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Finally found a company that ticked all the boxes last year . Just had a letter saying M & S are pulling out of the insurance game 🙄 Any sensible , reasonable alternatives without wasting time filling out forms only to find the maximum value is £500 per bike .?
M&S got so expensive, ditched them years ago.
Currently with Aviva, bikes covered to value
M&S have passed their customers to Aviva, which is who we've gone with.
@fathomer So like for like then ? Reading again ( properly this time 🙄) Aviva will be in touch .
It’s not like for like unfortunately. There’s a maximum for bikes even if specified. I can’t remember off hand what it is. I need to look for alternatives also.
EDIT- just checked. It’s £5k for bikes
I spoke to them and our bikes are covered for more than that after upping it.
Ok I’ll wait and see what they offer , not due until Xmas day !
Most policies say you have to carry a 2kg lock around with you if you want theft cover away from home…
Aviva cover any number of bikes, you have to tell them the value of the most expensive. If it's over £5k you will have to contact them rather than just signing up on the website. They were OK with my £6.5k values, I think it cost an extra £40.
Yeah as above,.m and s priced themselves out.a while back. Had really great service from them after a break in at our previous house, so felt a sense of loyalty however premiums went sky high. Moved to Aviva. Good cover, not quite as good, but fair prices. Not had to claim yet tho.
I use laka for bikes now, its not as expensive as you might think. So far im paying less than 50% of what they quote. Ive yet to make a claim but all the reviews are positive. https://my.laka.co/31YQF
If it's over £5k you will have to contact them rather than just signing up on the website. They were OK with my £6.5k values,
I think M&S did this many years ago when AXA was the insurance company.
Just bear in mind it's a brand name - so they'll pause then find a new insurer to white label the cover.
Another example is Saga who do this (or at least did this) regularly.
I may be wrong and this may be the very end - but think about Marks' customer base and wealth. Every insurance company wants that level of customer knowledge and wealth on board.
Hmm. It posted the quote but not the follow up question. I was going to ask is that £5k the total value or each?
Halifax here. Cover is up to 2k unless it's a named item in which case it's up to 20k.
M&S looked pretty expensive in renewal this year. I checked moneysavingexpert for advice. It was what I expected: shop around; look for different insurers for different things to get the best coverage and best deals.
The process made getting car insurance look so easy.
After an hour or so of comparison sites and other insurers including specialist bicycle and valuables insurers I got a fresh quote from M&S (Aviva-backed) and got specialist bicycle insurance.
Some sites made valuables so hard to itemise! And some had ceiling values that were too low.
M&S and other sites had various options for bicycles of ‘high’ value. I don’t have an e-bike so the numerous ‘not e-bike’ bicycle exclusions in general insurers and comparison sites were no impediment.
After all my effort: £140/year to cover my 2 bikes. As folks have mentioned there’s a typical lock stipulation: sold secure gold. Though ‘locked to a solid object’ isn’t always mentioned if I remember correctly! Some sites had bicycle ceiling prices that were too low.
The fresh M&S quote was a bit cheaper (>£100) than the renewal quote even accounting for th extra outlay on bike insurance and its terms made for some peace of mind. The closest competitor that I could get a quote from was <10% cheaper and I would have had to spend more than that saving on a couple of valuations with associated hassle.
Does anyone know of a policy that doesn’t insist on you carrying a 2kg lock around?
We use PedalCover, seems to be bit more that 'normal' house insurance but with very bike friendly extras and sensible disclaimers.
Haven't had to claim yet fortunately so can't comment on that end of things
AA are ours with all the bikes named and valued on the policy. Covered away from home too
Laka dont require locks if your bike is in your locked garage or locked car/van.
Laka dont require locks if your bike is in your locked garage or locked car/van.
What about away from home? Do you need a 2kg Sold Secure Gold lock?
EDIT - **** me. £1500 per year at least! No thanks.
Not sure why your quote is 1500 a year mine is a lot less and im insuring to the max 30k for bikes.
We use PedalCover, seems to be bit more that 'normal' house insurance but with very bike friendly extras and sensible disclaimers.
Note that they expect you to have receipts for locks (or photos of them) if you want to put in a claim.
Get regular house insurance and then proper, seperate bike insurance. Especially if you have a handful of expensive bikes.
Get regular house insurance and then proper, seperate bike insurance. Especially if you have a handful of expensive bikes.
Why ?
My one experience dealing with m&s was phenomenal, albeit probably down to an admin error
Snapped a rear stay of my 4k road bike in a crash. Thought they'd tell me to piss off, but instead said send the receipts through. Only the frame was broken but only receipt I had was for the whole bike which I made clear during claim. Within a week they gave me 4 grand, and never asked me to send any of the bike (inc di2 and carbon wheels) back to them. So not only did I end up with 4k, but all the existing components and I even managed to sell the broken frame for repair to a chap for 160 quid!
And to top it all off, my premium went down 20 quid the next year..
Get regular house insurance and then proper, seperate bike insurance. Especially if you have a handful of expensive bikes.
Why ?
Because (omn the assumption that theres nothing particularly special about your house) you can jsut go and get some very easily avaialble, quite 'generic' but decent house insurance.
But cover your bikes to a much more comprehensive level.
Not sure why your quote is 1500 a year mine is a lot less and im insuring to the max 30k for bikes.
Was trying to add a screenshot where it showed the quote (stupid forum wont add pictures anymore) - basically £22 per month for a £2.5K bike.
4 x £5k Bikes so £20K total is £100 per month
Ive just done a quick quote for 4x5k bikes and its under 40 a month. So unless your in a dodgy postcode area i have no idea why your quote is so high.
How odd, I tried 2 postcodes at opposite ends of the country and the quote was the same…
Weird if i use a postcode 6 miles away it doubles.
Ive just done a quick quote for 4x5k bikes and its under 40 a month. So unless your in a dodgy postcode area i have no idea why your quote is so high.
Who with?
Laka bikes only quote is the same as my ending M&S house + contents. Yellow Jersey bikes quote way more.
8 bikes, although only 2 are 5k value
Complete.
🤷♂️ I've tried about 6 postcodes in various town and country locations in both Durham, Hampshire and London and they are all the same apart from the London one which is more..
I'll need to look elsewhere as Laka way too expensive.
Did you try Pedalcover? I've found them reasonable and very flexible/good for bikes obvs.
Did you try Pedalcover? I've found them reasonable and very flexible/good for bikes obvs.
I did yesterday, their quote wasn't terrible and if i need to in Dec i'll certainly take it.
Pedalcover here with CyclingUK discount.
Had it about 3 years now since M&S started whacking up their prices. In previous years adding a new bike bumps the premium up a fiver or so, but just added an Ecargo bike for £3500 and there was no extra premium...and thats only a month into a years policy too.
I particularly like that they have 3 sections; Home, Contents, Bikes. Much easier to work out your cover unlike generic policies where it gets woolly regarding garage content limits, away from home cover and you need to spend half an hour checking all the exclusions and asterisks in the T&Cs
Yeah, happy with Pedalcover to, my premium is around £500 inc. building, contents & £20k of bikes (Podium level). Only hassle is you need bike receipts so depends how good your record-keeping is if you've had them years and there's conditions around locks depending on where they are stored (mine don't need to be locked though which is great).
and there's conditions around locks depending on where they are stored (mine don't need to be locked though which is great).
Can you elaborate a bit ?
Insured Location B – a domestic garage, outbuilding or shed within the boundaries of Your Home or temporary holiday accommodation, accessed only by You, Your family or persons residing with You
Security requirements for location B
If all external doors are secured by a Deadbolt or a CEN Grade 3 closed shackle padlock, Pedal Cycles do NOT need to be locked to an Immovable Object
Otherwise Pedal Cycles must be secured through the frame, with an Approved Lock, to an Immovable Object within the structure
In addition to external security requirements, Pedal Cycles valued over £1,500, stored in a shed or outbuilding, must be secured through the frame by an Approved Lock to an Immovable Object. The shed or outbuilding must not have any exposed screws which can be removed to gain access.
So it's pretty good for a garage (I've separately had them confirm an electric roller/sectional garage door counts as secure to, although it does also depend on them doing a check of reported thefts in your area and previous claims from your address so it's not automatically covered). In sheds you still need to be locking them as well (if over £1.5k)
How do you go about listing and valuing bikes that have mostly been bought from second hand parts? I suppose I'll have conversation records online and or PayPal receipts. But that seems excessive to have to find all that.
Ive just done a quick quote for 4x5k bikes and its under 40 a month. So unless your in a dodgy postcode area i have no idea why your quote is so high.
Who with?
Laka bikes only quote is the same as my ending M&S house + contents. Yellow Jersey bikes quote way more.
8 bikes, although only 2 are 5k value
Having spent most of the afternoon on quotes, I stand corrected.
I am not able to get H+C cover to the same level that I had with M&S, including bikes, unless paying a fair bit more that I was before. Guess that's why the policy was stopped as things appeared to have gone up significantly.
Gone with Laka for the bikes. Total for that and H+C is now £20 more a month than before.