Does anyone insure their steeds?

just wondering if anyone does and if so who with?
is it worth it, or is it all a big fat con?
cheers
bad

the specialist insurance (cyclegaurd?) is a waste of time £100 per £1000 and you need to use an approved lock.
M&S home contents insurance covers items (including bikes) up to 2k outside the home, they didn't want to know what lock i was using. i think compared to other contents insurance providers they are not the cheapest but then the others will charge extra for the bikes and often have a limit of £500-1k for £400 we have two persons personal effects covered (20k limit each?) including a couple of guitars worth 1k+ and 5 bikes costing between £500-£1800 all covered outside the home. computers and laptops covered even if they are used for business.

When I had a shiney chrome Bianchi Pista that was oh so stealable I just added it to my home insurance along with my laptop, camera etc. I also bought a good lock that was isured for up to £1600. A good set of locks is a must if you are locking up outside.

Yeah mine is under house insurance.

I found (in Oz anyway) that the conditions placed on bikes and mobile phones (especially) were so tight that it was not worth bothering.
E.g. to be covered by my home and contents insurance they had to be locked inside to a solid fitting. Garages and outside the house didn't count. It ONLY covered the bike if it was stolen from inside my house.
Waste of time and money. There are bike-specific options but pay them for a few years and you could buy a bike with the money you've put into the insurance fees..

So my answer is 'no'.

My Bob Jackson is insured on my home insurance with Hiscox. It's cash replacement for £2,100 if it gets wiped out or stolen.

My Serotta is insured only within the home, basically it's covered under house insurance but is so valuable that they nor anyone else will cover it for being out of the house.

Isn't claiming insurance really easy to fake? I mean, 'only covered if stolen from home', means 'left bike unlocked outside newsagents for 5 mins, got stolen, so 'someone burgled me!'.

you need a crime ref number to claim on insurance, which means that you need to call the old bill therefore if you, lie the insurance and the cops are gonna bust your derriere...basically

You could try it I suppose, I won't. Police do dust down for fingerprints, seek signs of forced entry, want to see a disturbed flat, expect to see a list of stolen goods, etc. I certainly would never try insurance fraud, seems inevitable you'd get caught. Obviously people do get away with such stuff, but hell I even pay my TV license, I'm not about to try my hand at insurance fraud.

if you've ever had to deal with a genuine claim, you'd soon forget any ideas about trying it on.

insurance companies basically send someone round who's job it is to find fault with your claim so they don't have to pay out.

you have to prove them wrong in order to get your payout.

that's not a very pleasent experience after you've been burgled.

then your premium will go up so high that you have to change insurers

cheers chaps,
thanks for the feedback seems like a hefty set of locks and a big dog trained in small firearm combat is the way forward.

There is, in fact, an article in this week's Times about people being busted for making false insurance claims.

"I was mugged!"
"Why did it take you five hours to report it then?"
"I.. err.. um.. doh!"

That kind of thing. Don't try it on - it just puts my premiums up (if I had insurance :P)

I dunno. I lost my phone once, had to go to the police station and told them i got pickpocketed on the bus. It was the only way Orange were gonna send me a new phone, and it worked.

hmmm maybe edit that last post lpg they might track you down !!

i wouldn't dream of not insuring my bikes (or my photographic equipment) they are relatively high risk items and no matter what you do to look after them accidents do happen and chavs will try and nick stuf, I don't really leave my bikes locked up in the street but if i did they are covered, £200 a year to cover bikes/personal effects outside of the home is worth it imho as i don't have to worry about replacing anything. my insurance for 20k of camera equipment (including employers/public liability) is only £420.
i can't see the point of not insuring high value items.

i think you just have to find the right insurers,I was quoted £930! for public and employers liability but ended up paying £120 on top of my camera policy.

I used to insure my bike for years. I had to get one of their approved locks and it was about £85 a year. And every year it went up a bit. Had the seat stolen once when it was locked up outside a health club in Battersea. They even managed to get it on CCTV. There was a kid in a hooded top on a bmx who did it. Quick as you like. The cost of replacement was about £60 as it was seat, seatpost, and mudguard. Had to buy it new as my bike it my commuting vehicle, so no chance to get stuff cheap on ebay. And when it was time to claim, they referred me to the small print - that you need to have the whole bike stolen in order to make a claim. I stopped insuring my bike after that. I just try and make it look naff.

Hiscox were great when I had an accident on my Cannondale. They were great to the tune of a couple of grand for new wheels, groupset, bars, levers. The bike was pretty smashed up, and the frame survived whilst basically everything else gave up the ghost. They asked me if it was a total write-off as they could pay out the full value, I said it wasn't and that the frame had been inspected by both Condor and Cycle Fit and both agreed it was fit-for-purpose. So Hiscox just replaced everything else, taking into account my £100 excess.

Hiscox aren't cheap, you have to have a policy of £50k for contents, and bikes cannot exceed 5% of the policy value or £5k (the hard-limit for insured bikes). So nowadays my Serotta isn't covered for the full on the road stuff, but the Bob Jackson is.

Insured or not, I don't want to risk my bike. Just because I believe that Hiscox would replace my Bob Jackson, doesn't mean I want to have another 8 week waiting period whilst I get another one built and the parts shipped from around the world. A really good lock or two gives me more peace of mind than insurance, the insurance just helps me not be too paranoid about it should something happen.

Mine is on my home insurance. I lose £50 per claim but they don't give me a hard time about replacing stuff. I never lock my bike up for long where I can't see it, and use a NY 3000. I usually take my front wheel with me and stick a bag over my saddle to deter any passing rude boy.

I'm insured with ETA. 60 squid for 650 pound bike and the company also pushes the green agenda and cycling issues. Just need an approved lock (i.e. one you should use anyway) and it must be locked to an immovable object (iron fence or whatever). Does me fine.

the specialist insurance (cyclegaurd?) is a waste of time £100 per £1000 and you need to use an approved lock.
M&S home contents insurance covers items (including bikes) up to 2k outside the home, they didn't want to know what lock i was using. i think compared to other contents insurance providers they are not the cheapest but then the others will charge extra for the bikes and often have a limit of £500-1k for £400 we have two persons personal effects covered (20k limit each?) including a couple of guitars worth 1k+ and 5 bikes costing between £500-£1800 all covered outside the home. computers and laptops covered even if they are used for business.

Are you sure that M&S only insure bikes up to £2k? I hope not, I chose them because they don't require you to specify items unless costing more than £5k. I paid the extra for away from home cover, and it costs me about £20 a month. They are well known for being good value if you have a few bikes; I've got 5 or 6 bikes each worth between £1-3k and it would cost me an arm and a leg to use a specialist insurer.

Only disadvantage is that they don't cover racing, oh, and AFAIK they won't cover you if you live in a shared house.

M&S was £4000 per item when I joined them.

hmm thinking about getting insured again after Multigrooves head/windscreen incident even if its just for 3rd party

the specialist insurance (cyclegaurd?) is a waste of time £100 per £1000 and you need to use an approved lock.
M&S home contents insurance covers items (including bikes) up to 2k outside the home, they didn't want to know what lock i was using. i think compared to other contents insurance providers they are not the cheapest but then the others will charge extra for the bikes and often have a limit of £500-1k for £400 we have two persons personal effects covered (20k limit each?) including a couple of guitars worth 1k+ and 5 bikes costing between £500-£1800 all covered outside the home. computers and laptops covered even if they are used for business.

It's what I've used for years but I think you need to check your policy Mr Smyth, as far as I know it's £4k not 2...

this is a mad thread title.... does anyone NOT insure their steeds in london?

i don't, but it's because i feel like they'll screw me out of it.... somehow.