Cycle insurance in 2013 - no longer M&S?

[Bledlow]

I don't insure my bikes. I gave up doing so when the mustelid tendencies of the insurance industry  persuaded me that the chances of being properly compensated for any losses would, in reality, be minimal. To do so in a way that they were properly covered would cost a new bike's worth of money every year. I keep them well secured, and in several locations, when not being ridden. When out, I strangely only usually ever have one with me.

This.

The bike that's most likely to get nicked (ie. the one I tend to lock up unattended for more than 5 minutes) could be replaced for under a grand.  That's about two years insurance premiums.

Same here. I've saved the price of a few bikes by not insuring them.

Insurance is for spreading risk, so you don't get crippled by big losses. It's not worthwhile for anything you can afford to replace.

[marcusjb]

Yep - the bike that is most likely to get nicked (a fixed that'd cost about £5-600 to replace) would probably not even be worth claiming for by the time that future premium increases are taken into account.

I have no idea what to do with insurance currently with a new £6K tandem on the cards in the next year.  I know, we tend not to leave it anywhere for very long, even when touring.  And it will be secured well at home.  But, that's the sort of money where you can't afford to replace it. 

[orienteer]

I agree it's not worth taking out dedicated bike insurance, where the premium is usually at least 10% of the value; better off saving the money towards an eventual replacement.

But many household policies cover bikes for much less, or even at no additional cost, and so can be worthwhile.

[Kathy]

Well, to add the two bikes above the £2k limit to the policy, it will up our annual premium by £175. 

Time to shop around, but I'm not sure whether I'll find anything better.

As for AXA - when my bike was nicked this summer, they were wonderful and lovely at dealing with it.

[SpaceBadger]

I noticed the same small print as the OP when my renewal came through. After a chat with them to clarify, I specified the ones I needed to so that I didn't have a gap in cover whilst I shopped around.

To minimise the increase in premium, I increased my voluntary excess. The made the new premium far more reasonable. As of today, several months later, I haven't quite got around to "shopping around" and am still with M&S. I feel that the opportunities for contents based cycle insurance for no extra premium are increasingly numbered...

[Aidan]

I went with Direct Line. Named bikes covered for a surprisingly small amount, total for year less than half M & S premium.  Had good experience of Direct line handling car claims so happy they won't stink if it comes to making a claim.

[Ham]

Just a word of warning, the opportunities for contents insurance including cycles are NOT reducing BUT what is happening is that the companies are stripping cover out of home policies in an effort to get to the top of the screen scraper agglomerators like confused.com etc. If you are seeing cycle cover disappearing out or being factored down in your current policy, the chances are that there are other hidden changes that you may not have noticed, or your cover is not all you think it might be.

Along with this trend is the launch of "Premium" insurance products that mostly have cycle cover in. The more you delve into this and start comparing the detail, the more painful and confusing it will get. My advice is to assess each element of the risk you are insuring separately, take on voluntary excess if you can afford it, but be careful again, there is a point of diminishing returns reached quite quickly. Don't necessarily trust a call centre assistant if you are going off script (eg "What security do I need for my bikes?") And - if you can bear it - read the policy documents for the small print.