It gets worse - my bike wasn't insured!

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Crankarm

Guru
Location
Nr Cambridge
the reluctant cyclist said:
I haven't actually blamed husband or shouted at him or anything! I asked him a few time over the years if the bikes were insured and he assured me that they were - he likes to do things like house/contents insurance himself so I don't interfere!

I did have a rubbish lock on it apparently - I didn't realise that the one I had was so bad - I just trusted that the lock would work and on top of it the security at work would be enough to make sure nobody took it.:blush:

I am sort of resigned to forking out to replace it myself now and will just have to get on with it - I was only looking for a little sympathy from people whose bikes meant a lot to them too!!! People at work can't understand why I would be so upset about a bike!!!

Now who would have thunk it ;)? You are now in the world of the commuting cyclist, public enemy No1.

Perhaps you should suggest to your hubby that he buy you a new bike seeing he told you it was insured .......
 

Crankarm

Guru
Location
Nr Cambridge
Catrike UK said:
That sounds like the insurance trying to get out of its responsibility, I have never heard of a cycle insurance that only covers theft from the home, I would go through your insurance schedule really well and query that issue as being unreasonable.

Well you haven't seen many house contents policies then ............

No the insurers are not trying to get out of their responsibilities. The OP has stated that their policy only covered their bikes at home or in their garage. Away from home their bikes are not covered. How are the insurers trying to get out of their responsibility? It would appear the policy simply does not cover the bikes when way from the home. The OP and her hubby didn't relise this. This was the same with my policy until I got my bikes individually named on my policy. Now they are insured anywhere in the EU provided they are locked with a sold secure lock.
 

Bollo

Failed Tech Bro
Location
Winch
Crankarm said:
Well you haven't seen many house contents policies then ............

No the insurers are not trying to get out of their responsibilities. The OP has stated that their policy only covered their bikes at home or in their garage. Away from home their bikes are not covered. How are the insurers trying to get out of their responsibility? It would appear the policy simply does not cover the bikes when way from the home. The OP and her hubby didn't relise this. This was the same with my policy until I got my bikes individually named on my policy. Now they are insured anywhere in the EU provided they are locked with a sold secure lock.

Cranky's right. I've seen a few on here claim that their bike is insured under their home contents. It is, but only when it's nicely locked up in the garage. Home insurance isn't a sneaky on-the-cheap form of full cycle insurance.

Try going to a dedicated bike insurance site and getting a quote for 'proper' insurance (i.e. covering the bike if stolen away from the house). Depending on where you live, the premiums will be approx 10% of the value of your bike(s). If you've got a couple of handsome whips in your garage, then to insure all of them for theft away from the house is going to weight in at a couple of hundred quid a year.

For example, my three decent bikes (replacement from new costs ~£7,000 although not worth that now) would cost £640 a year to insure in a low crime area (eta cycle insurance, no CTC discount). That's not going to be a freebie in your home insurance.
 

e-rider

crappy member
Location
South West
I had a bike nicked in 1998 that was only two weeks old and I'd saved for a year to buy - I still haven't got over that one.

I had another bike stolen in October last year and although the house insurance didn't cover the full value (limit of £500 minus £200 excess) I got enough to at least buy a cheap bike. I do however, still look at every bike I see trying to find it again - I'm very keen to get my hands on the little ba$tard; although I'd probably ended up being prosecuted by the theiving scumbag.

You have all of my sympathy.
 

Howard

Senior Member
Bollo said:
I've seen a few on here claim that their bike is insured under their home contents. It is, but only when it's nicely locked up in the garage. Home insurance isn't a sneaky on-the-cheap form of full cycle insurance.

Somewhat misleading. Depends entirely on the policy. I'm with AXA and my bike is insured on home contents - but also insured when out and about, being ridden or locked up, along with all my other possessions. Yes, I have that in writing.

To me, dedicated cycle insurance to cover against theft seems like a waste of time - there are good, proven contents insurance policies out there that offer the same cover (albeit with different excesses) at a fraction of the price.

What cycle insurance is good for is public indemnity, but that's a whole other thread....
 

AndyCarolan

Do you smell fudge?
Location
Norwich
So sorry to hear about your loss. I really hope that you get another one sorted soon.

Ive just telephoned the providers of our home insurance policy (Direct Line) to see what the cover is on our bikes and they are both covered at or away from home. I mentioned that we use them while camping to which I was told that they are covered if locked.

This weekend we locked them to each other and a very thick tree using three separate locks
 

gemsno4

Active Member
Location
Southampton
Sorry to hear about the bike, I was gutted when mine was stolen from my back garden. I could even see where they had dragged it through the snow as the chain was off it. West Mids police are very inconsistent in their approach - when my husband's bike was nicked from hagley rd they wouldn't even give a crime number. Moseley (where mine went from the garden) were very helpful and told me to call 999 if I ever saw it out and about.

For insurance co-op insure any bike worth under £1000 as standard, wherever it was taken from. Doesn't need to be specifically notified either.

Sorry again about the bike, it really is a horrible feeling as you see it isn't there.
 

potsy

Rambler
Location
My Armchair
Feel for you there,must be awful to have a bike stolen especially when it's your pride and joy.Would agree about getting something 2nd hand but still decent to commute on.
Went to a bike shop yesterday,never been there before but it's in a dodgy part of Manchester,took 4 locks between 2 of us and used them all to lock the 2 bikes to stands and each other,overkill i know but worth it for the peace of mind.
Whatever bike you do replace it with a real quality lock or even 2, must be the 1st thing you buy for it,might be worth chasing the police up to in case they've forgotten.
 

dondare

Über Member
Location
London
the reluctant cyclist said:
The lock I have now is a D lock - Citadel X W - Madison - is that any good or just as rubbish as the old one? :smile:

The clue is in the price. How much did you pay for this one?

the reluctant cyclist said:
I am sort of resigned to forking out to replace it myself now and will just have to get on with it - I was only looking for a little sympathy from people whose bikes meant a lot to them too!!! People at work can't understand why I would be so upset about a bike!!!

You certainly have my sympathy and understanding.
 
Worried about Citadel . . .

the reluctant cyclist said:
The lock I have now is a D lock - Citadel X W - Madison - is that any good or just as rubbish as the old one? ;)

Hmmm, if it has a round, tubular ended key, see what you can get for it as scrap metal -they can be opened with a biro-lid. I know, I've done it on mine when the scandal broke all over the internets some years ago.

Find a modern spec flat-key D-lock like Kryptonite or top of the range Abus. (Abus do a lot of cheapies as well as the good stuff -don't get mislead. In their favour though, they do label the security level pretty well on the packaging, so check before buying.)

Hope this helps
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
I reckon you want to spend at least 10% of the value of your bike on lock(s). £1000 bike, you probably want two good D-locks. I think I'd get a NY Kryptonite 3000 and an Abus Granit xtreme.
 
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