Bike insurance - recommendations

[jimbouk]

Woo I got a shiny bike as an early Christmas present. Worth £850 so got a 'silver' bike lock (gold ones were ruddy heavy let alone more expensive). So insurance is the next job.

- ETA insurance looks rather comprehensive, low excess (<£50) but comes in at £80.
- Our household cover will do it for £10 extra, but £100 excess and not sure about whether 3rd party liability is covered (will call to check).

Anyone got a recommendation? I don't mind paying a bit more if claims are handled fairly and without hassle, not that I'm expecting my bike to be stolen but I do live in Bristol... Busy roads in places so crazy drivers and suicidal pedestrians are also expected.

Bike's in a locked shed overnight which seems ok by the small print, and at a train station during the day so locked to a 'fixed' thing.

Cheers!

[TAKTAK]

At the risk of teaching you to suck eggs: Remember to lock your wheels - If you only have 1 lock then consider a second or drop the front wheel out and lock to the rear + frame + secure object. http://www.stolenbristolbikes.com/p/...revention.html

Personally I use a Kryptonite D-Lock and an Oxford chain; D-Lock through the rear, frame and object, chain through front, forks, frame and object if possible. You can always mount the locks on the bike when they're not in use so you don't have to lose space in your bag.

In answer to your actual question, mines covered under the contents insurance with Endsleigh fairly cheap. It's worth registering with Bike Shepard etc too. It's perhaps also worth mentioning that despite Bristol's roads being full of pillocks, the only real incident I have had was nowhere near a road

[jimbouk]

Cheers Taktak

I've got reasonable cable lock from a previous bike which I'll run between the wheels and frame Looking forward to riding it tomorrow!

[scaryjim]

I'm with ETA, mostly because my bikes are the only thing I can't afford to replace if I lose them (hence no home contents to put them on). Most important thing is to read all the small print about what the bikes must and mustn't be locked to when in the home - my experience is that a lot of cycle insurance requires bikes that are indoors and out-of-sight to still be locked to something immovable, while ETA doesn't. Also, check the construction of the shed, as almost all cycle insurance is very picky about that (e.g. a lot won't cover generic metal sheds - ETA insists on "a privately-accessed, metal, purpose built bike container" and I don't think any cover plastic - wood sheds are just about the only universally acceptable shed).

Also worth remembering that ETA bike insurance comes with third party and personal injury cover, as well as breakdown assistance. Hopefully you'll never need the first two, but I can see the breakdown cover being really useful if you have a long commute or ever plan to do any leisure cycling over a reasonable distance. The chances of getting through a couple of years of biking without something breaking, or you getting a puncture and not having appropriate kit to repair it, seem slim to me. It's not comprehensive (e.g. they'll take you to a train station if there's an appropriate one that will get you home), but it strikes me as being a nice to have extra.

[jimbouk]

Cheers Jim,

Yes it's all in the small print! I gave Legal and General a call and talked through the various exclusions etc and they all seemed reasonable. I questioned outbuildings and shed with a normal padlock was fine (wouldn't be true if the value of the bike was higher). 3rd party liability is included on a bike (the policy document was rather confusing about 'vehicles').

ETA definitely looked like the better option for serious cyclist though, I guess with all the added benefits it's probably a better deal if you have multiple bikes.

[scaryjim]

... ETA definitely looked like the better option for serious cyclist though, I guess with all the added benefits it's probably a better deal if you have multiple bikes.

Yeah, I've currently got mine and my son's bikes covered. The good thing about ETA is that they'll cover anyone using the bike with your permission, so we both get the full third party/personal injury/breakdown cover. For £70 a year, it was a no-brainer. I've generally lost a bike a year to theft in Manchester, so I reckon it's one of the few things worth insuring for me.