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Bike insurance - tell us what you want to knowBike InsurancE.png

Bike insurance - tell us what you want to know

Send us your questions and we'll ask the insurance companies for some answers...
by Tony Farrelly
Thu, Jun 11, 2015 16:37
39

Every week we are inundated with fact sheets from different bicycle insurance companies telling us why we need specific bike insurance. They're all generally based around the same theme and suggest that your home insurance (which is, strangely, often underwritten by the same companies) doesn't cover your pride and joy, and only specific bicycle cover will ensure you are covered for every eventuality.

Usually these fact sheets major on the same types of information which boils down to: Did you know with some policies your cover could be invalid if:

  • a bike thief inconveniently decides to steal your bike from somewhere other than your home
  • you happen to damage the bike while doing something dangerous - like riding it
  • you store your bike in a locked shed and not in your spare bedroom

Is your bike fully covered?

So we have issued a challenge: rather than sending us the same old tired fact sheet with the same scaremongering about exclusions and lack of cover, why don't the insurance companies answer some real questions from some real cyclists (that would be you)?

We've put together a panel of experts in bike insurance from some of the leading providers so they should have no problem getting to grips with your queries, even the most technical.

So post your questions in the comments section below and we'll pass them on directly to the insurance companies. We will then post their responses in a follow up article next week.

If you don't post any questions we will take it as a sign that you don't really care about bike insurance and will focus our efforts on something else! (We're good at taking hints).

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Tony Farrelly

road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.

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39 comments

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levermonkey | 9 years ago
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1) Why can't insurers understand that asking what make and model the bike is is totally irrelevant?

After a few years the probability is that there is very little of the original bike (with the exception of the frame) left. All components are more or less interchangeable. We are habitual upgraders!

A lot of us build bikes from scratch which is even harder for them to understand. How do you evaluate the value of a bike that has been upgraded?

If I tell them of an upgrade then they up the premium; if I don't tell them of an upgrade then it invalidates the insurance.

[A sticker on the petrol tank of a motorcycle once invalidated my insurance policy.]

2) If I dare to take my bike out of the vault that I am expected to keep it in at home then I must secure it with a hundredweight of gold standard security. Why are the terms and conditions so ridiculous?

Avatar
sergius | 9 years ago
0 likes

The key things for me are:

- why so expensive versus car insurance etc.
- does anyone offer a decent policy that can be rolled into my home/contents insurance as an high value added extra.
- why not take into account usage like my car policy does? A weekend leisure rider whose bikes are either locked up or being actively ridden, pays the same as someone who rides around London every day and chains their bike up outside (from what I can see).
- what is covered exactly? My bike gets nicked from my house is one thing, what if I crash and no-one is at fault apart from me? If I crash indirectly due to another road user, directly because of another road user?
- Are policies just covering the bike, or potential losses due to damage to me?

It's a can of worms IMO, and we are being fleeced because the industry has decided that any bike over £1000 is excluded from normal home or "contents while out and about" insurance.

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balmybaldwin | 9 years ago
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@steve - you aren't taking into account the cost of personal injury claims on cars which far outweighs any financial risk due to theft/fire/accident damage

I want to know the answer to that question too - and I work in insurance.

I pay double to insure my 3 main bikes (including crash damage), they are in a locked, secure out building, each has £300 of anti theft chains, their own shed shackle etc. All my bikes (frames and components are tagged and registered

Oddly if my laptop was left in the same shed (and just the shed door locked) it's covered for next to nothing under my house policy as are all my camera equipment

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DeCockburn | 9 years ago
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How can I insure my bike which has an unusual 1990s Scanini Profilio frame with Colnago Precisa forks?

It's Columbus MS tubing. Whole thing kitted out with Campagnolo stuff and worth in excess of £1,000, but insurers websites have no idea what the fuck it is.

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Rouboy | 9 years ago
0 likes

Why does it cost so much more for me to insure my bikes than it costs fully comp to insure a 4 litre TVR a VW Tiguan 13 plate and a New VW beetle, all fully comp and protected no claims. I can only drive one vehicle / bike at a time.

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the_steve_ replied to Rouboy | 9 years ago
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This is due to the insurers charging a rate of around 10% of the value of a bike to calculate the insurance premium - from their point of view, the chance of recovering or repairing a lost/crashed bike is virtually zero; so they work prices out on the assumption of a total-loss in each instance.

Cars are far more difficult to steal, and far easier to repair and trace when stolen/damaged, so this ability to recover some of their losses allows the insurers to offer lower rates.

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I love my bike replied to the_steve_ | 9 years ago
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the_steve_ wrote:

This is due to the insurers charging a rate of around 10% of the value of a bike to calculate the insurance premium - from their point of view, the chance of recovering or repairing a lost/crashed bike is virtually zero; so they work prices out on the assumption of a total-loss in each instance.

Cars are far more difficult to steal, and far easier to repair and trace when stolen/damaged, so this ability to recover some of their losses allows the insurers to offer lower rates.

If you don't expect a total-loss every 10 years, insurance isn't worth it & you'll probably look after the bike more carefully.

But, if you live in London or another big city, 10 years is a long time, especially if you have a Pinarello etc.

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Ynotmi replied to the_steve_ | 9 years ago
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For some reason I can edit a comment, but not delete it!

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Ynotmi replied to the_steve_ | 9 years ago
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the_steve_ wrote:

This is due to the insurers charging a rate of around 10% of the value of a bike to calculate the insurance premium - from their point of view, the chance of recovering or repairing a lost/crashed bike is virtually zero; so they work prices out on the assumption of a total-loss in each instance.

Cars are far more difficult to steal, and far easier to repair and trace when stolen/damaged, so this ability to recover some of their losses allows the insurers to offer lower rates.

That's a lame answer. Even the smallest claim on the car insurance will be more than the cost of replacing the bike. And the car insurance is far more likely to have to pay out huge third party claims for damage to property, life and limb.

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