Mountain Bike Insurance

[dan1502]

My apologies if this has been done to death but I'm a bit short of time so haven't managed to do a search.

I'm about to get a decent mountain bike and having read some of the scare stories re theft am keen to take out insurance.

However I've looked at a couple of policies and one at least insists on the bike being inside the house.

I'm likely to keep it in a shed which has no windows, will probably be alarmed and I will most likely fix a strong anchor point and the shed itself has a big lock. My gate is locked as well.

Any recommendations to save me starting from scratch?

Thanks

Dan

[henrycrun]

1. Check your House insurance. If the limit is too low under 'bicycles' ask for a higher limit.
Insurer assumes bike will be locked up if you leave unattented

[dan1502]

I'm about to do this but was considering a separate policy.

[Wooderson]

I use these guys to insure my commuting bike...

www.eta.co.uk/insurance/cycle

Good cover and a reasonable premium with a handy 15% lower renewal price for this year. You need to use one of the Sold Secure rated locks they specify, but you'll find that the same for most decent policies.

Thankfully I haven't had reason to claim from them, but from what I've read in reviews of their service and word of mouth from club members, they come highly rated as being good lads with no BS.

Others to consider are Butterworths who get good reviews. FYI I would also suggest M&S Home Contents insurance, who offer excellent cycle coverage for expensive bikes.

HTH

[dan1502]

Thanks guys. The ETA insurance does look good but not cheap. I was thinking separate insurance would be best and it were it not for the cost I'm sure it would. My home insurer wants an additional £14 but will only cover up to £1,000. Ideally I would like a little bit more cover but it will do and they're not too fussy regarding locks etc so long as they are used (though I'll get decent ones anyway).

[anonymous-user]

a lot of people rate M&S but i dont know if they do seperate cover or if that is with their home insurance. mine are on the household insurance as listed items which is not the cheapest but convenient...

[Pablo16v]

pablo said:

a lot of people rate M&S but i dont know if they do seperate cover or if that is with their home insurance. mine are on the household insurance as listed items which is not the cheapest but convenient...

M&S have a very good reputation insuring bikes and I've been with them before although I didn't need to make a claim. However, a mate had both his and his wife's bike stolen from their garage and M&S paid out over £5k almost instantly. I'm not sure though if it's a separate policy or part of their house policy.

[a11y_m]

I've got M&S home/contents insurance but luckily never had to test their claims process. I find it slightly more expensive that some other home insurance companies, but the increase in price is neglible compared to what insuring all of our bikes seperately would be.

M&S cover any item up to £4,000 without having to name the item on the policy, hence that caters for the majority of people's steeds. Most of the folk I ride with have M&S policies purely for the bike insurance and a couple have had to claim, but each has been painless each time. One was for a relatively custom build too and it was dealt with fine.

[pdV6]

As above - M&S standard home contents policy. Their policies are at least competitive on price with the usual suspects and the £4k item limit with no bike exclusions makes them stand out. I switched the home cover to M&S specifically to get the bikes covered and am glad I did.

I recently made a £2.8k claim which they settled quickly and easily.

[anniesdad]

M&S switch for me too recently. Migrated from Direct Line, saving half the premium in the process(!) and for better cover (unlimited buildings/unlimited contents) plus the added bonus of the bikes being covered whilst at and away from the home. My quote was dearer by c.£100 to insure the DH bike for it's full purchase cost, but as it's value is probably far less than it's purchase cost I've insured it with the £4k limit.

One of the buying factors for me was the seemingly excellent rep. that M&S have on PH for paying out in the event of a claim.