It’s a sickening moment: you return to the spot where you locked your bike, only to find an empty space, a severed lock, or nothing at all. What now?
Tens of thousands of bikes are stolen in the UK every year – nearly 67,000 in the latest reporting year for which statistics are available (2023/24), according to data platform Statista. However, that’s the number of bike thefts that were logged by the police and many people don’t bother to report it, so the true figure is anyone’s guess.
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You’ll want to do everything possible to avoid your bike getting stolen in the first place, of course, but theft can happen despite your best efforts.
If you’ve just had your bike nicked, time is of the essence. The faster you act, the better your chances of getting it back – or at least getting an insurance payout reasonably quickly. From police reporting to online sleuthing, here’s what to do next.
Contact the police
First up, contact the police as soon as possible. You can report crimes online, by calling 101 (if it’s not an emergency), or by going to a police station.
For example, road.cc is based in Bath, which is covered by Avon and Somerset Police. The easiest way for us to report a bike theft would be to go to the Avon and Somerset Police’s website and follow the instructions. It’s pretty simple. You just fill in an online form that takes around 15 minutes.
Essentially, you submit details about yourself and the bike that has been stolen, along with any photographs you have and its frame number. Although bike parts can be changed relatively easily, list them along with any unique/distinguishing features.
The police will assess your report, decide if they can investigate, and inform you about the next steps. They might also request further information and will keep you updated on the investigation. If they decide not to investigate, they’ll explain why.
Let’s be honest, bike theft isn’t likely to be at the top of your local police’s priorities so anything you can do yourself would be handy. Do neighbours and local shops have CCTV that might be useful? If your bike has a hidden tracker, keep an eye on the trace and provide this info to the police.
Even if the police aren’t able to help, reporting the theft will get you a unique crime reference number, which you’ll need when making an insurance claim.
road.cc reader Emily Axel has had e-bikes stolen in two separate incidents.
“I reported both thefts to West Yorkshire Police,” she says. “The reporting process was very easy, via an online form. I did this primarily for the purposes of filing the insurance claim; I didn’t actually think it would result in the recovery of the bikes or the tracking down of the thieves.
“In the first case, I received an email three hours after I’d reported it that my case had been closed. In the second case, I received the ‘case closed’ email 24 hours after the report.
“The second incident was particularly upsetting because it happened in the middle of the afternoon on a busy street outside Leeds Markets. There were multiple witnesses (including some people who filmed the thieves and called the police) but the two thieves had an angle grinder and sawed through my lock.”
Tony Mills, another road.cc reader, has had a grand total of six bikes stolen in three separate incidents – twice from a garage and once when locked outside a café.
“After the cafe theft, I confronted one of the thieves. After a struggle, I got the bike back, although the other guy got away. I’ve never had any luck with the police other than to get a crime reference number.
“My advice would be to make it as difficult as possible for a thief when securing your bike at home, and bear in mind that if you have one theft it’s likely you will get another as they know you will replace the bike.
“Buy a quality angle grinder-proof D-lock and use it. If you intend to lock a bike up in a city, use an old hack bike, and record/register frame numbers. If you have a really expensive bike, consider a tracker [see below].”
Okay, the odds of the police recovering your stolen bike aren’t great. In fact, they’re poor. At the start of 2024, we reported that the Liberal Democrats were warning that bike theft had been effectively “decriminalised” as analysis of Home Office data found that nearly 90% of cases reported to the police since 2019 had gone unsolved. Painful, isn’t it?
Still, fingers crossed, you might be lucky and make it into the 10%. The police do recover lots of stolen bikes that they can’t reunite with their rightful owners because they haven’t been reported missing or registered on a database like BikeRegister (see below). These bikes can end up being auctioned off. You really don’t want that to happen to yours.
File an insurance claim
If you have specialist bike insurance, contact your insurance provider to file a claim. If you don’t have specialist bike insurance, you may be covered on your home/contents insurance so check your policy.
When contacting your insurance provider, you’ll need your policy number and that crime reference number (mentioned above) you got from the police after reporting the theft. Your insurers will also want evidence of purchase/ownership – a receipt, for example.
road.cc forum-user Gravel1-2 had his bike stolen from his work car park overnight.
“Insurance paid out, but only once I’d confirmed the exact time and date of the theft,” he says. “I discovered [the theft] two days later and, despite being inside a supposedly secure location, the insurance wouldn’t have covered it if it had been stolen over 24 hours after I’d locked the bike up (which I didn’t know beforehand).
“I kept the lock and sent photos of that, plus keys, and sales receipts for the lock and the bike. I ended up with a bit of a bike upgrade thanks to sales prices but lost out on the accessories that I had to replace.
“Overall, I’d say that you should check your insurance Ts & Cs and make sure you don’t get caught out by something like the 24-hour limit. Oh, and so-called ‘secure’ parking is only as good as the people managing it. The delay in informing me of the theft probably led to the AirTag tracker I had in the bike being found and removed by the thieves, and the chance to catch them and recover the bikes.”
Fellow forum user Burlingjobb says, “I had two bikes stolen from my garage, never to be seen again. What surprised me was how much the cost racked up. It’s not just the bike, it’s everything that’s attached to it, and sorting all that out for the insurance claim took ages. I am much more diligent about keeping my receipts now.”
road.cc reader Emily Axel, who had those two e-bikes stolen (above), says, “I now focus on making sure that my bike is insured and I’m following my terms of service to make sure the insurance company will pay out in the event of theft.”
Does your lock have anti-theft protection?
Kryptonite offers an ‘Anti-Theft Protection Offer’ (ATPO) on some of its locks, which “reimburses registered customers for a specific monetary amount in the event their bicycle/motorcycle is stolen due to the opening or breaking of the lock by force”.
If your bike was stolen by a thief who managed to open or break one of these locks by force, Kryptonite will pay you either the cost of your bike (up to a maximum amount based on the type of lock) or any insurance excess, whichever is lower.
You are eligible for ATPO in various countries around the world, including the UK. You need to have registered within 30 days of buying the lock and, where applicable, paid a fee ($34.99 for five years).
For example, Kryptonite gives the New York Lock Diamond Standard that we’ve recently had in for review a 10/10 security rating which means that you’d be eligible for up to £3,000 if a thief defeated it and stole your bike.
Report your stolen bike on online databases
Report your stolen bike on online databases, even if you’ve not previously registered it there.
For example, BikeRegister allows you to add your bike details to its database, then mark your bike with one of the kits it has available to buy, before applying a warning label to deter thieves.
If a bike you’ve already registered is taken, you should change its status to ‘Stolen’ within your account. If you’ve not previously registered your bike, it’s not too late. You can create an account for your stolen bike and label it as such.
“When you have changed the status of your bike from ‘In Possession’ to ‘Stolen’ you will be given the option to Tweet details of your bike, including photos, to our fast-growing social media following,” says BikeRegister. “We’ll spread the word for you and maybe someone will spot it and help you get your bike back.”
Add your crime reference number to the details of the theft on your BikeRegister account.
It’s a broadly similar process with Immobilise, which describes itself as “the world’s largest free register of possession ownership”. It has over 267,000 bikes registered.
“If a registered bike is stolen, the owner can log into their account, mark it as stolen, and it becomes visible to police forces across the UK,” says Immobilise’s Megan Armitage.
“Even if a bike wasn’t registered before it was stolen, the owner can still create an account and add the details afterwards. All that’s needed is the make, model, description, any distinguishing features or markings – and if possible, the date of purchase, purchase price, and a photo (though these aren’t essential).
“Immobilise is part of a wider crime reduction ecosystem designed to help disrupt the trade of stolen goods by alerting both the second-hand industry and the public via a checkable stolen goods database.”
Immobilise has a step-by-step guide to registering a bike.
Spread the word on social media
You can also share details of your stolen bike on social media and online forums. For example, if your bike was stolen in London and you have photos, Stolen Ride can share them on its Instagram account.
You can also report the theft on various Facebook groups, such as Stolen Bikes UK, and local cyclist and community groups.
Get the message out on other platforms, too.
road.cc forum-user redhanded says, “I had two bikes stolen from a bike shed outside my flat in London last year. They ended up for sale in Russia. A cycling club I’m a member of Tweeted photos of the stolen bikes, and a month or so later, there was a reply to the Tweet from an X user in Russia with a link to one of the bikes on sale on a Russian website. I found the other bike for sale on the same website.
“I think the person replying to the X post was just an ordinary Russian who had seen the bike for sale, Googled it, and came across the Tweet saying it had been stolen.”
Unfortunately, redhanded didn’t get the bikes back, but this does show the power and reach of social media.
Alert local bike shops
You’d have to be pretty stupid to take a bike you’ve just stolen into the local bike shop for repair or to try to sell it on, right? Luckily, a lot of bike thieves haven’t got the brains they were born with, so head around to your local bike shops and ask them to be on the lookout for your bike.
Tom, who runs Green Park Bike Station a couple of doors up from road.cc HQ in Bath, says that people often call in after they’ve had a bike stolen, and he’s happy to try to help. The trouble is, many of them are unprepared and short of information.
In order to help, a bike shop needs as much info as you can provide to help identify your bike. Print out details like the make and model, frame serial number, any photos you have, and so on, along with your contact details. If you’re lucky, the bike shop might let you put up a poster.
Similarly, supermarkets and other local shops often have a noticeboard where you can stick up a homemade poster.
Monitor online marketplaces
As redhanded found out (above), lots of stolen bikes get shipped abroad, but many still end up being listed on online marketplaces like eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and Gumtree. Turn detective and scour them regularly to look out for your stolen bike.
You can set up alerts on these sites to be notified when new items matching your search criteria are listed.
For instance, on eBay, perform a search by typing in the keywords describing your stolen bike. Use broad terms that a potential thief is likely to use rather than getting too specific on your latest upgrades or the model year.
Then hit ‘Save this search’ and you’ll be offered the option to ‘Turn on email alerts’ – so you’ll get regular updates of bikes matching your description.
Other sites offer similar features to notify you of products matching your search terms and filters.
If you do spot your bike – and we’ve been reporting instances of owners being reunited with stolen bikes on eBay since 2009 – get the police involved and ask for their advice.
Zee from the road.cc forum says, “I had a bike stolen from Manchester. I managed to track the sale and retrieve it from a Norfolk address with assistance from Greater Manchester Police and eBay.
quiff says, “I had a bike stolen about a decade ago and the police found it for sale on Gumtree pretty quickly but said (unofficially) that if I wanted to get it back, my best bet was to arrange to meet the seller, and call them when I had hands on it.”
A great start, but it unfortunately didn’t go to plan.
“I called the seller, clearly spooked him by asking to meet too close to where it had been nicked, and he hung up,” says quiff. “The next day it was up for sale frame only, then gone. Bikes have lived in the house ever since, and I rarely leave them locked up outside for any length of time.”
Good luck out there. Of course, it’s best that you don’t get your bike stolen in the first place. In order to maximise your chances of avoiding bike theft, check out our lock reviews.
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