Cycle insurance

Almost a quarter of student cyclists at universities in the UK have been the victim of a bike thief according to research carried out from M&S home insurance.

At a time of year when thousands of students will be preparing to head to university, and with the bike an invaluable and cheap piece of transport in many university towns and cities, the poll of 2,000 students suggests those cyclists should ensure their bikes are locked up properly at all times.

According to research carried out by ilovemybike.co.uk up to 98 per cent of cyclists are not adequately insured. Anything that has a stat of 98 per cent is always going to shock at first, but when you consider ilovemybike is a cycle insurance provider then cyclists may want to take a step back and consider the facts.

When you’ve managed to find the bike of your dreams and picked it up for a knock down price second hand the last thing you want is for the police to track it down a couple of days later and seize it.

But that could well be the case as more and more stolen bikes are ending up on the second-hand market, providing a potential minefield for prospective buyers.

Research indicates a bike is stolen in the UK every 65 seconds, and being managing director of leading online bicycle insurer Cycleguard, James Pickering is in the perfect position to offer advice.