British Cycling Membership, is it worth the £35.10?

[Tom B]

You can get bicycle theft and Public Liability insurance for just £16.61


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For a bike worth £200

I just can't make bike insurance add up especially the theft aspect when.you consider the excesses.

My nothing special stable would cost £180 per annum. That's two thirds of my car insurance. I'll stick with cycle UK, house insurance (adding bikes away from home added about 28quid) and self insure the difference.

 

[iandg]

I have a certificate and badge for more than 25 years CTC mebership. I joined BC (ride membership) when we formed Hebridean CC and registered with Scottish Cycling (a requirement for officials to be members). I cancelled my CTC membership at about the same time as they became CUK.

I've just moved to Dumfries and started to ride with the local CUK group so have taken up my membership again - so I'm currently a member of both organisations.

Having moved to a more urban area I looked at cycle insurance - BC insurers quote £17/month and CUK insurers £24/month for the cover I want. Doesn't seem worth letting my BC membership lapse for that saving.

As a foot note. Used CTC legal services back in the 90s when I got hit by a West Midlands double decker bus. The £2000+ damages, associated legal aid etc. worth far more than what I've put in.

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

You can get bicycle theft and Public Liability insurance for just £16.61
https://www.lexhaminsurance.co.uk/products/cycle-insurance/

Given the recent publicity about a pedestrian being awarded £4000 for walking in front of a cyclist you can guarantee others will accidentally do the same.

I would be cautious going to a general broker for bike insurance as you need to read the policy documents and think about what they are saying.

I have just scanned the policy documents for the policy linked to above and saw this in the eligibility section,

Your cycle is owned by you and permanently kept at your address within the UK;

So Cycle To Work type schemes where you don't own the bike appear to be excluded.

When your policy will end
The benefits provided under your policy will cease on the earliest of the following:
a) The end date, as shown on your policy schedule;
b) The cycle is sold or transferred to a new owner;
c) The claim limit has been reached;

Change of circumstances
You must immediately advise the Administrator if any of the following circumstances change, at any point during the period of insurance:
You are no longer a permanent resident of the United Kingdom;
You change your address;
You change or dispose of your cycle;

So it is pretty clear to me that this policy is aimed at the person with one bike, whose value must have been correctly declared when they took the policy out.

It seems to be bike insurance with third party liability thrown in, so if you have multiple bikes and are riding one which was not one you declared or are riding on a borrowed bike then you are not going to be covered.

I would much rather have CUK/BC cover as they have a lot more to lose if they declare that you are not covered.

Bye

Ian

 

[Crankarm]

You can get bicycle theft and Public Liability insurance for just £16.61
https://www.lexhaminsurance.co.uk/products/cycle-insurance/

Given the recent publicity about a pedestrian being awarded £4000 for walking in front of a cyclist you can guarantee others will accidentally do the same.

This seems like a waste of money. You don't get any of the benefits joining a cycling organisation provides such as member discounts and you are NOT supporting cycling. You are just giving your cash to the insurance industry. I would also check the small print very closely as there will no doubt be clauses limiting liability i.e. getting out of paying up.

 

[Crankarm]

For a bike worth £200

I just can't make bike insurance add up especially the theft aspect when.you consider the excesses.

My nothing special stable would cost £180 per annum. That's two thirds of my car insurance. I'll stick with cycle UK, house insurance (adding bikes away from home added about 28quid) and self insure the difference.

It is more cost effective to have bicycles themselves insured on general house contents insurance. Specifically insuring against loss or bike theft is extremely expensive and prohibitive especially if you live in a dodgy area. Spend your money on very good security instead. The cover you must have is 3rd party cover as the instant case of Yoga mobile zombie woman suing the cyclist she collided with demonstrates.

 

[byegad]

It is more cost effective to have bicycles themselves insured on general house contents insurance. Specifically insuring against loss or bike theft is extremely expensive and prohibitive especially if you live in a dodgy area. Spend your money on very good security instead. The cover you must have is 3rd party cover as the instant case of Yoga mobile zombie woman suing the cyclist she collided with demonstrates.

That works until, as happened to me some 10 years ago, it changes. The house insurer unilaterally decided, at renewal, that they'd not cover bikes valued over £500, at all. I used to get cover from them at extra cost for my 5 most expensive bikes:-
A Thorn Club Tour, value £1000, a recumbent bike, value £1600 and three recumbent trikes, worth a total of £6000.

Since then more and more house insurers have done this and, last time I looked I found nobody offering cover for that kind of values of bikes.

A separate policy from a specialist insurer comes at over 10% of your value. As our 'fleet' of 9 bikes valued out at over £12k I decided to risk it, saving well over £1200/annum. Since then I've had
no reason to claim and several bikes and trikes have been sold. So if the worst happened and I re-purchased our entire fleet I'd still be well in pocket.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

As our 'fleet' of 9 bikes valued out at over £12k I decided to risk it, saving well over £1200/annum. Since then I've had no reason to claim and several bikes and trikes have been sold. So if the worst happened and I re-purchased our entire fleet I'd still be in well pocket.

This is the whole issue, I've rode bikes for over 50 years off & on, never had a need to have 3PL so logically saved a bundle, but it only takes one incident, my natural reaction is to continue as I am without, as I cannot see me using any of the discounts as others have mentioned if I do not need to claim, I suppose part of it is peace of mind.

 

[vickster]

I’m with Lloyd’s. Cover unnamed bikes up to £1500 if I recall, those over are straightforwardly insured as named items. My whole buildings and contents Bill was under £300 in an E rated area. I do accept there’s a £200 excess so wouldn’t be any point claiming for a £200 bike (I don’t have any of those however)

BC for liability

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Cycleplan https://www.cycleplan.co.uk/options are now offering 25% off so you can get £1M cover with waiver for £9.99 can somebody check it over, as although that is 3PL there is no Legal cover unless I'm reading it wrong & you can use the 3PL to cover the legal as well. https://www.cycleplan.co.uk/importantdocuments

 

[Tom B]

That works until, as happened to me some 10 years ago, it changes. The house insurer unilaterally decided, at renewal, that they'd not cover bikes valued over £500, at all. I used to get cover from them at extra cost for my 5 most expensive bikes:-
A Thorn Club Tour, value £1000, a recumbent bike, value £1600 and three recumbent trikes, worth a total of £6000.

In fairness I check stuff like that at renewal and generally you'll find they have different policies for new and existing customers with different excess away from the headline excesses.

Its also worth double checking with them prior to buying or during the cooling off period.

Another thing to watch is make sure your bikes are covered on the policy even after adding them on a comparison site quote generator wizard.

Insurance companies are often sharks and policies need careful checking. The best advice I ever got was to only use defaquto 5 star insurers. The price difference is usually minimal between the star rated insurers and often the same companies offer differing policies.

Thankfully, touch wood, never had to claim personally but I have for my parents and for a commercial policy.

One of my favourite Churchill Quotes is

If I had my way, I would write the word ‘insure’ upon the door of every cottage and upon the blotting book of every public man, because I am convinced, for sacrifices so small, families and estates can be protected against catastrophes which would otherwise smash them up forever.

Agreed though the TP insurance as bundled with some of these memberships is insane value. I'd be happy with the membership fee for the ctc simply for their work and magazines.

 

[Crankarm]

This is the whole issue, I've rode bikes for over 50 years off & on, never had a need to have 3PL so logically saved a bundle, but it only takes one incident, my natural reaction is to continue as I am without, as I cannot see me using any of the discounts as others have mentioned if I do not need to claim, I suppose part of it is peace of mind.

But 3rd party liability is different to insuring your bikes against theft, damage or total loss. You are insuring yourself against any claims AGAINST you which could if a claimant ends up in a bad way or dead be extremely costly. OK if you have very deep pockets like Jeff Bezoz you could self insure, but most people would be bankrupted by being made liable to pay damages to a successful claimant. For my bikes they are on house insurance. Not really bothered about this as I prefer to spend money on very secure locks and trackers rather than extortionate specific cycle policies.

 

[Chris S]

For a bike worth £200

My bike would cost £50-100 to replace so this would suit me just fine. I only want the Third Party insurance, the theft is a bonus.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

You can get bicycle theft and Public Liability insurance for just £16.61
https://www.lexhaminsurance.co.uk/products/cycle-insurance/

Given the recent publicity about a pedestrian being awarded £4000 for walking in front of a cyclist you can guarantee others will accidentally do the same.

Apart from any moral reasons to have insurance, cases like the above ^^ highlight the need for it!!

 

[Crackle]

This is the whole issue, I've rode bikes for over 50 years off & on, never had a need to have 3PL so logically saved a bundle, but it only takes one incident, my natural reaction is to continue as I am without, as I cannot see me using any of the discounts as others have mentioned if I do not need to claim, I suppose part of it is peace of mind.

I'm the same. The risk to me is far the greatest part of cycling and the mistake this bloke made was not to sue the woman back. I am thinking about it a little more these days as I get older and more risk averse but I'm not yet convinced.

 

[Drago]

For £45 ??

Marry a disabled person and become their carer and you get it half price. It's extreme, but that what I did.