Cycle Insurance recommendations

I highly recommend Laka Bicycle Insurance (www.laka.co). They're definitely making bicycle insurance something where you get real value for money. Everything you would expect from speicalist cycle insurance is covered i.e. theft, accidental damage, travel cover, racing. But with the added bonus of no excess. A real treat!

The price ranges monthly as claims are paid for by fellow Laka customers. My average monthly cost is around £8 for my e-bike.

I've claimed once and the service was exceptional. Claim settled in a matter of days, with constant communication and gave me a few options when dealing with my claim.

If anyone else uses Laka I'd be interested to know their thoughts?

Decent question.

I had to make a claim to Bicy Insurance bikyinsurance.com for damage to my bike frame as a result of an attempted theft.  The bike shop said it was a write-off so needed a replacement or cost of replacement. It took me three months to get any settlement despite crime report, photos and bike mechanic report. I found them to be utterly incompetent; from an inability to accept pictures via email that were't attached to emails - so cloud sharing out of the question; to being interviewed about damage from claims people who didn't know a frame from a saddle. Multiple times where they promised to call me back and didn't. It was an utter pain and they even refused to take a mechanics report as authentic 

They are just a front name for Supercover Insurance Ltd -and even though they were £5.50 a month when I needed them they were not a specialist insurance company but a general one. I'd make sure that so-called specialist insurers for bikes are in fact that.

I've heard good things abour Yellow Jersey Insurance https://www.yellowjersey.co.uk/ mainly from bike shop mechanics. Seems steep though but good for taking it abroad.

London Cycling Campaign http://lcc.org.uk/pages/enjoy-cycling-peace-of-mind offers a discount for an insurance company when you take up membership with them:

The policy is arranged by Butterworth Spengler Facilities Ltd,  www.urbancyclinginsurance.co.uk.

Cycle insurance highlights:

• Accidental Damage and Theft cover
• Instant 5% discount if you’ve been claim-free for 3 years
• Cyclists aged 40 or over get an automatic 5% discount
• Stay claim-free and save up to 30% on your premium
• Insure any number of bikes worth a total up to £10,000
• The policy covers you for cycle commuting
• Hop in a cab with up to £150 'get you home' expenses
• Free legal expenses cover, including dedicated phone line

I'd be interested to know if anyone's had any experience of this outfit but especially if you've had to make a claim. That's the real test.

I can highly reccomend Cycle Plan. I have insured my 5k bike for 2 years with other companies never making a claim no problems. Cycle plan came up cheapest on a renewal quote so I went with them in year 3. In the 3rd year I needed to make a claim for damage sustained to the frame and it was dealt with. I provided all the evidence receipts and no quibbles they replaced the frame. The insurance is not cheap by anymeans was £34 a month but when they replace a frame at 2.5k it goes to show how important it is to get insurance. I do begrudge paying over £30 a month and every year when it comes to renew I think shall i just leave it. But goes to show its peace of mind! 

This is my experience never made a claim with other policies but Cycle Plan were great. I can reccomend no hidden costs and dealt with smoothly.  

I use ETA, although fortunately haven't claimed with them. They seemed to have similar rates to other insurers.  Think I pay £230 a year for 2 bikes, one worth £1000 and another £1600, and that is on a new-for-old basis. For my more expensive bike I'd built it up myself  from a 2nd hand frame so had to pay my LBS a small fee to get  it valued (it's actually insured for twice what I paid for it due to getting a real bargain on the frame!).

Thier website is pretty explicit about what circumstances need to be met for your claim to be valid which is why I went for them. They are also pretty easy to deal with online only - you can for instance send them a photo and the details if you buy a new lock and they will store them on their system and reply to say that it is valid for your particular bike (eg any bike over a grand needs a sold secure silver rated level lock). They also encourage you to send photos of the bike and how you lock it.

As is common with bike policies if you want to leave it somewhere >12 hours then it's not vaild (there is a relaxation of that rule for train stations) and they pay out a reduced rate if nicked between 1-4am I think, which I think is a bit shit for the price you have to pay, but I guess insurers have to pay out a lot on bikes.

Hi Bowks,

Cycle insurance is not always a like for like consideration, so it can difficult to judge which is the better value.

For our part, we work in partnership with Yellow Jersey.

Our Membership plans mean that we can include £8k of all risks cover at home and £4 away from the home (that's all your family's bikes by the way, not just yours) for

£32.50 a month for Gold Membership and 

£27.50 a month for Silver Membership.

The insurance is built into the Membership and includes a whole host of other goodies.

Feel free to give us a call if you need any guidance.

There's a funny video here too  https://www.bikeswanky.co.uk/do-you-ever-wonder-where-your-fridge-went/

The insurers that CyclingUK (CTC) recomends has changed a bit.  I liked phoning Butterworths.  Never claimed from them, but they did seem nice people to throw money away to, for the peace of mind feeling and the just in case reassurance.

It's called CycleSure,Butterworths still have someting to do with it, but it is all very computery now.  Until only a few years ago, Butterworths, with their warm Liverpudlian accents, used paper records.

Okay I now feel really old.