Bicycle Insurance

dinkdink

After years of cycling on much-loved but very cheap bikes, I'm taking the plunge and getting something nicer and more suited to my needs - but also much more expensive. I'd like to get it insured.

One common piece of advice is to put it on house insurance (although there can be varying experiences with that as well), but I rent.

I also don't have room to keep it in my apartment. I use a secure underground car park.

The two main insurance companies seem to be bicycleinsurance.ie and Bikmo. Does anyone have any experience with making a theft claim with either of them? What was the process like? Or for someone without house insurance, is there another option available to me other than these two companies?

Looking at the fine print, I'm not 100% on the conditions attached. For example, with Bikmo, theft from home will not be covered UNLESS "the normal security protections in your home, hall of residence, lockable outbuildings, shed or carpark, holiday home, hotel or guest house, are in operation and the theft arises from forcible and violent entry" - does that mean that if someone managed to slip into the carpark in a non-forcible and non-violent way, as would likely be the case, I wouldn't be covered? Or would the fact that they'd need to break open two bike locks be enough for it to count as forcible?

For theft away from your home, it won't be covered unless "the cycle is locked through the frame with an approved lock and secured to an immovable object or a railway station cycle rack" - does that mean that a bike locked to a Sheffield stand on a public street would be covered? (I have no intention of doing that, that's a job for the older bikes, but it seems... a little too easy?)

com1

No experience of bike insurance but used house insurance twice to claim for stolen bike. Once from shed and once from elsewhere. Perhaps look at home renters insurance - cover for contents and sundry bits and pieces.

mh_cork

I'd check the terms very carefully. I would be surprised if insurance paid out on an expensive bike that was left in a communal car park.

kenmc

I had my 3k cargo bike insured while renting, a specified item on my contents insurance with fbd.