Bicycle insurance

shaycl

http://www.onedirect.ie

Got an email from the local club regarding bicycle insurance. It might be of interest to some people on here. Cover includes €5,000 bicycle and accessories cover, €40,000 personal accident cover, theft and accidental damage and so on. Check the link ( if i have it done correctly) above for a quote. By the way , i have no connections with insurance companies, just passing on some info, Cheers

penexpers

Looks expensive. 463 euro for 3 bikes total value 5000 euro and doesn't cover racing.

Bluefoam

You could buy a fourth bike for that...

penexpers

Bluefoam wrote: »

You could buy a fourth bike for that...

I would have thought that 3 bikes total 5000 euro would be quite conservative for this forum.....

Lumen

I've had problems with the racing exclusion on my home policy. It's completely stupid - how does the fact that I race a bike make it more likely to be stolen from my home?

doozerie

Lumen wrote:

I've had problems with the racing exclusion on my home policy. It's completely stupid - how does the fact that I race a bike make it more likely to be stolen from my home?

Are you sure the home policy just covers the bike(s) for theft from the home? My home policy is with RSA and bicycle cover with them covers theft or damage to the bike away from the home (and abroad too) so it makes sense on their part to explicitly exclude racing in that case.

I've found it very difficult to get brokers to pin down exactly what cover is provided for bicycles by this policy and have been given wildly different "interpretations" (i.e. blind guesses) in the past, so even if your broker says that the insurer only covers the bikes for theft from the home maybe they are incorrect? (A stupid policy on the part of the insurer could still be the root problem of course, just don't rule out incompetence or laziness on the part of the broker either is what I'm saying I guess).

Lumen

doozerie wrote: »

Are you sure the home policy just covers the bike(s) for theft from the home? My home policy is with RSA and bicycle cover with them covers theft or damage to the bike away from the home (and abroad too) so it makes sense on their part to explicitly exclude racing in that case.

I've found it very difficult to get brokers to pin down exactly what cover is provided for bicycles by this policy and have been given wildly different "interpretations" (i.e. blind guesses) in the past, so even if your broker says that the insurer only covers the bikes for theft from the home maybe they are incorrect? (A stupid policy on the part of the insurer could still be the root problem of course, just don't rule out incompetence or laziness on the part of the broker either is what I'm saying I guess).

I don't care about cover outside the home. A reasonable approach would be to restrict racing bicycles from cover outside the home, since they are not (in my case) left outside in places where they might be stolen.

I share your experience with confusing/confused brokers and insurers.

Holiday cover is also difficult to get clarity on, which makes taking a bike on holiday even more stressful.

doozerie

Lumen wrote:

I don't care about cover outside the home.

What I meant though is that the cover might actually include cover outside the home even if you don't actually want that so the reason for their interest in whether the bike is raced might be relevant. Certainly in the case of Royal Sun Alliance I think they only offer one level of cover for bikes, which includes both theft and damage outside the home - at least, we've never been offered any variation on that level of cover. In the case of RSA though the cover is relatively expensive at about 6euro per 100euro of cover so I've always considered it too high to add my best/race bike to the policy anyway (and unfortunately I think the limit on the claimable value on a single unspecified item in the house is less than the value of my bike too so even if it were stolen from within the house I'd still be out of pocket by quite a bit).

I recently looked at the cover provided by www.getcover.ie (insurer is Lloyds) and their bike cover is much better value at about 20euro per bike (can't remember exactly but that might increase above an insured value of 1,300euro or so, plus their excess is a little higher). I didn't go with them in the end as some aspects of their general house insurance that I consider important are not as good as what RSA offer. It was a close call though and I was very tempted as their overall insurance quote was significantly lower. Their website is also very good in letting you tweak the details of the cover you want and it instantly adjusts your quote.

Oh, and yes, holiday cover does seem to be another one that troubles brokers. I've been told that my RSA policy covers bikes abroad for up to 60 (I think) days a year, and they are covered for both theft and damage just like in Ireland. When I've checked the details of the policy that seemed to confirm it, which means the broker got it right for a change. But insurers being insurers I'm still suspicious about the fine print so I hope never to have to make a claim in case my paranoia is proved justified.

DePurpereWolf

I have my bike insured under home contents insurance from allianz. It also covers if the bike gets stolen, damaged at work or somewhere else. My bike is only 1100.
I think it makes sense trying to include your bike in your home contents insurance. Specific insurances for specific things always cost more.