bike theft insurance

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johnsouthwales
Posts: 51
Joined: 28 Oct 2012, 2:06pm

bike theft insurance

Post by johnsouthwales »

if someone nips up a shop or to a newsagents to fetch a paper which doesn't really take long, quick park of the bike and nip in.
if somebody locks the bike and leans it against the window and somebody steals it while you are inside even if you can see the bike, is that insurance policy null and void?

from what i see, an insurance policy condition states the a bike has to be locked to a permanant and unremovable structure.

what happens if somone is riding their bike and their phone rings and the rider leans the bike against a bench or a tree, or someone is walking up a street pushing their bike and they need to tie their laces, or gone to help a poor biddy two yards away who dropped her purse or shopping, and while taking the call, tying their lace or assisting someone and the bike gets stolen in that split second, what happens to the insurance? am i thinking right that if you stop to help someone and the bike gets stolen in the meantime making the policy non claimable?
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meic
Posts: 19355
Joined: 1 Feb 2007, 9:37pm
Location: Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen)

Re: bike theft insurance

Post by meic »

I think that you must lock the bike "if you leave it", then you and the insurance company get to argue over whether you left it or not.
I suspect that to enter a building (at all, no matter how quickly) without it will probably fall in their favour.
Yma o Hyd
johnsouthwales
Posts: 51
Joined: 28 Oct 2012, 2:06pm

Re: bike theft insurance

Post by johnsouthwales »

yes, that would be classed as left unattended when someone nips into a shop for 2 seconds - so they won't pay up.

however, they will pay up if you rest the bike on a park bench and tie your lace and someone swipes it in the meantime. (but that will depend if you had your back or side turned away from the bike).
if someone rests their bike on a bench whilst receiving a mobile phone call and steals the bike, they will pay up....but they won't pay up if someone wanders off a few yards whilst talking on the phone, and again turned their back for a second. what they won't say is how they define how much of a space is reasonable enough to constitute unattended.

from a reasonable point of view, i would imagine an arms length away but that's my view. but that is not always the case. when a theft takes place and the victim sees it, there is always a split second when a person mentally analyses it (hence the term i cannot believe this is happening). reaction time or frozen.
plus a quick chase time, so everything can happen happen in a space of 3 seconds and 3 metres but that obviously changes depending on a persons age and build. a tn year old kid won't have the reflex of a 20 year old. then again a 20 year old won't have the reflex of a 40 year old, so the reality is 2 seconds and 2 metres. so what is the difference being 2 metres away from the bike on a phone and 2 metres away inside the shop where the counter is adjacent next to the enterance? from my point of view, there is no differnce at all. both are acceptable distances to prevent the theft. exactly the same as the butchers.
then again it the butchers or the newsagents had blinds and prevented me from seeing the bike, that would have not been an acceptable situation so it would have been locked.

what happens if you lean the bike against the window and stand on the pavement talking to the newsagent with the bike 2 metres away? unattended.

they would evaluate cases on an individual basis, so if someone stops and gets off a bike to help someone who's fallen or anyone needs assistance, that may fall foul with the insurers

which in a way is a bit bizarre as if a newsagents counter is literally 2 or 3 metres from the outside bike. well, mine is but you get the gyst.

then again if ten year old kid robbed a bike, a 20 year old 5 metres away is more likely to catch him after 10 metres.. but a 10 year old 5 metres away won't catch a 20 year old. not even 2 metres away. so the reality shrinks again, an arms length away and may as well say 1 metre is safe enough for being in an attended position
johnsouthwales
Posts: 51
Joined: 28 Oct 2012, 2:06pm

Re: bike theft insurance

Post by johnsouthwales »

the again i've heard of a bike swiped right from underneath someone's nose whilst unlocking it and chatting to someone at the same time. after bending down to take the lock off, the thief nipped in whilst he was getting up and straightening upright. the brass neck on some folk.

did i tell you about ammanford police station has a shedful of stolen bikes? funny how stolen bikes don't get reported in the local guardian paper.. unless mistaken, i've never haven't seen any local crime reported in the paper as well, things like lawn mowers or strimmers etc.

i asked the officer if they have been accumulated over a year or something and he said no.

maybe that is the answer how i haven't heard of bike thefts locally....because it is hushed up.. but then again they can't hush up the word of mouth grapevine and i haven't heard of anything... so how have they got a shedful of stolen bikes? that doesn't make sense. unless they are abandoned bikes or confiscated.
he said a mixture of kids and adults bikes.

so if there bikes there, surely someone local would have reported at least one stolen?
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