Insurance

[Iain G]

I'm having a recumbent trike specially built which is costing me a considerable amount of money so I will need some insurance for it can anybody give me some advice please?

 

[Recycle]

Bicycle insurance is hellish expensive because of high bike theft rate. I got a quote from Hiscox (CTC insurer) for my bike and its not much different in price to my car insurance.
I have read of recumbents being stolen but I think the risk is far lower than a diamond frame because recumbents are hard to flog on. The recumbent community is small so a stolen bent advertised on any market like ebay or gumtree will be quickly noticed. Even if its not known to be stolen, the sale will almost certainly be broadcast within the communities. This is high risk for bike thieves.
2 wheel recumbents also have a lower risk of opportunistic theft because unless you know how to ride it, you will need a van to take it away. I suspect that most recumbents that are stolen are either stolen to order or resold outside the country.

Unfortunately insurance companies don't take account of the lower risk so you pay the same the premium as a diamond frame which is not good value.

I don't know if you are a member of CTC but if you join then you will get free 3rd party insurance and legal assistance. The legal assistance would help you if you need to recover the cost of a bike lost through an accident that isn't your fault.
My advice would be to invest in a good bike lock and install a GPS tracker like SpyBike.

 

[Oldspice]

Ask who ever insures about adding it to the policy and list the cost of items that are added to your recumbent ie special seat, wheels etc. You will also need a serial/frame number in event of theft.

 

[Iain G]

cheers for the info I really like the SpyBike rear light one it looks smart thanks

 

[byegad]

Ask who ever insures about adding it to the policy and list the cost of items that are added to your recumbent ie special seat, wheels etc. You will also need a serial/frame number in event of theft.

My home insurance company, who were quite expensive used to do this at a low cost but a few of years ago they lost interest, they reduced the maximum bike value to £500 and made silly demands and an even sillier premium to keep my recumbents covered. I changed to a cheaper home insurer who similarly would not cover anything worth as much as my cheapest recumbent at any price. So now they are not covered. In the three years since I stopped covering them I've saved approximately £2500 in premiums.

 

[Lee_M]

just changed my home insurance to cover my carbon

added £140 to the premium. bike has a specified value

british cycling quote was £240

 

[neil earley]

Rip off Britain comes to mind , no wonder people dont insure anymore premiums are scandulous , dont think they have realised there is a reccesion going on !!!!!!!!!

 

[swscotland bentrider]

I've got two of my 'bents insured at a stated value on my combined Home Contents / Buildings insurance policy. The DF's come under the up to £1000.00 limit so are also covered. Additional premium for the bents was about £60.00 I think. There was an interesting discussion over on the CTC Touring forum where some of the people in the industry argued that they are not worth insuring!

 

[Recycle]

There was an interesting discussion over on the CTC Touring forum where some of the people in the industry argued that they are not worth insuring!

I would prefer to insure but it all depends on the premium, what you get for that (i.e., replacement value or estimated resale value), excess, insurance conditions, and how easy it is to claim.
The last two points are important because insurance companies may stipulate condition that must be met before you can claim and its not just important to know the conditions but also what evidence you need to submit to prove that you met the conditions.

 

[BenM]

My 'bent is insured to a replacement (new for old) value of £2000 on the house contents insurance... for the princely sum of £8.95 per year.

 

[byegad]

I would prefer to insure but it all depends on the premium, what you get for that (i.e., replacement value or estimated resale value), excess, insurance conditions, and how easy it is to claim.
The last two points are important because insurance companies may stipulate condition that must be met before you can claim and its not just important to know the conditions but also what evidence you need to submit to prove that you met the conditions.

Yes Gold Standard locks are a) Not cheap and b) heavy. My last house insurer used to cover all my bikes and trikes at minimal cost and little requirements re-locks, but suddenly at renewal decided they wanted me to get my trikes valued, no the list price was not enough and no they had no idea who could value them, and the limit of value covered was only £1000 no matter the value, the 'new for old' clause would only apply to three years old and the premium shot up too. In other words they didn't want the business. So I changed to a cheaper home insurer and the trikes and bikes are not covered. Saving me £800+/annum in premiums on bikes and the house over and above the old insurers new one.