Bike Insurance

[keith2.2]

I was startled by the cost of insurance - after I binned my Felt AR3 on the first ride, I decided it was too expensive to want to break in an accident.

Quotes to insure my roadbike were only £50 less than it cost to insure my 4.6 Chimaera?!

[fromage]

I never bothered getting insurance either then for some reason decided to go for it and for £38 a month for all my bikes. So 3 weeks after getting insurance I had my crash while racing and had my £3200 claim in and paid in days, that's 7 years worth of insurance!

[Kermit power]

fromage said:

I never bothered getting insurance either then for some reason decided to go for it and for £38 a month for all my bikes. So 3 weeks after getting insurance I had my crash while racing and had my £3200 claim in and paid in days, that's 7 years worth of insurance!

True, but in my case, it would represent 4 years' worth of my home insurance, so not sure it's too relevant?

[fromage]

Kermit power said:

True, but in my case, it would represent 4 years' worth of my home insurance, so not sure it's too relevant?

True, though never seen a contents insurance provider that would cover my bike in a competitive event. Also this also covered me for all my kit that was damaged too which added up to £680!

[Kermit power]

fromage said:

Kermit power said:

True, but in my case, it would represent 4 years' worth of my home insurance, so not sure it's too relevant?

True, though never seen a contents insurance provider that would cover my bike in a competitive event. Also this also covered me for all my kit that was damaged too which added up to £680!

Ah, fair enough. I don't race...

[ALawson]

On a similar subject what do people do to secure their bikes, to date I just kept it in a locked garage (locked up and over and side door), having just read about some thieves withe keys or picks to the up and overs I have disabled the wires from the locking mechanism.

Is it worth chaining them up to something inside the garage? Bolted to floor?

Thanks

[AyBee]

ALawson said:

On a similar subject what do people do to secure their bikes, to date I just kept it in a locked garage (locked up and over and side door), having just read about some thieves withe keys or picks to the up and overs I have disabled the wires from the locking mechanism.

Is it worth chaining them up to something inside the garage? Bolted to floor?

Thanks

As much as physically possible - mine live in my flat (2nd floor and behind 2 locked doors) but if they didn't, I'd be looking at ground anchors and as many locks as I could. If a thief really wants a bike, they'll have it, you just have to make it not worth their time so they move on.

[ALawson]

Just added the new bike to the JL insurance, another £46 for the year which I thought was reasonable for £5k named item.

We are moving so don't really want to fortify the garage for 2-3 months!

[SixPotBelly]

fromage said:

I use https://bikmoplus.com and they have been amazing.

Much cheaper than the BC equivilliant also covers all your kit (shoes, clothes, helmet etc).

I was taken out by some tt In a completely separate race in a crit earlier in the year and they my insurance paid up with 5 days of the accident.

I bought Bikmo based largely on this thread. Last week I, along with half the pack, were taken out by some tt in the Stage 4 Accreditation test at Lee Valley Velodome. I was sent up and over the handlebars, coming down on another felled rider's bike. My Giro Synthe helmet impacted heavily on his frame and, thankfully did it's job by distributing the force away from the point of contact. It did however give its life for me, and is now fit only for the bin. At least I've £450 worth of kit cover I thought, when the damage to it was spotted after we'd hobbled back to the track centre.

However my claim through Bikmo for a replacement Synthe has just been rejected, as I was riding a hire bike at the time and not one of my own. I'd read the policy before taking it out, and again before claiming, but had missed that particular little nugget.

I'm not saying Bikmo or Hiscox, the underlying insurers, are bad companies. Just that the cover may not be as comprehensive as someone might think. Certainly wasn't as comprehensive as I thought.

[SixPotBelly]

I also asked today, and had it confirmed, that the £2m public liability cover also only applies when you're riding one of your own bikes.

I may therefore renew the £20 LVRC membership I had last year, as that gives better third party cover for free.

[Albert Bridge]

SixPotBelly said:

I bought Bikmo based largely on this thread. Last week I, along with half the pack, were taken out by some tt in the Stage 4 Accreditation test at Lee Valley Velodome. I was sent up and over the handlebars, coming down on another felled rider's bike. My Giro Synthe helmet impacted heavily on his frame and, thankfully did it's job by distributing the force away from the point of contact. It did however give its life for me, and is now fit only for the bin. At least I've £450 worth of kit cover I thought, when the damage to it was spotted after we'd hobbled back to the track centre.

However my claim through Bikmo for a replacement Synthe has just been rejected, as I was riding a hire bike at the time and not one of my own. I'd read the policy before taking it out, and again before claiming, but had missed that particular little nugget.

I'm not saying Bikmo or Hiscox, the underlying insurers, are bad companies. Just that the cover may not be as comprehensive as someone might think. Certainly wasn't as comprehensive as I thought.

I'm with Bikmo too - that's certainly very interesting. Thanks for posting. I will reread my policy.

[jimmyVX]

Ive used http://pedalcover.co.uk/ this year.

The premium was very good and included home and contents cover, a £10k bike cover including accidental damage with my house/contents cover was under £300 which I thought was reasonable.

[fromage]

SixPotBelly said:

I bought Bikmo based largely on this thread. Last week I, along with half the pack, were taken out by some tt in the Stage 4 Accreditation test at Lee Valley Velodome. I was sent up and over the handlebars, coming down on another felled rider's bike. My Giro Synthe helmet impacted heavily on his frame and, thankfully did it's job by distributing the force away from the point of contact. It did however give its life for me, and is now fit only for the bin. At least I've £450 worth of kit cover I thought, when the damage to it was spotted after we'd hobbled back to the track centre.

However my claim through Bikmo for a replacement Synthe has just been rejected, as I was riding a hire bike at the time and not one of my own. I'd read the policy before taking it out, and again before claiming, but had missed that particular little nugget.

I'm not saying Bikmo or Hiscox, the underlying insurers, are bad companies. Just that the cover may not be as comprehensive as someone might think. Certainly wasn't as comprehensive as I thought.

I guess its no different to trying to make a car insurance claim for stuff stolen during a break in while using a car not actually insured by then.

[SixPotBelly]

I don't know. Their "Keyfacts policy summary", under which the policy is sold, explicitly states that, in addition to your cycles, your specialist cycling clothing and headgear is covered for theft or accidental damage.

It does state in the exclusions that theft of clothing or headgear those will only be covered if one of your cycles is stolen at the same time, but there is no similar exclusion for accidental damage.

[SixPotBelly]

With my motor policy, I'm insuring a specific car. With this policy, I was insuring all my cycles and cycling gear. I saw it differently.