Insuring Your Bicycle

[Cyclopathic]

Tricky one that.

I imagine that a cycling-specific insurer would be able to give you a value based on your description. With regards to proof of ownership, when I was burgled a few years ago, photographs of the stolen items were deemed sufficient for items I didn't have receipts for.

I suppose the price could be determined by how much it would cost to by similarly speced components of roughly the same age from ebay or such. Plus a few quid for the time spent assembling obviously. Then I could take loads of pics of me on the bike reading that days newspaper and then send those pics to myself IRL by recorded delivery.
Thinking about it a second hand bike would have to be a lot more special than mine for it to be worth insuring. I'd be very surprised if they would put the value at over £300.

 

[snailracer]

Why don't you simply insure with Hip Priest Personal Bike Insurance Company and put, say, £10 a month in a kitty? Unlike the case with cars, insurance companies can't replace a stolen bike or fix damage any cheaper than you can, yet somehow still manage to make a profit from bike insurance.

It is certainly worth insuring for costs you can't possibly cover, like 3rd party liability for being sued, but I would assume that you could cover the cost of a replacement bicycle if you were able to buy it in the first place.

 

[fossyant]

I', with co-operative. Have my house contents which covers upto £1k for each bike, then I have an 'additional items' policy that covers the two more expensive bikes. Both policies together are less than £20 per month. Bike part is £10 per month for two expensive bikes.

 

[Paul99]

Why don't you simply insure with Hip Priest Personal Bike Insurance Company and put, say, £10 a month in a kitty? Unlike the case with cars, insurance companies can't replace a stolen bike or fix damage any cheaper than you can, yet somehow still manage to make a profit from bike insurance.

It is certainly worth insuring for costs you can't possibly cover, like 3rd party liability for being sued, but I would assume that you could cover the cost of a replacement bicycle if you were able to buy it in the first place.

A great idea if your bike is worth £200. If it worth £2000 get insurance. Hip Priests £1200 road bike will take 10 years to save enough for a replacement at £10 a month. What happens if it gets stolen next month?

Insurance companies can replace bikes or get them repaired far cheaper than you can, which is exactly why they make a profit from bike insurance.

 

[Paul99]

I just checked out the t&c's on protectyourbubble and they seem pretty much in line with cycleguard, ETA etc so the choice you need to make is regarding how much you want to pay for customer service.

I also tried looking for the negative reviews and most I can find for protectyourbubble seem to be with regard to gadget insurance and not bikes. The bike insurance reviews I did see all seem to have had one thing in common - the insured hadn't complied with the conditions of the insurance i.e. on a shed you must use a 5 lever padlock, the insured didn't and is miffed that the insurer won't now pay out after his bike was stolen from his shed. There are negative reviews for all of the bike insurers I know, people who have had their bike stolen and aren't getting paid out will always be the 'vocal' ones you get to see.

If customer service is the thing you value the most then you will pay a bit extra on your premium for it, but if you comply with the conditions of the insurance, it doesn't matter who you are with, you will always get paid out in the end. Some will be a bit quicker than others, the customer service will be better with some.

If you are ever having problems getting paid out after a claim just refer it to the FOS. It's free for the consumer and the insurer get a hefty fee to pay, so they don't like going there and will always consider settling a disputed claim to avoid it as it often makes commercial sense.

I am currently with ETA, but am definately going to consider the cheaper option mentioned in the posts above when I get my two n+1's later this year.

 

[snailracer]

A great idea if your bike is worth £200. If it worth £2000 get insurance. Hip Priests £1200 road bike will take 10 years to save enough for a replacement at £10 a month. What happens if it gets stolen next month?...

Theft insurance will even out Hip Priest's expenditure, he isn't going to save money by buying it, long term.

Bikes depreciate, after 3 years there will be more money in the £10-a-month kitty than the bike is worth. Then Hip Priest can stop feeding the kitty, in fact he can take £16 a month out of it and still be 100% covered as his kitty tracks the dwindling value of his bike.

...Insurance companies can replace bikes or get them repaired far cheaper than you can, which is exactly why they make a profit from bike insurance.

Insurance companies make cash payouts. The amount is calculated so the insured can trudge around bike shops and buy a replacement bike of the same age and model. Insurance companies simply do not go around negotiating discounts from 2nd hand bike dealers.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I looked at this but it was to my mind way too expensive with premiums being in the order of 10% of the value of my bike (£11-1200).

My house insurance is about 1.25% of it's rebuild value.

Our cars are around 1.5% of value.

Why the difference?

I have made sure that I have TP liability cover via British Cycling which is cheap as chips and covers a risk that many cyclists seem unaware of.

 

[morrisman]

I looked at this but it was to my mind way too expensive with premiums being in the order of 10% of the value of my bike (£11-1200).

My house insurance is about 1.25% of it's rebuild value.

Our cars are around 1.5% of value.

Why the difference?

I have made sure that I have TP liability cover via British Cycling which is cheap as chips and covers a risk that many cyclists seem unaware of.

It will be down to the likelihood of a claim, is your bike 7 times more likely to be stolen than your car, probably because it is far easier to nick.

 

[Paul99]

Theft insurance will even out Hip Priest's expenditure, he isn't going to save money by buying it, long term.

Bikes depreciate, after 3 years there will be more money in the £10-a-month kitty than the bike is worth. Then Hip Priest can stop feeding the kitty, in fact he can take £16 a month out of it and still be 100% covered as his kitty tracks the dwindling value of his bike.


Insurance companies make cash payouts. The amount is calculated so the insured can trudge around bike shops and buy a replacement bike of the same age and model. Insurance companies simply do not go around negotiating discounts with 2nd hand bike dealers.

But nearly all bike insurance policies pay out on the basis of new for old. If the OP is happy to replace his old bike with a secondhand one then yes, your 'self insurance' model would make sense. Most people would rather have a shiny new bike to play with. The OP is also buying a new bike, he is only so far asking about insurance for the first year. If he want's to pay to insure it in 3 years time then the equation is very different and your model works best, but for the first year or two you are kidding yourself if you think putting £10 a month a way is a good way to 'insure' your bike. And what happens if your garage is raided and your bikes are stolen, you replace them with your 'fund' and six weeks later the thieves return and steal these too. Where do you get the money now? It does happen.

The new for old insurance model also makes your second point redundant. I can assure you that only some insurance companies make cash payouts. Most will have arrangements with dealers and repairers.

 

[Hip Priest]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I feel the kitty option is too risky. If my bike was stolen from my garage this year then I'd simply not be able to replace it. £1200 was a lot to shell out on a bike, and I intend for it to be my 'Sunday best' for 5-10 years!

I went out and bought three 5-lever padlocks for my garage today, but unfortunately they don't fit through the loops on my locks, so I'm now going out to buy a round file so I can expand the loops! Everything is complex in bike land.

I think I will go with PYB. I've read the T&Cs very carefully, and with the locks above I will more than comply. In October when the home insurance renewal comes up, I'll look to switch to a more bike friendly policy.

 

[Adam G]

I'm looking for bike insurance too. I didn't like the sound of protectyourbubble after doing research. When I use compare engines the ones that come out the cheapest seem great but then when you start to add in the extras they become too expensive

Nobody is giving anything away and the old saying you get what you pay for is true here. British Cycling seems decent enough - as with all the small print you need to use bronze, silver or gold standard locks through the frame so make sure you have them. And I figure a little bit that British Cycling again have a reputation to protect so I imagine they are a little bit better than most - but this could be misplaced faith.

I also did the sums of adding bikes onto contents insurance and separate bike insurance comes out slightly cheaper for me. And I figured with a more tailored insurance towards bikes it's worth taking the saving on contents insurance to get separate. But I still haven't bought any insurance.

 

[Hip Priest]

The thing about locks is that I've no intention of locking this bike up anywhere, so it doesn't apply to me. I don't need 3rd party cover either because I have it through BC membership.

All I want is for my bike to be insured in the event of a burglary. I was burgled 4 years ago and they took everything, so I'm paranoid!

 

[subaqua]

butterworth spengler , thats who insure ours via CTC http://www.specialistschemes.butterworthspengler.co.uk/index.asp?current_id=36

 

[broadway]

I looked at this but it was to my mind way too expensive with premiums being in the order of 10% of the value of my bike (£11-1200).

My house insurance is about 1.25% of it's rebuild value.

Our cars are around 1.5% of value.

Why the difference?

I have made sure that I have TP liability cover via British Cycling which is cheap as chips and covers a risk that many cyclists seem unaware of.

Last time I checked my household insurance covers 3rd party liability, better check it hasn't changed

 

[Hip Priest]

butterworth spengler , thats who insure ours via CTC http://www.specialistschemes.butterworthspengler.co.uk/index.asp?current_id=36

Had a look at those, thanks.

Unfortunately, they require any garaged bikes to be secured to an immovable object. Most other companies I've looked at require garaged bikes to be secured to an immovable object *or* for the garage to be locked with a 5 lever padlock.

I've got a 5 level padlock, but I haven't got an immovable object!