London dockless e-bike provider Forest is to provide third-party insurance to riders following high profile crashes involving pedestrians.
Though Forest refused to tell road.cc exactly how the insurance policy will work, The Times reports that all riders will be covered by third-party insurance when renting a Forest bike from September. Unlike rivals Santander Cycles, Lime and Bolt – who add a small premium per minute to cover the cost of their insurance policies – Forest says its prices won’t rise for customers. It told the Times that the business couldn’t afford to buy an insurance policy when it was founded in 2020, and that finding a suitable provider was too difficult at the time.
The move comes a few months after the story of a pedestrian who was hit by a Forest Bike rider and found herself unable to claim compensation hit national headlines.
Sandy Peters was struck in October 2025 in south London, breaking her nose, cheekbones and several teeth in the collision. She told BBC London that the rider was boy under the age of 16, despite Forest requiring riders to be aged 18 or over, and that there was very little chance of getting financial redress from him. She claimed that she needed dental work that would cost several thousand pounds, and Forest had not provided her with a resolution.
Peters told The Times she was “really encouraged” that Forest had taken action, but called called for third-party insurance to be mandatory for rental e-bike bike operators. Another recent case involving a pedestrian who was hit by a child on a Lime Bike and unable to claim compensation highlighted loopholes in existing insurance policies; however, Forest says it is looking for “the most “sensible approach” to make sure that “insurance companies aren’t going to be the only winners out of this.”
TfL’s latest provisional casualty statistics shown that while deaths on its road network dropped by 13% overall, serious injuries had jumped from 3,597 in 2024 to 3,900 in 2025, noting that this coincided with the “widespread adoption of e-bikes, both dockless rental bikes and privately owned bikes”; however, serious injuries increased among cyclists, pedestrians and car occupants alike.
“While injury risk per journey has increased compared to 2024, it remains lower than the historical baseline. TfL is working closely with the police to better understand the causes of injuries to car occupants”, said TfL.
Despite some of the negative headlines around dockless e-bikes, Forest is still proving increasingly popular with Londoners – perhaps in part thanks to its viral social media campaign featuring none other than the One Pound Fish Man – and is continuing to expand.
Just last week, Forest began the rollout of another 900 bikes across Ealing, bringing the total number of boroughs with Forest e-bikes available to rent up to 20. Forest reiterated its stance on responsible riding and parking, telling MyLondon that a ‘dedicated team’ will be sent to areas known for pavement riding and red light jumping to reprimand riders who break the rules.
Rides start at £1 for up to 30 minutes, and Forest’s website says additional minutes are charged at 33p.
