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Table of contents
1. UK specialist cycle insurers comparison tables:
- - who/what bikes are covered?
- - theft/locks/countries/extras
- - premiums/options/claims
- - discounts
- - triathlon/other competitions
3. UK home contents insurance - comparison websites
4. Things we consider when choosing insurance
Cycle/bicycle insurance for theft, damage, accident, liability. A review and comparisons for UK residents to find the best/cheapest.
Copyright © 2010-12 Alec and Val Scaresbrook
Fully updated: 22 Feb 2011. Minor updates: 2011. Triathlon cover updated Jan 2012. NB Most policies have not changed substantially since 2010, but always read the small print , as minor amendments are often made.
UK cycling
When it's insurance renewal time, we compare cover and premiums for the best and cheapest policies that include (or can be extended to cover) our bikes (push bikes, that is). First we look for a home contents insurance that has pedal cycle options to the value we need. For many years, this has worked out cheaper for us than stand-alone bicycle insurance, with the advantage that the general insurers don't impose complicated conditions, and don't usually specify a Sold Secure cycle lock (which although more expensive, may be no better than other locks).
Annual shop around
Tip: Instant online quotes are very useful, but to avoid phone calls from sales people, don't put your phone number on the form. Replace the digits with zeroes instead. You can edit the form later if you decide to buy.
We have used RIAS or SAGA , since we meet their age criterion of 50+, but they only cover bikes in the UK. This year (2011) we discovered Aviva cover was much cheaper because of their home insurance deal. Even though pedal cycle cover is an extra, not part of the free cover, the total was still half what we paid last year, including world-wide cover (they'll cover bikes of up to £2500 value each).
General insurance cover doesn't often give public liability/third party damage cover, but this is available separately (from Cycleguard and Evans Cycles - see below) and is frequently included in cycle club membership - either the national Cyclists' Touring Club (CTC) or British Cycling (BC ), or local clubs (which are usually affiliated to one of these organisations). The London Cycling Campaign also offers these benefits to its members.
Student cover
Another option (not applicable to us though) is insurance cover for students' possessions, which include a bicycle. In addition to specialists such as Endsleigh, there are general insurance companies that offer extended cover for possessions of a family member who's away studying. So if you're a student, ask your parents to check their home cover and consider changing their insurer if necessary to cover you. We've noticed that SAGA (if the main policy holder is 50+), and Aviva do this, and probably a lot more too. Of course, as ever, you have to read the policy document carefully regarding exclusions.
Our overview of cycle cover
As we've ploughed through the policies (14+) and squinted at lots of small print to compare bike cover, we thought we'd share the information in an overview of cover in stand-alone cycle policies. All these companies give an online quote for quick comparison. Some of them also cover tandems, tricycles (trikes), recumbents, trailer bikes, and electric (battery assisted) bikes. If you can't find cover or a price to suit amongst the specialist policies, look at our full report for links to general insurers, who could well have a more appropriate deal for you.
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The free review includes more tips and further at-a-glance comparison tables:
| Insurance | AUA Pedal/Battery Assisted Cycle Insurance 2011 (Jun 10 policy) | Bike Insurance 2011 (Apr 10 policy) | CTC Cyclecover 2011 (Nov 10 policy) | Cycleguard 2011 (Apr 10 policy) | Cycleguard 4 Kids 2011 (Apr 10 policy) | Cyclesure 2011 (Nov 10 policy) | Ecoinsure 2011 (Nov 10 policy) | Endsleigh 2011 (2006 policy) | ILoveMyBike 2011 (Apr 11-Mar 12 policy) | Evans 2011 (Apr 10 policy) | LCC Urban Cycling 2011 (Nov 10 policy) | Protect Your Bubble 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rider age/details |
18+ (Not full-time students) |
Designed for British Cycling members (see discount details), but available to all. 12+ |
Designed for Cyclists' Touring Club members. 16+ (Children covered by family option) |
16+ |
12-15 (not if a previous claim) |
16+ (Children covered by family option) |
16+ (Children covered by family option) |
16+ |
16+ |
10+ |
Designed for London Cycling Campaign 2011 (Nov 10 policy) members 16+ (Children covered by family option) |
16+ |
| Other riders? |
Family (resident with you) |
An option |
Family option |
An option |
✗ |
Family option |
Family |
✗ |
Family |
An option |
Family option |
Family (max 6) |
|
How many bikes?
NB more are often possible - ask |
1 |
1-3 |
1-10 |
1-3 |
1-3 |
1-10 |
1-10 |
1 |
1 |
1-3 |
1-10 |
Unlimited |
|
Maximum value inclusive of accessories and lock. NB often possible to arrange higher value cover |
£2,500 |
Total £5,000 |
£7,500 (1 bike); total £12,500 |
£5,000 (1 bike); total £5,000 |
Total £2,000 |
£7,500 (1 bike); total £10,000 |
Total £5,000 |
£1,500 |
£4,000 |
Total £10,000 |
£7,500 (1 bike); total £10,000 |
£10,000 each (max £150 accessories cover) |
|
New for old cover
|
✓ |
✓ if under 3 years old |
✓ |
✓ if under 3 years old |
✓ if under 3 years old |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ if under 3 years old |
✓ |
✓ if under 3 years old |
✓ |
✓ if under 3 years old |
| Competitive use? |
✗ |
An option |
An option |
An option |
✗ |
An option |
An option |
No - except time trials |
An option - excl. liability cover |
An option |
An option |
Time trials incl.; ask for a quote for other events |
The free review includes more tips and further at-a-glance comparison tables.
Read more...see the complete report, free.
Obtain free access to our complete bicycle insurance review
You can unsubscribe at any time.
Privacy statement: We do not pass on your e-mail address to anyone else.
Help fund the Cheshire Cycleway website
The links in this article are those we've found useful in our research, and some companies pay us a small commission on sales. So if you visit any of the websites mentioned in this review, we'd appreciate it if you clicked through to them from our pages. Then, if you do decide to buy anything, we might get a fee to help cover our time sharing the results of our research.
The bike insurance review has links to insurance web sites (Aviva, Beat that Quote, Columbus, Compare the Market, Confused, Direct Line, Direct Travel, eTravel, Flexicover, Gotravel, Insurefor, Go Compare, Money Supermarket, Only, Principality Building Society,Yes, RIAS, Tesco, USwitch, Saga, World Nomads), cycle insurance websites for cyclists, cycling, competition and triathlon cover for theft, damage, liability, accident (AUA pedal/battery assisted, AUA triathlete cycle, British Cycling Federation, Cyclecover, Butterworth, Cycleguard, Cycleguard 4 Kids, Cyclesure, Evans Cycles insurance, ETA, Endsleigh, iLoveMyBike.co.uk, Urban Cycling, Ecoinsure, BTF triCycle, Cycleguard Triathlon, Cycleguard Roadcare, Evans Roadcare, Cycleguard Road Rescue, ETA Cycle Rescue, BTF triCycle, ETA) and Argos, eBay, Amazon, Halfords, Freecycle, and travel by Eurostar, Europan Bike Express, Eurostar, Eurotunnel, P & O Ferries, DFDS Seaways Ferries, Nofolk Line, Sea France, Brittany Ferries.
Comments
1 Adrian 05 Jun 2010 20.30.18
2 Alec and Val 06 Jun 2010 13.01.06
It's rare to find an insurance policy that covers STORAGE of bikes outside - usually you are OK to leave a bike outside (locked, of course) for a time when you are shopping or commuting etc. Your comment just shows how important it is to read all the small print!
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Thanks for providing all this info. I just wish I'd seen this page first as it would have saved me about 5 hours' work, but unfortunately it only came up on the 2nd page on google.
I have a small but important addendum for you though: the Endsleigh policy does allow you to leave the bike locked outside for more than 12 hours, but this is only extended to 24 hours. You are still not allowed to actually store the bike outside. Also you have to remove the saddle or wheel after 11pm even if it's only for 5 minutes during a late night trip to the 24hr shop.
Since I can't park my bike inside, it turns out that insurance simply isn't possible at all, and I just have to buy good locks and cross my fingers.