Bike Insurance

I'm not concerned with any of that bit, it's the "current market value" part that I find chilling.

Be worth getting some clarity though- the voucher could be for Sigma, and issued in days.

Maybe.

my insurance claim (through drivers insurer, aviva) is also being assessed on the 'current market value' of my old bike. so basically I'll not be given enough money to buy an equivalent bike as it'll be near impossible to find the parts in the same condition second hand to pull it together.

all because the rules say you're not allowed to profit from the crash and getting brand new components supposedly counts as you gaining something more than you had before.

completely fucked up.

Get a quote from (say) Brixton for the replacement, tell the insurer that this is "current market value", rather than some "£value X 0.6" method that they are using.

And then call them cunts.

When I worked for an insurance adjusters, there was one company who specified how bike payments should be made (it was either direct line or Norwich union I think) the rest left it up to us.

In the three years I was there we had contracts first with wheelies then I think halfords and then someone else I forget. So I wouldn't rely on past experience, any good procurement manager will be changing each year to get the best deals (for the adjusters/insurance companies... Bit of a tangent but wheelies used to give us a 10% discount on cyclescheme bikes and we moved to them the year the procurement manager decided to get a bike on cyclescheme, which I'm sure was a coincidence!)

Also remember although adjusters have some pretty tight guidelines, if you can convince them that your bike can't be replaced by their options they are supposed to find a way of getting a replacement, basically of you are persuasive enough you can get cash.

Finally insurance is like gambling, the house always wins. I've not yet seen a bike insurance quote that didn't make me think "that money would be better off in a bank account"

My monthly premium just doubled to include my system six as a specified item :(

That's silly, it's not that expensive. Each part of it should be considered a separate item since it was bought separately. I treat my flash wheels as separate items because they are sitting there in wheel bags.

I asked that - they said no.

That would be ideal, as no component is that expensive in the scheme of things.

However, if you ask a bike shop for a quite to replace it, i.e. a super six evo Di2 with SRM and 50mm carbon wheels you are looking at over 10k

Got an e-mail from Evan's yesterday advertising their own bike insurance, don't remember seeing anything about it here? Sorry if I missed it.
Anyway, they've given me a cheaper quote than the other insurance companies I looked at from here and reading the Stolen Bikes thread every day is making me very tempted...
Anyone insured with them before?

I assume your bike will have to be replaced by something they stock?

Just as a guideline, I had an RTA in Jan 2011 and it's still under dispute. So if it was on my bike, and I had IAM insurance, I would still be waiting for a voucher to replace my bike 17 months on.

Anyone got any experience with Velosure? Got a quote at the weekend at their stall after the Sandown Sportive and they seemed very reasonable.

Ive just purchased the Onix Shimano and for price and cover, Velosure win hands down for me. quoted £149 a year while Cycle Guard wanted £173. they say they wont be beaten on price and cover on bikes over £1500, and they say they let you choose your own retailer for cycle repairs/replacement.

Velosure declined to provide me with a quote.

in the process of getting insurance, and wondering if anybody had any dealings with the post office?

AAAAND I've just cancelled my M&S Insurance, they sent me a letter saying that in light of the bike being identified to them they were putting my premium up to £72/month.

I'm insured up until the 1st of July, so need to get my skates on with regards to finding a replacement insurer.

I'm going with Hiscox - changing our home insurance, on VB's advice. They'll cover bikes up to higher values.

Hiscox provide a fantastic claims service and have a can-do attitude to problem solving. You pay more but you get a great product.

The only other insurer that matches or beats Hiscox for service is Chubb, but they can be a bit choosier as to who they insure.

If you've got nice bikes and can afford the premiums then these are the companies to go for.

ok, so the post office won't look at me....having a look at ETA, they seem to tick the correct boxes, but if anybody has had any dealings with them I would like to know....cheers

I don't insure anything really. so have never insured my bicycle. I've had a few stolen though so perhaps it would be worthwhile.

Whats the annual cost of insurance though?

Finally insurance is like gambling, the house always wins. I've not yet seen a bike insurance quote that didn't make me think "that money would be better off in a bank account"

It's not just he replacement value of my bikes I get insurance for though - I could afford a new bike today if I needed one - but it's the legal cover, third party insurance, public liability insurance etc that I really want.

The day I need any of those, it'll be more than worth all the years of insurance premiums.

If that's what you want, join the LCC, CTC or almost any group of cyclists, they all include third party and legal help.

It'll be a tenth of the cost.

Looking at insuring my bob.. not sure who to go for as im worried about some of these places replacing your bike with vouchers for halfords or whatever shit, bikes only worth £500, looking at getting a 2nd in the next 6months or so so probably total insurance of up to £1000, i dont have house insurance either

I am insured through Evans, who are underwritten by JLT online. They've been good to me. When my bike was 'written off' having been hit by a car, they just gave me a cheque for £500, despite my receipt only saying £399.99, as the RRP was £500. They let you do custom builds and there is no limit on value as far as I'm aware.

Although the guidelines are fairly strict. Bike cannot be locked up, away from it's insured location for more than 12 hours (normally one's house) and you must use an approved lock (which you probably already do) but I think that is about it.

I pay £12 a month to insure around £2000 pounds worth of bicycle.

Do you need proof of purchase for your bike? Mines all bits from here an ebay etc

Cheers jake

Hmmm, just got an online home insurance quote from M&S and they now (or maybe always did??) ask for details of all bikes worth more than £1,000. Including a couple of bikes worth £1,200 each puts the premium up by about £100 (which is roughly 60% in this instance) compared to the equivalent policy with a couple of bikes worth £1,000 each. Ouch!

Do you need proof of purchase for your bike? Mines all bits from here an ebay etc

Cheers jake

I can't comment specifically on the Evans/JLT arranged offering but I would suggest that, in general terms, you would need to prove your loss before the insurer needs to respond. This would often require that you provide at the very least invoices for the purchase of the things that are lost/damaged.

If you have bits that are vintage and have some sort of antique value then you would need to have a policy that responds accordingly and probably have independent valuations.

FWIW - I like the Hiscox policies as they tend to be reasonable to deal with in the event of a claim. This is my perception based on professional experience with them and not specifically regarding cycle claims.

Looking into insurance properly today and some of them have things in the claim forms, such as

Receipt for locks used and keys for locks used, I have amazon dispatch receipts but thats about it for my 2 kryptonites? and I obviously have the keys, going to phone up about the having bought second hand parts bits later