Cycling insurance

[Peanut_77]

Hi, as I have now ordered a reasonable bike I'm looking at insurance and would like people thoughts on this. My bike is with £600 and I only have buildings insurance. Would a specific bike insurance be the best way to go & which companies are best to go with?

Thanks

 

[Neilsmith]

I found it cheaper to add on to my house insurance than have a stand alone policy check out some quotes

 

[MissTillyFlop]

I was with British Cycling Insurance (you get a discount if you are a member) I never claimed though.

Did just claim on my home insurance through Tesco though and they were great.

 

[AshMcD]

I was with British Cycling Insurance (you get a discount if you are a member) I never claimed though.

Did just claim on my home insurance through Tesco though and they were great.

That's good to know as a Tesco Home Insurance customer should the worst ever happen.

 

[mjr]

I found it cheaper to add on to my house insurance than have a stand alone policy check out some quotes

I think bikes are usually part of the Contents Insurance (it is with my Co-operative policy and was with my Nationwide one) - not sure why @Peanut_77 only has buildings insurance. Other things to watch out for are any locking requirements - the above two only required locking to an immovable object when out, but some require locking with SS Gold locks and even at home.

 

[Neilsmith]

You also need to check all the policy limits, exclusions, I had to pay more because the price of my bike was higher than the included limit

 

[vickster]

I'd add contents insurance to the buildings insurance but make sure you have enough cover for all your possessions. If underinsured they may refuse to pay out

Of the cycle specific companies, compare wiggle, eta, cycle guard

Or just get a really solid lock and put the insurance premium aside every month to get a new bike if needed

I would certainly get a policy offering third party and legal cover, BC, CTC, LCC or wiggle

 

[Funkweasel]

If someone wants your bike, they're (probably) going to get it. Other than that, as vickster says, get a really solid lock, lock your bike up properly to something immovable and make your bike as inconvenient to steal as possible, so hopefully they'd move onto an easier target. Also if it's "secured" in a place where a thief isn't going to be seen or disturbed, then it may as well not be locked up at all.

That said - contents insurance can be great - I think mine covers me for theft and accidental damage both in and away from the home, and from within a vehicle - provided it's not just left around unattended and unlocked. I believe that added about £25 to my annual policy costs, up to £3500 worth of a single bike. None of mine are worth anywhere near that. But fortunately I haven't had to test whether or not they'll pay out for anything. And I never leave it unattended anyway, locked or otherwise outside of a building, but that may change if I have to leave it in the sheds outside work.

 

[mjr]

Lock it properly, not only a long easy to yank loop through the frame:

View: https://vimeo.com/139790304

 

[RMurphy195]

I have mine on my household insurance (Saga), my CTC membership covers me for 3rd party claims.

Houseconents insurers usually have some sort of value limit,this can range from £500 upwards, mine seems to be about £2500 for 2 bikes.

Specialist insurers typically charge about 10% - 12% of the value of the bikes. To put it another way, it would cost almost as much to insure my bikes with a specialist insurer than I pay for my car - which is not a basic Micra!

 

[vickster]

My insurance covers me for any number of bikes up to £1500. Adds v little to the policy cost. That's Zurich via the AA

 

[Neilsmith]

Just thought of something to check. It may be prudent when you set up insurance to check cancellation or amendment charges, something Which are looking into. I had an horrendous experience with the AA, a company I had used many times before, I needed to cancel a policy not long into it and was charged two ridiculous fees, one admin one cancellation that was eqivelant of about 6 months insurance. There are companies that don't charge at all when you amend or cancel. It left a very bitter taste in the mouth and needless to say I will never use them or recommend them again.
I now ask about such charges before I agree to take out any nsurance, You never know when you may have a change of circumstances and have to amend.

 

[RichardB]

I had an horrendous experience with the AA, a company I had used many times before, I needed to cancel a policy not long into it and was charged two ridiculous fees, one admin one cancellation that was eqivelant of about 6 months insurance. There are companies that don't charge at all when you amend or cancel. It left a very bitter taste in the mouth and needless to say I will never use them or recommend them again.

I sold a motorbike a couple of years ago and wanted to cancel the insurance, which had a couple of months to run (12 month policy, paid up front). I expected a small rebate. By the time they had added up the admin charges and cancellation fee, it turned out that I owed them about £50. I pointed out that by cancelling the policy I was reducing their risk to zero, and that I should be thanked for that and not punished. After referring to his supervisor and some robust discussion, it was agreed that we would call it quits. Always find out about these charges first, as a simple change in circumstances can cost you a lot to change your insurance details.

In past times, I would have let the insurance run to the end and not worried about it, but after the Paul Duffy case I am very careful.

 

[Peanut_77]

Thanks everyone, I only have buildings Mjray as I canceled contents while being made redundant last year and haven't got round to adding yet however from everyone's responses I'm going to look at adding contents on and have had a few quotes.

Is the British cycling thing worth the money If I have insurance already?

Thanks

 

[SavageHoutkop]

My new home insurer has a non-removable excess of £500 on *ANY* theft claim. Yes, including bicycles. So fineprint reading is necessary, and if anything at all isn't clear make sure you get confirmation in writing from the insurer before relying on it. As others have already said, some insurers are picky on locks and so on where others aren't, and make sure wherever your bike lives at night is also covered - one of ours is in a garage, and there are different exclusions on things kept in garages. Also, if bikes are over a certain value sometimes they need to be added as named items.
Before we added to the contents, we did have ETA insurance - which is worth looking at but was expensive. It also included breakdown cover and 3rd party liability cover. We now have 3rd party through CTC.