Author Topic: Cycle insurance  (Read 5771 times)

Cycle insurance
« on: 18 August, 2011, 10:21:56 am »
I was involved in an accident a month ago and my bike was trashed. Frame is fine, wheels trashed and some work needs to be done on the gears. As I bought the bike 2nd hand the repair costs worked out more than I paid it ( more than double really). So instead of getting it repaired I splashed out on a new cycle instead, with the possibility of learning to repair on the old one. This got me thinking, I know that there are insurance policies available for cyclists, but are they all third party, are there any "fully comp" as is available for motorists? This might be a really stupid question. But I'd always assumed,you trash a cycle you pay for it or is it the sort of thing that is covered under your household insurance?
Awaiting the response of the learned ones  :)
H
"Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride." - John F. Kennedy

tomtom109

Re: Cycle insurance
« Reply #1 on: 19 August, 2011, 10:18:17 pm »
Just looking through the internet and found this http://www.endsleigh.co.uk/Home/Pages/bicycle-insurance.aspx seam alright

Re: Cycle insurance
« Reply #2 on: 19 August, 2011, 10:33:15 pm »
Wife tried to add bike onto house hold insurance when getting renewal quotes from various companies, but generally will only insure upto £1000 or £1500 and will not under insure. This is when Mrs J discovered what I paid for bike #2 (which is not insured).

I would expect dedicated bike insurance to be relatively expensive, Otherwise most road racers would be claiming for a new machine each time they trash.

I would imagine bike insurance would restrict competitive racing and would probably require a lock heavier than the bike to be carried around.

If anyone finds any decent policies, please share.

Re: Cycle insurance
« Reply #3 on: 20 August, 2011, 08:44:24 am »
Thanks for the replies, I've had a look at the link and it seems the sort of thing that I was looking for. I'll look into it a bit deeper and let you know.Thanks
My household insurance covers my bike against theft as well but some of the clauses are crazy.
One of the clauses states that if I go camping (which I do sometimes), the bike is only insured if its chained to an immovable object,fair enough, but if its kept inside my van,out of sight, chained to the racking behind the drivers seat 6 foot from my tent with a fully working alarm its not covered
Is it me, but I thought it would be a case of out of sight out of mind
H
"Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride." - John F. Kennedy

Re: Cycle insurance
« Reply #4 on: 20 August, 2011, 09:15:54 am »
I thought the original question was more about insurance against accidental damage than insurance against theft. For the latter however, Marks & Sparks seem to be good. Competitive premium, fairly relaxed terms in real english, high max value of bike (can't recall what it is but it didn't trouble me) and no requirements about type / quality of lock. There's no clause that specifically requires use of a lock but there is a general clause that requires "reasonable precautions". I suppose that could be interpreted as you shouldn't leave an unattended bike without a lock but it's so general that I think you'd be fine with a minimal cable lock at a typical cyclist cafe in a low crime rate area.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Cycle insurance
« Reply #5 on: 20 August, 2011, 09:28:09 am »
It's so expensive (apart from M&S, who now use AXA and are therefore a dodgy bet) that mine are now just insured while they're at home.  The commuting bike is unlikely to be nicked as it is

(a) a weird frankenfixie MTB
(b) usually filthy
(c) locked up with a New York 3000 D-lock
(d) in a passcoded bike shed

Apart from this, bikes outside the house  tend to be left in sight, or with someone else watching them.  I do miss the days when you could leave anything with dropped handlebars unlocked, even in a "lively" part of Birmingham, and it wouldn't get touched.  I blame Lance.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

iakobski

Re: Cycle insurance
« Reply #6 on: 20 August, 2011, 09:52:17 am »
Thanks for the replies, I've had a look at the link and it seems the sort of thing that I was looking for. I'll look into it a bit deeper and let you know.Thanks
My household insurance covers my bike against theft as well but some of the clauses are crazy.
One of the clauses states that if I go camping (which I do sometimes), the bike is only insured if its chained to an immovable object,fair enough, but if its kept inside my van,out of sight, chained to the racking behind the drivers seat 6 foot from my tent with a fully working alarm its not covered
Is it me, but I thought it would be a case of out of sight out of mind
H

It's worth asking (and getting the reply in writing) if the insurance is otherwise what you want. The immovable object clause is pretty standard, I asked a previous company if bikes were insured while in a locked vehicle and they said they definitely were. Another thing we didn't realise is the clause didn't apply in the garden - the company paid for bikes that were locked to each other. On another occasion we found that the maximum value for a cycle isn't in force while in the property, it just counts as a standard "belonging" and the higher single item max applies.

iakobski

Re: Cycle insurance
« Reply #7 on: 20 August, 2011, 10:01:58 am »
It's so expensive (apart from M&S, who now use AXA and are therefore a dodgy bet) that mine are now just insured while they're at home.  The commuting bike is unlikely to be nicked as it is

(a) a weird frankenfixie MTB
(b) usually filthy
(c) locked up with a New York 3000 D-lock
(d) in a passcoded bike shed

Apart from this, bikes outside the house  tend to be left in sight, or with someone else watching them.  I do miss the days when you could leave anything with dropped handlebars unlocked, even in a "lively" part of Birmingham, and it wouldn't get touched.  I blame Lance.


Mine too. Realistically, if you lock a bike up in the open air, unattended*, it will get nicked or trashed sooner or later, and the premiums reflect that. If you don't, then you're subsidising the people who do.

* OT - We went out leafletting the other week and the number of bikes just leaning against the side of houses, or even in the front garden, not locked, was quite amazing. Though where we live is a bit like going back in time - we leave the front door unlocked even though we live in the centre of town, only once has someone walked in uninvited, who apologised most profusely for not being at the house** he thought he was.

** Clearly they leave their door unlocked too...

Re: Cycle insurance
« Reply #8 on: 20 August, 2011, 10:52:31 am »
..... (apart from M&S, who now use AXA and are therefore a dodgy bet) .....

Why's that Rodger? When M&S switched to use AXA as underwriters I checked the new policy expecting it to have changed unfavourably but was pleasantly surprised to find that it remained the same, at least in respect of bikes. I have no experience of how either company handle claims though - do AXA have a bad reputation?

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Cycle insurance
« Reply #9 on: 20 August, 2011, 10:54:31 am »
See Charlotte and Julian's tale of woe.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: Cycle insurance
« Reply #10 on: 20 August, 2011, 10:19:02 pm »
Sorry if I went off topic slightly but the thread was supposed to be about accidental damage, my fault :-[
"Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride." - John F. Kennedy

Re: Cycle insurance
« Reply #11 on: 20 August, 2011, 10:43:07 pm »
See Charlotte and Julian's tale of woe.

Theirs was quite specific in that the bikes were kept in a place away from the home (see threads passim). M&S/Axa paid out without the slightest hesitation, and in fact without a shred of proof of evidence of ownership other than a knowledgeable description of the bikes, when two of our Condors were purloined from our poorly secured shed.

PH

Re: Cycle insurance
« Reply #12 on: 20 August, 2011, 10:43:08 pm »
My bikes are insured against theft as specified personal possessions on a home content policy from the Co-Op.  I had an option when I took this out to also insure against accidental damage.  I can't remember what the premium was, this was five years ago, it must have been substantial enough for me not to take it up.  To keep my premiums down, I already have a £500 excess, quite a chunk of money towards one damaged or stolen bike, but the main reason I have the insurance is against losing all four bikes together.

Re: Cycle insurance
« Reply #13 on: 21 August, 2011, 06:33:52 pm »
See Charlotte and Julian's tale of woe.

Searched but can't find it.

Biggsy

  • A bodge too far
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    • My stuff on eBay
Re: Cycle insurance
« Reply #14 on: 21 August, 2011, 06:47:36 pm »
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Biggsy

  • A bodge too far
  • Twit @iceblinker
    • My stuff on eBay
Re: Cycle insurance
« Reply #15 on: 21 August, 2011, 07:03:22 pm »
See Charlotte and Julian's tale of woe.

Searched but can't find it.

http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=44399.75
Quote
We are insured, but the insurers' first reaction is to assert that we're no longer insured at our address because we notified them that we are moving TOMORROW and asked for the insurance to be transferred to the new address TOMORROW.

Quote
Warning:  those insured with M&S - the good stuff you heard about them wasn't about them, exactly, it was about Aviva, their previous providers.  They swapped over to AXA in July 2009, and AXA are the same shower of shit who provide insurance to the cheapies.

Blog
Quote
It was a couple of weeks ago that this happened and I forgot to update you.  AXA, our home and contents insurance providers, have finally paid up for our stolen bicycle claim.

Despite the fact that all our bicycles were returned, we were still left out of pocket by several thousand pounds.  All the bikes had been messed about with, components removed and one of them was damaged.  Also, my archery kit hadn’t been returned and compound bows are hellishly expensive.

AXA refused to pay because they said that our SEEKRIT BUNKER wasn’t part of our house (despite the fact that we’d specifically got them to write to us and confirm that when we were storing bikes there, we were covered).

Anyway, it seems that these days, it’s standard practice to trot out the, “on this occasion, your claim has been unsuccessful…” routine.  That’s how insurance companies improve their profitability and it stinks.  There was a similar tale in the Guardian today.

Fortunately, my partner Julian is an expert grinker.  She made it very clear to them that if we took further action, they were unlikely to win and quoted them the relevant statute and precedent.  Unsurprisingly, they caved in.

What pisses me off is that if you’re not a lawyer,  or you’re less well informed than she is, you’re unlikely to get the right result and get paid under your policy.
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Re: Cycle insurance
« Reply #16 on: 21 August, 2011, 07:50:45 pm »
Thanks Biggsy - I bow to your superior searching skills. Glad it turned out OK in the end.