Bike insurance woes!

[Tim.s]

Bike insurance eh, whats that all about? Ive just been renewing mine and have had a bit of an eye-opener. I was insured with E and L last year, when i went to renew this year as my bike is something ive put together myself i had to send in a list of components and individual values. I worked out that the whole build cost me just under 1100 quid but i can only produce reciepts for £19.99 for the handlebar grips, that means for the whole of last year if my beloved was stolen i would of recieved just twenty quid! Bearing in mind i was paying £7 a month. They never bothered mentioning that when i took the insurace out and didnt even want a frame number.

So after that experience i switched to Cycleguard, got a quote online which was reasonable and clicked to buy now, on reciept of the policy documents i noticed that the policy regarding reciepts was the same (again not mentioned on the website) so i took advantage of the "14 day no obligation cancellation policy" and cancelled. Imagine my surprise when i recieved a letter asking for a £16 "admin fee" Thats £16 for four sheets of paper and a stamp. Cowboys all of 'em, guess that will tech me to read the small print.

Bike insurance...pointless, rant over.

[sjg]

Could you not get a bike shop to do you a valuation, and come up with a figure to replace with new?

fwiw, most MTBers I know insure their bikes as part of their home contents with M&S. They cover up to £4k per item, including bikes.

[Tim.s]

I looked into going with the home contents but i rent so my insurance is bit restrictive. Looking back i should of been more careful with keeping the reciepts but my bike is a bit of a Triggers broom, the bits came from all over including eBay.

[a11y_mitchell]

I'll second Marks & Spencer home insurance for bikes. Never had to claim for it, but I'd rather not find out. Only thing is that it's underwritten by Norwich Union...

[beanbag]

It's funny how bike insurance is so wobbly. I pay a premium on my home insurance and get up to €2000 of bike cover. Unfortunately my Stumpy is worth €2600 new so I lose €600 (£400), but so long as I have photos of the bike, no receipts are needed.

Just a police report that the bike was stolen and to back things up further, evidence that the lock was cut. Hardly any thieves take a broken lock!!!!

I got paid within 2 weeks with no questions asked when my bike was nicked last year!!

The same goes with my bro-in-law who lives in the UK. Just make sure you have photographic proof of your bike including detail photos of all your kit and with that, the insurers will pay out quite quickly.

BB

[Kermit power]

a11y_mitchell said:

I'll second Marks & Spencer home insurance for bikes. Never had to claim for it, but I'd rather not find out. Only thing is that it's underwritten by Norwich Union...

Thirded. It's the main reason I am insured with them. They also don't charge any extra for my watch.

[Tim.s]

Cheers, ill look into M and S. Goes to show you should always read the small print!