[Closed] Home insurance good for bikes

I just did compare the market for our renewal, and it lets you enter bike values and details, etc. 4 bikes in out household worth over £1500, and the best quote was Swinton.
£148 buildings and contents, bikes covered in and out of home, including accidental damage.

I did also get a quote from Pedal Cover because people always rava about them, but they came out at £650 for the identical level of cover.

Pedal Cover.

I’m intrigued by the reference to Swinton above, but I’d be inclined to read their small print very well as IME they don’t cover to the same levels as the likes of Pedal Cover, John Lewis and M&S. Hence the price difference.

The cheapest that fits your needs on a comparison site is the best.
Overpaying insurance companies is a mugs game.

Aviva for me.
Was with JL until a couple of yearscago when they ramped Up the bike cover cost.

Royal Sun Alliance for usb also Aviva.

Pedalcover

Pedal cover were a PITA when I looked at them, they were only marginally cheaper than M&S at the time ( a few years ago) & I needed to take out a seperate policy to insure the insurance, or something. Plus I kept being pestered on the phone by them.
I'm with the AA now which covers all I need including a 3K filing cabinet both at home & away.

Pedal cover blah blah blah every time on here. It's overpriced and every time I say do a compare. As the first response said, go on the meerkat or whichever you choose put in your details/desires/antiques/treasures and go from there. When you've got your results go through to the one you fancy then ring them up, quote your quote number and have an actual conversation as I did on Thursday confirming the details are accurate and that things like our bikes are insured when in my van outside the premier inn at Merthyr.
4 bikes in and away from the home ranging from 1k to 3.5k, 2 watches at x amount, 5k of personal possessions including cameras tablets and even phones, legal, accidental, 100k contents 200k rebuild, freezer (how many puzzas) water escape, lock and key replaxement 150 excess all for 22 quid a month.
Could have gone cheaper but I liked this policy.

Just changed to Aviva from Pedal cover.

Thanks folks

Pedal Cover want £400 off me this year. Normal ones want about £170 with four bikes in the £1000-1500 range specified.

Just switched from Direct Line to Admiral cos they are about half the price.

If you've been happy with your insurer last year but they have hiked the premium, just tell them you won't accept an increase (or, say, 2%) so you'll be going elsewhere. The call-centre person will pretend to talk with their manager then come back and agree not to increase your premium.

Almost any decent household insurer will cover bikes; we are always very careful to get the bikes and the values noted as single items of value on our policy. It will always be for when the bikes are locked in an alarmed garage or in your possession.

If you’ve been happy with your insurer

How does that work then? 😆

Careful, quite a few policies don't cover out buildings (i.e. sheds) and if they cover integral garages they only cover them when they have an internal door connecting them to the house.

Very annoying.

PedalCover cover outbuildings and integral garages without connecting doors which is why I'm with them, all the cheaper quotes didn't actually cover me once I'd gone into the small print.

They did jack up my premium this year though, which hurt and I kicked off at them about it, if they do it again I'll be shopping around.

DrJ

Member

Just switched from Direct Line to Admiral cos they are about half the price.

Did the same 2 years ago Admiral Platinum IIRC and it allowed me to specify each bike & value and I uploaded a picture of each (I think) I was surprised how little extra cost it was adding 11 bikes 😮

Admiral here, specified 4 bikes of not insignificant value and their premium was the cheapest from a couple of the comparison sites. I haven’t gone through a claims process yet though - and hopefully won’t 😁

I've been with Lloyds for contents insurance for the last two years. The bike specific part of it is very good, you can specify individual bikes over a value of £500 and specify the value for each one too. They're covered in house/any shed/locked up in town/in the car and covered for accidental damage while riding too. Plus extra cover for accessories/riding kit/legal cover etc.

I got to test it last autumn when I crashed and badly dented (unsafe to ride) a 4 year old YT Wicked, they paid out cash for the equivalent brand new Capra of the same value as when new, all a very painless process too. Just needed confirmation from a LBS of my choice that the bike was a write off. Think I pay a smidge over £200 for the year for 4 bikes over the value of £1000 covered, with a £50 excess.

Edit: forgot to add that I think I got a reasonable discount due to having a current account with them.

Admiral here, specified 4 bikes of not insignificant value

Did you have to speak to a human being? I'm at renewal time so took a look but it throws a hissy fit on the Web when I put in a 6k cover amount for my bike.

Good prompt - I need to add another bike onto my NFU Mutual cover!

Think they were decent enough, nothing fancy in terms of cover - would need to check and compare against eg PedalCover for away from home and stuff.

We're with John Lewis - they're pretty good so far.

Did you have to speak to a human being? I’m at renewal time so took a look but it throws a hissy fit on the Web when I put in a 6k cover amount for my bike.

Do it on the meerkat page.

Pedalcover were an absolute rip off when I got a quote from them. I got the same level of cover with 4 bikes on Admiral for a significantly lower price. You can add them one by one on their quote and it'll change the price dynamically with each one, it's pretty useful.

been with Pedelcover for a few years, just renewed with John Lewis who were £100 less than PC

Admiral here, specified 4 bikes of not insignificant value and their premium was the cheapest from a couple of the comparison sites. I haven’t gone through a claims process yet though – and hopefully won’t 😁

A friend had his camera bag snatched from beside him in Pret and Admiral were pretty prompt to pay up, so I'm hoping they would be OK (knock on wood)

I got the same level of cover with 4 bikes on Admiral for a significantly lower price.

Anyone with admiral able to do me a copy paste of the relevant bit of the policy schedule? Best I can find is from the policy booklet which notes I can add away from home cover for the bikes but they need to be locked (fine) with a security device. The small print says additional security is required for bikes of specified value (e.g. Over £350). What's needed is in the policy schedule which I don't have. I'm not keen on having to use a gold sold secure lock inside and out for my bike to be covered. That's the reason I ditched my previous cover and ended up with pedal cover, Morethan required locked (gold sold secure) in a locked building and my stand alone bike insurance required gold outside which meant a lock heavier than me.

D’oBrain, are the Gold Standard locks and padlocks not super-expensive too.

I looked a while ago and they’re selling for £80-£120 a pop. I ended up buying a Silver spec padlock which was about £40 iirc (Bought for piece of mind rather than an insurance condition).

If some insurers are requiring Gold lock standards then may be a false economy? Or worse, they’ll just wriggle out of settling claims.

I am with Pedalcover. I have had cover with Admiral in the past but I was going on holiday and asked if the bikes were covered from theft from the roof rack and it turned out they weren't, even if they were locked.

Pedalcover paid out quickly for me when I had a bike nicked from the back of a work van earlier this year. Admiral had said they wouldn't cover that too.

😲...a whole world of padlocks to spec: https://www.padlocks.co.uk/

I can’t quite believe the price of some of the Sold Gold Secure (level 5/6) spec locks!

I can’t quite believe the price of some of the Sold Gold Secure

The cost I can cope with - I have one which I use if I'm going places the bike will be left in view/outside overnight. But they weigh a metric ton and aren't exactly portable sizes either. The bigger thing was the requirement for them to be locked up in the garage with an ss gold lock. No extension cables were gold standard that meant one lock per bike to individual ground anchors because of how/where the bikes were stored. That was a royal pita. More over anywhere I took the bike had to have an anchor, so a hotel with bike storage that didn't have an anchor I could get to? Nope. In my room in a travel lodge, not of it's not locked to something secure. In the car overnight only if I locked it to the fabric of the vehicle. In practice that meant bike outside locked to the lamp post in order to be covered.

Obviously policy to policy, provider to provider that varies but with more than that was any bike over 1k.

Fwiw the admiral site mentions a "Of course, if you're riding around on a £1,200 titanium-framed beauty with a set of high-spec disc brakes then insurance is likely to be high up your list of priorities." which I can't say instills confidence in their valuation of my bike if I had to claim. (my emphasis)

So I ended up with admiral and I specifically asked if my bikes were covered inside my van outside a hotel such as the premier inn at merthyr. Lady on the phone said yes, I will now go back to them first thing in the morning and check as nothing was mentioned about locks.

I'm with pedal cover.

When dialed down into small print of most other insurers....the contents of my garage...never mind the bikes wasn't even covered due to the lack of the afore mentioned door.

Most assume you have a lawnmower and a couple of spades and will give you 1500 quid cover.

Pedal cover also cover my bikes in transit on as plane as standard

They cover my bikes in the back of my camper van

They cover them locked up out and a bout

The only issue I have is that their new for old is only on bikes <10 years ..... But then given that the likes of aa and admiral specified 3 years as their new for old max when I looked I'll live with 10years.

In all I disagree that pedal cover are over priced for my needs and that meercats also although has inputs for alot.....the. Policies it return often don't include all the options you inputted so often when I read the paperwork you weren't getting the cover you thought for the price. Verbal over the phone isn't worth the paper it's written on come claim.time.

We're with Aviva for both home and cars, and are paying less now than we were for just the cars last year.

Bikes didn't need to be listed individually and are covered under the umbrella cover level, in unattached outbuildings, cars, etc, as long as they are locked to an immovable object (I use Pragmasis Sold Secure Motorcycle Gold ground anchor/chain/lock). I specifically asked whether they needed to be listed individually over a certain value per item and was told no, not as long as the overall cover is sufficient.

Admiral are saying in the shed is fine without locks, in the van is a no. ****ing idiots had told me it was ok initially.

Sorry wrightyson but thank you all the same

Aviva here with extra bike cover upto £5k. Covers outbuildings / garage / in car as long as locked.

Pedalcover was £1000, yes, £1000 more.

Crikey DT, my whole premium with them is 360 ish!

After replying to Pedalcover’s ‘are you renewing with us or not’ email, I said not. They phoned me today and offered to halve the broker fee and, if I wanted, remove the excess cover policy (excess is £350) which brought it down to £300.

Just been through this loop. Ended up renewing with Pedal Cover but minus the excess insurance. Good cover for the bikes and also possessions away from the home. Yes it may have been a little (~£30) more than others but the lack of stupid restrictions on the bikes sealed it for me this year.

I've just finished sorting out a claim through Pedalcover.

Been insured with them for years now and the policy has always been the cheapest. Just had a not insignificant claim for accidental damage which wrote off my bike. They dealt with it pretty quickly and paid out with no problems. The comapny they use for the excess insurance weren't great, in fact quite the opposite, but I got there in the end with them too.

I'd be pretty sure i'll renew with Pedalcover unless the renewal is atronomically high, next time though I'll sort out my own excess cover rather than the company they use. I can't be arsed with phoning round loads of insurers who tell you any old nonsense regarding what's covered, just to save £20 a year!

My policy with pedal cover is circa 300 quid as well.

You got a few claims against you or live in a dodgy postcode of something wrightyson

Someone with time on their hands needs to put up a website breaking down the various insurer options regarding bikes under contents policies...

I've been with Pedalcover a few years now (since M&S stopped being cyclist friendly and their premiums sky-rocketed) and the devil is in the detail, people often aren't comparing like with like when just looking at the headline cover and not the small print.

Obviously if you don't need the flexibility/cover a Pedalcover policy provides then there are probably cheaper alternatives but you need to be careful about what is covered and personally I wouldn't go off just calling and asking, I'd be wanting at least email confirmation if it wasn't in the detailed policy notes.

I can’t be arsed with phoning round loads of insurers

Welcome to 1995

[i]My policy with pedal cover is circa 300 quid as well[/i]

Wow, I hope you make a few claims to get some "value" out of your expenditure

Admiral are saying in the shed is fine without locks, in the van is a no. **** idiots had told me it was ok initially.

Never assume that what you are told on the phone is correct. Always check the policy details beforehand. I've had to exclude bike and van insurers once I read their small print. It's also one of the reasons that price comparison sites are next to useless. OK as a starting point I guess.

I'm currently with Pedal Cover but will be shopping around as usual at renewal time.

[i]omeone with time on their hands needs to put up a website breaking down the various insurer options regarding bikes under contents policies…[/i]

Using a spare 5 minutes, I looked up on confused what cover for home contents, including legal protection and 4 bikes worth a total of £10K would be. I selected at fairly random 1 quote (Lloyds) - came in at around £120. Bikes as specified items:
"Pedal Cycle Cover protects against loss or damage (including accidental damage) for you or your family’s pedal cycles (including ebikes) whilst inside or temporarily outside the home (up to £500 per pedal cycle, £10,000 in total). If you do not take this cover, your Pedal cycles will not be covered. Pedal cycles worth over £500 also need to be specified here otherwise you won’t be covered."

See, I don't think some of you overspenders appreciate what you get from the "Specified items" section of a policy. That's the main thing ou need to check. Lloyds also has a check box for "outbuildings" eg. my detached garage, that will cover bike tools etc and bikes not specified, <£500.

I urge you not to pay too much for your insurance!

Yeah! Silly me - the bold bit. I swear that should read £5000, so you DO need to read the "small print". That means Lloyds policy only covers a £3000 for £500 away from the home.. can't be right!

Picked another insurer out of interest (Halifax) - must be underwritten by the same rip-off merchants as Lloyds - also says the max £500 away from the home. "up to £500 per pedal cycle, £10,000 in total" - 20 bikes?? Weird. The Policy booklet omits this payout limit, strangely enough.

Checked mine, Admiral, doesn't say this.

Lloyds and Halifax are the same company.

I went with Lloyds. Was about £150 cheaper than other ocmparable cover.

Yeah! Silly me – the bold bit. I swear that should read £5000, so you DO need to read the “small print”. That means Lloyds policy only covers a £3000 for £500 away from the home.. can’t be right!

I don't think it is only covered for £500 outside the home. My policy document and cover limits state that:

Pedal Cycle Cover:
Individual Pedal cycle limit:
- £5,000 if pedal cycle is specified
- £500 if pedal cycle is unspecified

What we cover:
Loss of or damage, including accidental damage, to pedal cycles (including electrically assisted pedal cycles that cannot be solely propelled by the electric motor more than 15.5mph) and their accessories belonging to you or your family or for which you or your family are legally responsible.

What we don’t cover:
Theft of a pedal cycle from an unlocked outbuilding, or
in the open when it is not securely locked to a permanently fixed structure.

Theft of a pedal cycle left unattended in a public place or communal areas when it is not securely locked to a permanently fixed structure.

Damage caused by domestic pets.
Loss of or damage:

To a pedal cycle when being used for racing, pace making or trials.

No where does it say there is a 500 limit outside the home for bikes that you have specified.

And obviously for all my 500+ bikes I have specified them

And obviously for all my 500+ bikes I have specified them

You have 500+ bikes? That's taking N=1 to a whole new level.

@scotroutes you can just call me N+infinity 🙂

No where does it say there is a 500 limit outside the home for bikes that you have specified

Yeah, I was (if you read my post) quoting what a Lloyds (or Halifax) policy says.

Not sure how you could actually misunderstand that, it says it in the sentence!

Halifax Home Insurance Ultimate.

I know what's been said about Lloyds/Halifax, but when you look carefully at the policy limits, a specified bike up to the value of £5,000 is covered, up to a total of £10,000.

Unspecified bikes are £500 each.

Had been with Aviva for years but they just significantly increased my premium at renewal, and wouldn't discuss reducing it. Their loss.

Just going through quote. Been with Pedalcover fro the past 3 years but Aviva looking much cheaper this year and cover seems simple/more than adequate. Only fly in the ointment so far has been trying to call them with regards to a couple of queries and being stuck in a queue for ages (I've had to hang up). Anything else I should be aware of before just going with them anyway?

One reason I left Pedalcover and went to Aviva was the outbuildings cover is better with Aviva.

Currently going through this. Pedalcover won't do new-for-old on bikes where the *frame* is older than 5 years, and I suspect that even if you buy a new bike from On One some of the frames will have been on the shelf for that long.

Compare The Market won't touch bikes where the rrp is over £5000, so a four year old Enduro won't be covered because it's £5500 at the concept store.

Confused.com is a pain to use, asks for lots of unnecessary personal information, and then the top provider (Sainsbury) website crashes and the second (eSure) gives an error downloading the policy booklet. It's also three times the price (which I might be prepared to pay if they let me read the small print).

LV don't cover bikes outside of the house unless locked up (so not in the car or campervan).

Currently going through this. Pedalcover won’t do new-for-old on bikes where the *frame* is older than 5 years

Yes the do if you ask them. I have a 2007 Pegoretti, I specifically asked for it to be insured so that if it’s stolen I can just order he same frame again, it’s not changed design since I bought mine.
The person I spoke to had a similar issue with a colnago master.
Not sure if the would do it for a MTB that has changed radically in price and design over a few years?

Aviva Plus.

Bikes insured new for old as long as they are on the property. Garage / sheds are covered. Full value up to full contents value (£75k). Not that more expense than other insurers.

Just waiting for the money to come through on my claim (3 bikes from garage). My son's Yeti 5 alloy  (my old bike & 7 years old) was valued at £5.9k, which I'm getting as cash.