but I've bought the Barclays one and I'm happy with what it offers, as I say it's costing me £240 per year for the extra cover I wanted which gives me:-

garage contents including bikes(which I've listed individually) to a total of £20k and the cover is for home or away(worldwide) with the only stipulation being that outside of the home I would have to use a Sold Secure gold rated lock.....like I'd ever be locking one of the nice bikes in public!!!