Cycle Insurance - any good ones?

[rmurphy195]

If you don't want to add them to your home insurance (Some have limitations that might not suite you) the TSB do a stand alone policy that looks good value. It's based on the value of your most expensive bike and the rest are then covered, so it's value will vary depending on your bike collection.
https://www.tsb.co.uk/home-insurance/bicycle-insurance/

Excellent suggestion. Ran the details through and it came back with a quote of £3.18/mo. Much more acceptable. I need to get ahold of my home contents documents and have a read. It could turn out I’m covered already. Or just need to call them and add a tweak. Although. Dealings with car insurance companies. Said “tweaks” always carry a £30 administrative charge. So starting a separate coverage would prove less costly.

+1 for this, covers your third party risks and other bits as well, worth a look through the policy booklet. Ideally you need not judt the bikes covered,but 3rd party and legal cover as well. I have this insurance, its called "Pick and Protect" or somesuch.

[Nigel]

If you don't want to add them to your home insurance (Some have limitations that might not suite you) the TSB do a stand alone policy that looks good value. It's based on the value of your most expensive bike and the rest are then covered, so it's value will vary depending on your bike collection.
https://www.tsb.co.uk/home-insurance/bicycle-insurance/

Excellent suggestion. Ran the details through and it came back with a quote of £3.18/mo. Much more acceptable. I need to get ahold of my home contents documents and have a read. It could turn out I’m covered already. Or just need to call them and add a tweak. Although. Dealings with car insurance companies. Said “tweaks” always carry a £30 administrative charge. So starting a separate coverage would prove less costly.

+1 for this, covers your third party risks and other bits as well, worth a look through the policy booklet. Ideally you need not judt the bikes covered,but 3rd party and legal cover as well. I have this insurance, its called "Pick and Protect" or somesuch.

Watch you don't end up double insured for the same thing - it can cause chaos at claim times as each tries to argue its the other company which should cover it. You really don't want to be there.
Most household insurance has "third party liability" cover, which covers the damage a member of the household might do to someone else's property whilst riding a bike. (The clauses won't mention bicycles, but they will exclude motor vehicles, powerboats and the like).

The open question is what legal cover one has (depends on house policy), and then the cover for bicycle loss (theft and accident).

[PH]

Self-insurance.
ie save the money and take really good care not to have your bike stolen.

Insurers dont run a charity, they have to make a profit. If the risk is high, the premiums must be too.

+1
If you can stand the loss don't pay for insurance, bank the money you'd have spent. Over the years I've accumulated enough money to buy zillions of sets of contact lenses, several bicycles, several washing machines, gas boilers etc. etc. You are paying for the insurance company to make money and also for people who are less careful than you are. It might just be worth it if you are far less careful than average but then they'll just load your premium after the first claim anyway!

Well yes, everyone should assess their risks and decide for themselves if the premium is worth it, but there is no right or wrong, two people may well arrive at different conclusions either due to different circumstances or perceived risk.
Without going into the figures, I bought my three bikes over the last 16 years while my disposable income was considerably higher than it is now. I could maybe manage to afford a replacement if I lost one, though it would require some economising and depending which one it was I'd be unlikely to replace it with anything as good if at all. In the case of all three being stolen at the same time from my home, an unlikely scenario but not unknown, there is no chance to me replacing them all, it would take around 30 months of disposable income. That's approximately 80 years of premiums and I can afford that. Of course if I never have one stolen and I ride for another 25 years (Which is a bit optimistic) I'd have given the insurers the cost of one bike and received nothing back.
There's also how you use your bikes, you talk of care, but there's also a large element of luck. I know riders and I read comment on this forum about never letting your bike out of your sight. That doesn't suite my usage at all, I was out on a club ride today on my most expensive bike, stopped off in town on the way home for a bit of shopping, bumped into a friend, went for a pint and chat, didn't concern me at all that my bike is in the town centre for an hour, it's locked and insured! That peace of mind does have value and I'm happy to pay for it.

[meic]

That's approximately 80 years of premiums

Cycle insurance at 1.2% of the value per annum.
People dont normally get that sort of value for money.
Then there is always the possibility with many insurers that the payout offered when you have to claim can be very derisory to say the least. That is if you have met all the requirements of preventing the theft in the first place, it is quite likely that the bike got stolen because the owner made a "mistake".
I seem to recall the last insurance would not pay out for bikes stolen from the car, which is the most likely way mine would be stolen.

[garibaldi]

Hi all,

I've been looking into bike insurance and it all seems a bit of a minefield. I know most people have their bikes insured under home contents but having looked into that option, premiums and excess seem to always be higher or equal to specialist insurance.

I've used Tesco's contents insurance in the past - it's good value - but they have a limit of £1000 per bicycle, which wouldn't cover the most expensive bike. Policies with higher upper limits seem to get very expensive very quickly.

Pedal Cover (home + cycle) generally gets good reviews and their prices are supposed to be quite competitive but the quote they have given me is way over that of any other providers.

Cyclesure (cycle only) seemed like a good option as their prices are competitive and they come recommended by CUK but I've read quite a few reports of claims being denied, which is worrying.

I'm leaning towards a specialist cycle only insurance as they tend to offer other benefits not covered by home issuance, like cover abroad, accessories, accident cover, etc.

Do you have any recommendations on bike insurance? What do you use and did you ever make a successful claim?

Many thanks!

[tatanab]

I suggest you talk to an insurance broker, an old fashioned family one where you get to talk to people. Mine put me on an AXA house contents policy some years ago. I have 4 machines on the policy, the most expensive being £4000. They are listed as named valuables in the same way you might name valuable jewelry. I am surprised that you have found these policies to be more expensive than specialist ones, as far as I can tell adding my cycles has made no difference to the cost of my policy, whereas specialist insurances have a premium of around 10%. I have never had to claim, so I have no idea how much resistance there might be.

[Oldjohnw]

Tatanab's experience is similar to mine (with Admiral). The only limit is that I have gold level lock at all times, including when in my locked shed. Not an invonvenience at all.

[mjr]

TSB and Lexham are the two standalones I've suggested in the past but I've not checked that they're still as good today and I've never claimed off either (because I'm insured as part of my co-op home insurance) so I'd welcome any reports about them.

[garibaldi]

Just got an online quote from TSB and it came to £471.32 for bike insurance only which... seems quite steep!

I'll take the above advice and look into brokers. I don't really mind carrying a gold grade lock when out and about in town or having to use it at home. A bit less keen taking it on long rides but there's also less risk of the bike being stolen in that context.

Thanks

[PH]

Just got an online quote from TSB and it came to £471.32 for bike insurance only which... seems quite steep!

Was it a quote from here?
https://www.tsb.co.uk/home-insurance/bicycle-insurance/
Do you live in Beirut or Amsterdam? Or have a £20,000 bike?
My most expensive bike is just over three thousand (Policy is based on the most expensive and all others are covered) I have the excess set at £250, I don't have the most desirable postcode and my premium has just been renewed for less than 20% of that.

[Oldjohnw]

My cover (for £1700) increased my contents insurance by about £30 with Admiral. My car cost way less than the TSB quote.

[truckturner]

I Have my cycles covered on my home contents insurance. For years I paid a high premium with Prudential thinking they were one of the only insurance companies to cover kit out of the house. I now use Hiscox The cover includes the contents of outbuildings within the grounds up to £10000. Contents of outbuilding out of sight of the house up to £5000. Contents of my van to £2000. locked up bike anywhere £3000, plus the household cover for under £200 a year. I do not have to specify any single item but I would assume I need to provide some proof of purchase if I made a claim. I would have had to pay Prudential £650 for a fraction of that cover. I think Hiscox pay for accidental damage while riding as my contents are covered for accidental damage but not sure. My main concern in relation to loss is theft from outbuildings. I would not lock up an expensive bike and leave it despite the amount of cover I have a basket bike for that.

I work in the Criminal Justice System so I see a lot of crime. Emptying garages and outbuildings of their contents is big business for thieves especially in relation to cycles which are easily moved on. However, I pay a lot of insurances nowadays and can understand the idea of saving the money and taking your chances.


Cheers Peter

[garibaldi]

Just got an online quote from TSB and it came to £471.32 for bike insurance only which... seems quite steep!

Was it a quote from here?
https://www.tsb.co.uk/home-insurance/bicycle-insurance/
Do you live in Beirut or Amsterdam? Or have a £20,000 bike?
My most expensive bike is just over three thousand (Policy is based on the most expensive and all others are covered) I have the excess set at £250, I don't have the most desirable postcode and my premium has just been renewed for less than 20% of that.

Yep. I supposed I do live in a high risk area and I've entered £2000 for the most expensive bike but CycleSure, for instance, is quoting £125 so quite a bit of a difference.

[rmurphy195]

Just got an online quote from TSB and it came to £471.32 for bike insurance only which... seems quite steep!

I'll take the above advice and look into brokers. I don't really mind carrying a gold grade lock when out and about in town or having to use it at home. A bit less keen taking it on long rides but there's also less risk of the bike being stolen in that context.

Thanks

Much scratching of head - I have this cover, and I've just got myself a quote for it again to see what happens, and got a quote of £25.20pa. £471 looks like a quote for house buildings/contents etc as well!

[PH]

Just got an online quote from TSB and it came to £471.32 for bike insurance only which... seems quite steep!

I'll take the above advice and look into brokers. I don't really mind carrying a gold grade lock when out and about in town or having to use it at home. A bit less keen taking it on long rides but there's also less risk of the bike being stolen in that context.

Thanks

Much scratching of head - I have this cover, and I've just got myself a quote for it again to see what happens, and got a quote of £25.20pa. £471 looks like a quote for house buildings/contents etc as well!

Me too, they must really dislike garibaldi's postcode or biscuits, my TSB premium is about a third of that quoted by CycleSure.