Insurance for One Expensive Bike

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fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
My lovely insurance company has ceased the policy my expensive bike was on, and has stopped . All the others are within the £2,500 limit for 'specifed' bikes so have been added to the current policy (£1k for unspecified bikes) but my Herety was insured for nearer £5k (handbuilt frame and Dura Ace).

Now it doesn't get a lot of use and is ground anchored to the garage floor. Can you recommend anyone who can cover it. I'm getting £20-£30 a month which is insane as my Contents is £50 with all the other bikes and everything else in the house., and it's more expensive than my car. All I need it is for theft from home - it's not left anywhere.
 

byegad

Legendary Member
Location
NE England
Expect to pay over 10% of the value, my last, and I mean last, quote was nearly 15%! I took the risk 12 yrs ago to not bother and so far, so good. With the unpaid premiums I'm quids in, but there again, I can afford to buy another if need be.
 
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fossyant

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Still getting £200 plus. I could under-insure it at £2,500 as I wouldn't directly replace it these days ?

Changing policy will have to be next time. Just added a load of other stuff as 'named' items.
 
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fossyant

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Surely you move company every year? If not you are likely to getting your pants pulled down.

I'm with Coop and we've never been stung for increased fees even though we had a laptop and camera claim a couple of years ago, and then my wife lost her wedding ring and engagement ring last year. The only thing you've got to watch is policy changes, and they've just dropped the 'expensive high risk' policy :ohmy:
 
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fossyant

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
If it just lives in garage rarely used can't you remove things like wheels, seat post, pedals to make it super unattractive to thieves and keep those bits in the loft and not bother with insurance?

Might just do that, but the garage is full of wheels :whistle::whistle: It's more sentimental in value than anything else. I'd probably replace it with yet another MTB !

I'd stick it in the loft, but I've started using it again, just occasionally.
 

PaulSB

Legendary Member
I don't know how many bikes you have or their total value. I'm with Hastings and can insure bikes to a total value of £10,000 under contents. I paid £234 for Buildings and Contents this year.

I always shop around with bike cover being a key factor, the deal breaker usually. I usually pay a little more to use a known, quality insurer. I can't see a reason to do any different than this.
 
If you won't be replacing it with a 5k bike then can't you just insure it for the value of the bike you would get ?

Tbh I just use the Meerkats and swap each year. Never had a problem but no one bike is that much. I've had custom in the past and I don't think I'd bother again.
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
If you won't be replacing it with a 5k bike then can't you just insure it for the value of the bike you would get ?

It's a bit dodgy doing that. If you deliberately insure an asset for less than its real value and then claim on it, the insurer may decide to reduce the payout on the claim in the same proportion. They will maintain the risk is related to the true value, and by under-insuring you are not paying the premium that reflects the actual risk.

I really can't understand why anyone bothers to insure bikes, tbh. For a stand alone policy you will likely pay 10% or even 12% of the insured value per year. Compare that to house buildings insurance where my premium is roughly 0.1% of the insured sum per year! Having an uninsured house burn down is a game-changer, losing one bike every few years is a relatively trivial event.
It makes more sense to minimise the risk by dismantling the bike into it's component parts if not used frequently and setting aside the money that would be used to buy insurance with. Remember, no insurance company sets up in business to lose money, a well run one that can price risk accurately is a very reliable source of profit. Statistically if you self-insure you will save money if you are vigilant about security and generally careful with your stuff..
 

vickster

Legendary Member
I have an unlimited contents at home (incl bikes) and buildings insurance, costs me about £22 a month (although I get a 20pc discount having another old dormant pension with them). Aviva plus premier or similar (all the bells and whistles, legal, accidental damage etc). Pretty high risk outer london Borough.
Away from home, bike cover up to 2.5k which is fine for anyone of my fleet as I’ll only ever be riding one!
When I’ve looked at bike insurance, it’s been at least 10pc of value a year which is ridiculous given I’d always have home insurance too
 
Expect to pay over 10% of the value, my last, and I mean last, quote was nearly 15%! I took the risk 12 yrs ago to not bother and so far, so good. With the unpaid premiums I'm quids in, but there again, I can afford to buy another if need be.

As above - the risk v cost v excess v probability - I didn't bother in the end.
 
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