Bike Insurance

I use Bikmo. They were fast and efficient on the once claim I have made. Reason I'm with them is they cover bikes and bike boxes during travel which I think is a grey area for some insurance.

Plus things like you can claim a rental bike if yours is lost or damaged so your trip to Mallorca isn't ruined. Also covered a £100 taxi I had to get to hospital after a crash in the peak district.

Was with M&S as part of home insurance before, and they were good, but the cost difference was worth the extra cycle specific differences.

Hiscox won't do bikes over £3.5k and will only do up to £10k of bikes in a garage.

So would need to go to their partner company called bikmo

Bikmo want £140 pcm to insure £30k of bikes.

Pedalcover

Agreed, Pedalcover. Sensible cover (treat bikes like any other possession, think we've got £15k of valuables cover with a £10k single item limit, without specifying any details in advance. Going to £15k rather than £7k was about an extra £20pa), reasonable price, very personal service on taking out the policy, though we haven't claimed so can't judge that side of it.

Also encourage you to bundle in an excess insurance policy, so effectively you have a high minimum claim but once you're over that threshold, get the full amount paid out.

Hahahahahahahahawtf

Yellow jersey?

I put my 8 year old Dawes down as £1000 on my Bradford Bingley policy and get £2m TP cover for a tenner a month.

Hiscox won't do bikes over £3.5k

Not correct.

Provably so, given that they've just paid out £9.5k on a bike I had insured, for a stable worth £35k, and I only pay £160 per month and that includes all house contents too.

I'm actually going to promote Bikmo, based on the success and service I've had from Hiscox (their underwriters) and multiple recommendations I've had from other people on here.

There will always be edge cases, those that someone cannot insure (i.e. high value bikes stored in a low security space, or flood risk because less than 100m from an outlet or river, etc)... but the recommendations I received when I was talking about my hit and run were pretty unanimous... Bikmo. I don't use them, but I did use Hiscox and because Hiscox paid out so swiftly I feel that the recommendations for Bikmo are basically accurate... that they are as good as they say, will insure expensive bikes, and will pay out cash for those bikes in the event of a claim.

Which basically means links for https://bikmo.com will get an affiliate link, which means if people use it LFGSS will get a kick back that will fund the site, and I'll put their logo on the front page at some point.

Note: Almost every cycle insurer has asked for this at some point, I've always resisted. What changed my mind were how Hiscox handled my case, and the number of people who both privately and publicly recommended Bikmo, who are underwritten by Hiscox. Without personal experience, I wouldn't consider promoting an insurer.

Good to hear, gonna check Bikmo out.

they've just paid out £9.5k on a bike I had insured

What documentation did they require from you before coughing up - I have very little documentary evidence of the value of any of my bike / parts, other than an estimate of a like-for-like replacement value.

Hiscox won't do bikes over £3.5k
Not correct.

I don't see where they offer it (certainly not as part of their standard household insurance quote) - maybe you need to go through a bikmo type organisation to arrange it.

Did you arrange contents through bikmo too - Or was that separately, through Hiscox directly?

(I may be in the process of renewing my home & contents insurance)

Just found this on the Hiscox site:

Broader cover for your bikes when kept inside the home
We cover bikes whilst kept in the home up to your contents sum insured, valued up to £15,000 for any one bike. If you need cover for a more expensive bike just call our insurance experts on 0808 1150 696 to discuss. Cover for bikes in outbuildings (Where most of these are likely to be kept) is limited to £10,000.

What's the process for valuing 2nd hand bikes and/or bikes you've made yourself.
I've got a Kona Honky Inc (cromo frame carbon forks) that I've retro fitted with new/2nd parts to my spec incl a Rohloff that's been back to SJS for a full monty service. I've spent a decent amount on this and it's probably the only bike I have that's worth insuring.
Any advice welcome please.

I don't think this covers what @Velocio talks about when he says:

Not correct. Provably so, given that they've just paid out £9.5k on a
bike I had insured, for a stable worth £35k

…but the recommendations I received when I was talking about my hit and
run were pretty unanimous

If the Bike is involved in an accident (hit and run) or in house should be fine but not in outbuilding.

Seems a crash report from LBS was enough from here:

On the flipside, Hiscox who I've been recommending for insurance for
almost a decade now:

1st phone call 2 days ago to notify them that there may be a claim =
"Thank you, that sounds awful, not a problem". 2nd phone call this
morning to say I would definitely be claiming = "You're insured up to
£9,500 as a maximum value of one bike, this will not be a problem, as
soon as we have the report from your LBS we'll issue a cash payout".

Yes.

Cycle Fit quoted the price to replace like-for-like. The price today is higher than the bike was originally purchased for as the prices have increased due to exchange rates and material costs, etc.

The incident was a hit and run, I did not have the third party insurance detail, did not have help from the police, had to rely solely on the police reference number and the LBS quote... but Hiscox paid full value, no argument, agreed within 24 hours of them receiving the quote from the LBS, paid in 3 working days afterwards.

Basically... it's what I wanted from the insurance, and you sign up hoping it will do that based on their advertising, but you never know until a claim is made.

I would now strongly recommend any insurer that either has Hiscox as the underwriter or is Hiscox.

Prior horror stories of things like "they gave me vouchers for Halfords or Evans" (from insurers like More>Than) just do not compare to the experience above of a no-quibble cash payout to like-for-like replace a bespoke bike written off in a hit and run.

Also note... when I spoke to Hiscox originally it's very obvious when you speak to their sales that if your requirements don't fit the policy that they will walk over to an underwriter and get a quote for what you do want. It wasn't constrained to what they advertised.

I'm with Hiscox too (will probably move the most expensive bikes in the house!). They are a premium insurer and I'm paying for that premium.

To provide some balance, I have quite a lot of experience with insurer/insured disputes as part of my practice and more often than not, the insurers are not great when reasonably high claims are being made (there is redress available if claims are initially rejected). I would advise before making any claim to read terms and conditions closely and especially before making 'the call'. Home insurers record calls and can categorise a claim for rejection easily.

What's the process for valuing 2nd hand bikes and/or bikes you've made yourself.
I've got a Kona Honky Inc (cromo frame carbon forks) that I've retro fitted with new/2nd parts to my spec incl a Rohloff that's been back to SJS for a full monty service. I've spent a decent amount on this and it's probably the only bike I have that's worth insuring.
Any advice welcome please.

Keep receipts when you purchased.

Take some photos of the bike to show the components if you don't have receipts.

Estimate value based on the cost of replacing it with like for like today.

If a component is unavailable look for the nearest equivalent even if it costs more than the original.

Bear in mind that all insurers legally compel you to minimise the claim, so you can't just inflate things. If you bought second-hand, a fair value is the price to replace a component also second-hand, i.e. eBay... you can't just swap second-hand for new if it's still available.

If you bought new, then typically you can replace like-for-like, i.e. with new.

Ultimately... the keyword for anything like this is "reasonable". If it ever ended up in dispute, was the value you estimated reasonable in the eyes of a neutral third party. English law loves the word "reasonable" as it leaves a lot of flexibility in the interpretation but does compel you not to go nuts.

So long as you've been reasonable in the estimation of the replacement value (not the estimation of the original value), and can show that you had the items and the condition... you're good.

Hmm.

I may invite Bikmo to join the forum to answer such questions directly. After all, I am not an insurer or lawyer, and they are an insurer.

cheers @Velocio for your input, very sensible.
I might wait and see if Bikmo sign up here and start taking questions before I plump for them.
Thanks again

Hi All, ready and waiting for questions.

@TheShipwright is there anything specific we can help with?

Hi @Bikmo, i rang you today actually so I think im sorted thanks very much.

However in case it helps others i was told to base the value, even if partly assembled from 2nd hand parts, on replacement value.

Thanks and its good you're on here to answers q's etc.

Good idea @Velocio.