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Laka - Bike insurance powered by the Community

Hi all,

just came across an active thread on bike insurance in general and cover from Laka in particular. Happy to answer any questions you might have 

In a few words, Laka has introduced a brand new model for insurance, charging no more premiums upfront. Instead, we ask our customers (cyclists only) for a share of the actual cost of claims we incur from settling claims for theft, damage and loss, up to a personal cap. 

You won't pay more than the personal cap (guaranteed by insurance partner Zurich) but if cyclists take good care and fewer claims happen, the Community pays much less.

Year to date, customers have saved £47.15 with us compared to other solutions (based on a bike worth £2,200).

Have a read what one of our customers thinks about us:
The MAMIL — The new way to insure your bike

Best, Tobi 

 

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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9 comments

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Sriracha | 4 years ago
1 like

I just put my bikes on the contents insurance. The cheap ones (<£500) cost almost nothing, one bike over a grand cost maybe £15. I'm not sure what I'm missing with these bespoke policies? I have to lock my bike to a fixed object whilst unattended, not an unreasonable condition, which I'd do anyway. Honestly, some of these bespoke policies seem more like payment in advance for your next bike.

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bobbydazzler | 4 years ago
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I've just cancelled it.  The first month was £5, then I've been charged within a pound or two of the cap every month since [over £20/month].  Feel conned, I'd avoid.

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Tobi_Laka replied to bobbydazzler | 4 years ago
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bobbydazzler wrote:

I've just cancelled it.  The first month was £5, then I've been charged within a pound or two of the cap every month since [over £20/month].  Feel conned, I'd avoid.

Hi, I'm the CEO & Co-founder of Laka and am sorry to hear that you feel "conned" as we are nothing but striving for transparency. 

If you want to share with me your name / e-mail I'll be happy to check your bills. My e-mail is tobias[@]laka.co.uk 

A few pointers. In your first month you might have received free credits with us through a referral or were only insured for handful of days (we charge pro rata for the remaining days in a month).

As to the £20 a month, this is based on your insured gear and suggests that you have insured several thousand worth of bikes - again happy to check this for you.

Our pricing model is quite unique as we no longer charge you arbitratly a premium upfront but only a share of the actual cost of claims our cycling community incurrs in a month - up to your guranteed cap. Naturally, in Summer customers pay a bit more, in Winter a bit less. Over the course of a year expect to pay ~40% below your personal cap. 

We are transparent about this and share the monthly charges online in our FAQ: here: https://laka.co.uk/en/article/how-we-calculate-your-quote-gcutxs/

We see the current trend continung and will have charged our customers less than 60% this month. 

I'll take away from this that we need to make the information even more easily accessible. 

I hope the above makes sense but do reach out if you'd like to discuss further.

Kind regards, Tobi

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AfterPeak | 5 years ago
1 like

The no lock in is a winner to be fair

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kil0ran | 5 years ago
1 like

Do you cover self-builds? All of my bikes apart from my e-bike have been built up from framesets.

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Tobi_Laka replied to kil0ran | 5 years ago
0 likes

kil0ran wrote:

Do you cover self-builds? All of my bikes apart from my e-bike have been built up from framesets.

We do! You tell us the value of the bike and we will run some sense checks to protect the Laka Community. We're not going to ask for every single reiceipt but anything you have at hand will certainly help.  

 

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Tobi_Laka | 5 years ago
0 likes

Hi SpikeBike and Peted76,

the maximum price / personal cap is a hard guarantee by our partner Zurich UK for months where we have many claims.

We expect the average cost (on an annual basis) to be half the price of the personal cap quoted. We have done a lot of back-testing with data we obtained and are confindent that his holds up. The profit margins in traditional cycling insurance are enourmous. 

We offer monthly renewals (no lock-in) and you are free to leave if you don't like the experience. We offer a £25 credit against your first bill(s) to all new customers this month.

The price is clearly important but are also keen to deliver on the product: no excess, no depreciation and a simple claims process is what we want to be known for. We reimburse customers for up to the value of the insured bike(s), whether it's new for old or time value is up you.

We're a young start-up with a radical new approach and will be able to lower the personal cap soon (offering better rates to existing customers through a gold / silver / new joiner risk tiering apporach) and will start showing historical data this month.

Give a us a try!  1

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peted76 | 5 years ago
1 like

I like the idea of it, it's 'almost' transparent, however I can only budget or make a descion based on the numbers in front of me, it feels a bit like a gamble to sign up with you... I've just been quoted up to £65 per month.. which is sounds like double what I'd usually pay, but with a 'chance' I could pay zero (unlikely)... you need to publish an historical model to base this new model on.

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AfterPeak | 5 years ago
1 like

Hi Tobi

 

We need to know the years average cost (as per your example). Is that possible?

Using the quote generator if I put £2500 then it "could" be £21 a month. That is £252 a year! way above any insurance quote from any company I have looked at.

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