Bike Insurance

Home insurance with AXA automatically gives me cover of up to £2500 for bikes in the house or away (as long as secured when unattended). Don't need to provide frame numbers, just proof of purchase in the event of a claim. Like for like/new for old replacement but excess of £150.

I did some more detailed checking with More Than, if you choose the bike away from home add on you get your family's bikes covered up to a total of 5000pounds (although if any bike is worth over 1500 you have to list it), new for old replacement, just has to be locked to an immovable object when outside the house (even if it's in your shed or garage). Only thing I need to check now is if the locks have to be a particular Sold Secure rating...
Excess is 50pounds and the premium was about half of what M&S quoted me...

I just got a quote from http://www.greenbee.com/ about home insurance.

They appear to cost less than Hiscox and are willing to insure the Serotta for £7k and the Robin Mather for £5k on top of the various other bicycles all below £2.5k which they're happy to have included.

They also say that they only ever payout in cash on a like for like as new basis. Which is what I want as places like More>Than give out vouchers for Halfords or Evans when replacing bicycles and that just is never going to work when your bikes are fully custom pieces.

My questions to the cycling world... does anyone have any experience of Greenbee and are they really as good as they sound?

Just read above... beware insurers who give out vouchers!

These are the vast majority of insurers and basically unless you can replace your bike and everything on it from Evans, don't allow yourself to be insured by them.

I know for fact that More>Than give out vouchers, same is true of nearly every major high street insurer.

In computing we say that backups are only good if you have proven that you can restore from the backup (that is, there is no point making backups if you can't actually restore the data in the backup in the eventuality that you need to)... I'd say the same about insurance, it's only worth doing if it absolutely can replace the item you've lost. Unless an insurer is going to give you like for like value in hard cash then don't insure with them. Simples. You'll be heart-broken if you lose your NJS track bike and were only offered a Bianchi Pista from Evans in exchange.

I haven't a policy with Greenbee but did talk to them about their policy details when they were doing a promo in my local Waitrose. It sounds promising, i.e. they pay out in cash not vouchers, and I'll give them a call when it's home insurance renewal time in the new year. Hiscox won't insure us as our house is at risk of flooding according to the Environment Agency. Which sucks as after floods in the area in the fifties, flood defences were built and have never been breached.

My questions to the cycling world... does anyone have any experience of Greenbee and are they really as good as they sound?

No experience of Greenbee but obviously they are relying on the connection with John Lewis.
If they say they will insure you for these items; then essentially you should be covered. Make sure to **check your policy **documents for clarity on the particular items that you have. This is the best way to be sure but specifically ask the question when you are on the phone to them - if the chap at the other end says you are covered and you will get cash as opposed to vouchers - you should get what you want. (FSA note) If not the ombudsman will back you.

The insurance is underwritten by AXA (footer of the online form), so it depends which arm of AXA other cycling types have any experience with. It *may *be the case that AXA/John lewis have a special deal/dedicated support in the event of claim and that greenbee cover could be an enhanced version of the AXA standard cover. The best way to check - check the policy documents/summary.

regarding insurers giving you vouchers - i had a 4 bike claim last year on norwich union. it was a total pain in the arse - i had paid for the additional bike cover, and they tried to cheat me by saying i was still limited to a total claim of £1500 for everything in the shed. the bike add-on supposedly covered them for £1500 per bike anywhere in the world, and it took ages and lots of calls to india to convince them that my shed was in the world.

anyway, the point being - they tried their utmost to replace my bikes with halfords, and insisted that was the only offer on the table, but in end gave way and wired me cold hard cash. so even if you insurer tries the vouchers thing - it's worth persisting.

I just got a quote from http://www.greenbee.com/ about home insurance.

They appear to cost less than Hiscox and are willing to insure the Serotta for £7k and the Robin Mather for £5k on top of the various other bicycles all below £2.5k which they're happy to have included.

They also say that they only ever payout in cash on a like for like as new basis. Which is what I want as places like More>Than give out vouchers for Halfords or Evans when replacing bicycles and that just is never going to work when your bikes are fully custom pieces.

My questions to the cycling world... does anyone have any experience of Greenbee and are they really as good as they sound?

If any of you can afford to insure with Hiscox then I would advise you to do so. Their policy wordings are far wider than the market generally, they don't apply policy warranties and their claims service is second to none. They are generally more expensive than other insurers but you get what you pay for.

It's the same decision making process you use when deciding which bike to buy; do you want to get from A-B for £300 or from A-B for £750 in style. But of course it's slightly easier with bikes than with an intangible product like insurance.

Small diggage, sorry.
So I got halfway through this thread and am lost.
If GAG2 is around, can we have a Definitive list of insurance please?

It might be handy if we could have a synopsis of this by listing:
insurance through house insurance,
for old frames and parts,
for self builds
for bikes over £xk

Just an idea.

So after reading this thread now it seems that if want just bike insurance then the best way is with ETA even though it's a bit overkill. They've quoted me £105 to insure my bike that's worth just under a grand. Does this sound reasonable?

I'm with ETA and insured mine for a bit more than that and paid a bit more (as you'd expect). I'm happy though, not had to claim and hope not to but seems good cover and they are the only people I could find who would insure for 'agreed value' which is important if it's something you've built yourself, not an OTP.

Yes it's a build. Can do monthly payments which is a tenner which for peace of mind is well worth it IMO.

Have they guaranteed that they will pay out the new for old or replacement value, whichever is higher?

I was quite surprised when Butterworth said they would apply depreciation to my bikes.

Yep, new for old in the small print.

Wicksie, it worth taking your bike down to a local shop who will 'value' your bike (listing component, price etc.) that you can use for your insurance, that if your bike wasn't an OTP.

it helped massively, as well as a proof for the insurance company who will replaced the bike exactly down to the component choice.

Balls well I'm insured with more than, had it for q couple of months so will change next year, they do have all the specifics of my bike and if it is nicked it is described with full track setup so hopefully should at least get what I paid.

Worst case scenario they have just replaced my phone for me, and as theycouldnt be bothered to buy me a new one they gave me £350 cash which leaves me £100 up after buying a new handset (go figure) so my house insurance has only cost me £130 in total for the year.

Riddle me this..

My bike cost £4k.. if I took out my £3-400/year M&S insurance policy, it's covered.
If I put away the premium per year £400, say, it would take 10 years to acquire the value of my bike. 10 years is a long time for nothing to happen to a single bike (not to mention all my other bikes and stuff in the house also covered).

So, you can continue putting away your £400/year or whatever and I'll ride with my M&S safe in the knowledge that it will actually pay for loss or damage to my stuff.

Sorry fred: epic "I don't need insurance" fail. :P

How easy would it be to get your 4k back if it is stolen though?

Reading the T&C's on eta insurance, seems Krypto Fah mini isn't on their approved lock list, but the mini evo is.
wtf?
And on the Sold Secure website.

apologies if British Cycling insurance has been covered already, there are quite a few insurance threads, but this seems to be the fullest. Wondering if anyone's covered with BC and what the experience is like, is it worth it etc? I've got a silver membership + racing license already. I'll be riding once or twice abroad this year.
thanks for any help..

good post. just what i was looking for

^^...I'm still lost. Is there an overall moral to the story or a winner?

^^^+1

https://www.eta.co.uk/insurance/cycle/quote

I was interested in trying ETA, however, I note their "Complete list of approved cycle locks" (sourced from soldsecure.com),
http://www.eta.co.uk/insurance/cycle/approved-lock-list ,
does not include the Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit Mini [18mm] or Kryptonite New York M-18 [18mm]?!?
I've not yet asked ETA if these locks are acceptable to them, but curious if anyone has already clarified this with ETA, and has insurance with them using this Kryptonite locks?

I was hit by a car this morning on my way to work in Chiswick. Been to hospital and dealt with the police. Feel wrecked. The drivers insurance will cover my totaled bike but I have to go through my insurer Evans Cycles first. Not once did Evans ask if I'm ok. Very nice! Here's hoping they're better at putting claims through quickly.

I was interested in trying ETA, however, I note their "Complete list of approved cycle locks" (sourced from soldsecure.com),
http://www.eta.co.uk/insurance/cycle/approved-lock-list ,
does not include the Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit Mini [18mm] or Kryptonite New York M-18 [18mm]?!?
I've not yet asked ETA if these locks are acceptable to them, but curious if anyone has already clarified this with ETA, and has insurance with them using this Kryptonite locks?

Yep,
I posted it in this threadL
http://www.lfgss.com/thread17938-9.html

And wrote:

This from Sold Secure:

The product called Krytonite Evolution Mini was removed the middle of last year from our approved listings as the product was not put In for annual audit , there is a new product by Krytonite called Kryptolok series 2 mini which is a small D shackle which will be on our approved data base shortly, The product you inquire about (THE FAGH) was pedal cycle silver rated

But my insurance company (ETA) said the Fagh are on the list so their fine. I think they're confusing it with the NY 3000 though.