Touring and cycle insurance

[toekneep]

Or more specifically: Anyone had a bike stolen while touring? Trying to decide if insurance is worth the money or not. We have good locks.

 

[Yellow7]

I’ve never had a problem while touring. A fully loaded tourer not being on a typical thief's shopping list. Having always used a lightweight Abus 3 digit combination lock, providing enough of a deterrent for anyone who may see it / want to steal it - that said, after re-emerging from a shop or place-of-interest if anyone has been looking they’re normally just curios of my travels.

When I leave my bike to get food in supermarkets I’m normally paranoid about anyone riffling through my panniers and taking gadgets and cooking gear than taking the beast itself. On my African tour I covered my frame in black (back to back) gaffa tape to down-grade it’s appearance some what.

Bicycle insurance is good but it all depends on where one intends to travel as most companies would not cover outside of europe. It’s worth bearing in mind that a good lock to an ‘experienced’ thief simply presents an inconvenient delay.

 

[slowmotion]

If you have contents insurance on your home, it's worth seeing what their bike cover might be. Mine covers up to £1500 of bikes and a few weeks European touring for £22 pa......with none of the weasel word wriggle-out clauses much loved by most insurance companies that spivvy trade. The downside is that if you claim more than once, you lose your no-claims discount.

 

[snorri]

It probably depends where you are touring and for how long.
I took out insurance for my first longer tour (approx 6 weeks in mainland Europe), but never got around to reading the small print until I got home when I realised it had been money down the drain. The conditions were impossible, the company needed tour details, dates and locations, but I don't do planning. Also valuables had to be in lockfast storage.(in a tent??)
You might find something suitable, but read the small print.
I take the usual precautions, putting valuables in a bar bag I can keep on my person when off the bike, splitting cash between panniers, trying to park bike within sight when in shops/cafes etc.

 

[toekneep]

Slowmotion: we have cover under our current home policy but we are giving up our home so we planned to give up the insurance too. I doubt it would remain valid if they find out we have given up the lease anyway.
Snorri: That's the conclusion we have come to. Sensible precautions but no insurance. We can't get cover for the camping gear anyway and certainly not while actually camping

If everything got nicked having insurance would be a small compensation for the trip being spoiled to be honest. Kit is kit, memories are priceless.
Thanks all for your input.

 

[Ticktockmy]

I have never taken out insurance cover for any of my trips, my bikes are on the house policy, but frankly that would not cover there cost's. I have always worked on the idea that by the time you pay the premium and the excess, and tried to wrangle the rules the companies put on the policy, its easier to cover any lose yourself. During my trips through Africa and Asia, I never bothered much just made sure that the panniers were locked to the bike, and I leave the bike in a public place. However here the UK I tend to lock the Bike up with a D lock and heavy duty cable through the wheels and panniers if fitted as in the past I have had bikes stolen

 

[Bodhbh]

It's unlikely, but it's not like it never happens. I met two japanese lads who had their tourers and all their gear nicked in Budapest. Sometimes someone is interested in a tourer.

But I insured for a year, then thought to hell with it - giving money to the bookmakers - I'll just save it and buy a new bike and if it goes.

 

[lpretro1]

CTC do a good policy to suit varying needs at a varying price

 

[toekneep]

Terms like "secured with an approved lock to an immoveable object" can be quite an issue when camping. It often means that to the meet the conditions the bikes have to be locked up out of site and some distance from the tent. It's quite a dilemma.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

We don't have bike insurance and didn't for our aborted world tour. (We did have medical cover though.) We often felt that safe that the bikes (with Rohloff hubs etc) would be left unlocked overnight (and for around 4 months were never locked up at all - but that had a lot to do with where we were and how few people there were in the first place). When staying somewhere 'less safe', we locked them to something solid but usually we found on campsites etc it was not a problem and there is usually a tree or picnic bench handy to lock them to and when in motels/hotels/rooms the bikes either came in with us or because we were not in tourist areas, people were exceptionally helpful and would find a locked room or basement that they could be stored in safely. We never had any issues.

 

[jurjan]

We do have bike insurance (for the tourers), but that's not JUST for theft, it's also for damages.
We have never had our tourers stolen (knocks wood), but, for example, the very first year we went on a tour we went to New Zealand,
and the airport 'people' (term used loosely, not intended to anger readers) decided to mangle my girlfriends bike so very badly we had te get a new frame, and lots of 'accessories' (like crankset etc.).
luckily it happened on the way back.
The insurance paid for it, rather more than her insurance fee had been.

However, that insurance is just for Dutch people i think (www.unigarant.nl) and not cheap: from memory it's about 12, 15 % of the value of the bicycle for 5 years, theft / damages.
It does however replace your stolen bike with a new one for the first three years and it just needs the bike to be locked (with a good lock).

During our holidays our bikes are mostly locked at night, but, standing free next to our tent.