by Alec and Val Scaresbrook (May 09)

It's that time of year again for us - renewing insurance for our possessions - and we usually use a house-and-contents insurance that includes or can be extended to cover pedal cycles to the value we need. Recently, this has always worked out cheaper for us than stand-alone cycle insurance. Usually we don't need all the extras that specific cycle insurers provide, so there's no point paying more for them.

Every year, we shop around to find a policy that suits our situation and our bikes, and currently we've added our bicycles as 'named items' for insurance against theft and damage in the UK, using RIAS as we meet their age criterion (50+).

When we've cycled abroad, we've either contacted our current insurance company to extend the cover temporarily for our destination (they will usually do this even if it doesn't say so in any of their literature) or looked at a stand-alone holiday policy for travel plus bikes for when we go touring, as we have the camping gear to insure too. But this is getting more and more expensive as it is considered a high risk, so last year we tempted fate and didn't insure the cycles or the camping equipment. Fortunately, we've never had to claim (touch wood). Perhaps we pick the right places to go, or are we just lucky?

Things we consider when choosing a cycle insurance policy

We've had to squint at a lot of small print to make sure we get the best deal, so we've learnt to put a date in our diary a few weeks before the renewal date, to give us time to shop around.

Is it worth it?

Perhaps the first question!

1. For budget bikes

We've got old basic bikes as spares that we don't insure - they are not worth it. The price of the premium over a year or so would easily be enough to replace them, so we just lock 'em up and hope for the best. Replacing them with something reasonably cheapis so easy that it makes you wonder if insurance is necessary. Apart from local newspaper ads, there's Argos , Amazon , eBay or Halfords, and even free bikes on offer from recycling groups (such as Freecycle Network - which is all sorts of free recycling, not specifically free cycles).

2. For more valuable bikes

We've found comparing insurance premiums quite difficult, as every policy varies according to the postcode, and then covers slightly different things and has different exceptions, excesses, restrictions, maximum values, number of cycles covered and so on. Also, there are the two risks to insure - theft and damage. And individuals qualify for different discounts depending on their age, occupation, club or trade union membership. The list is endless. About the only general conclusion we've come to is that insurance offered by building societies and travel companies seems to be more expensive than others when it comes to bicycles.

We try to get the premium described in terms of the price for each £100 of bike value, to help us compare. We explore possible policies thoroughly, make specific enquiries, and double-check the policy wording to make sure the bicycles are covered correctly. Insurance comparison websites (Beat that Quote, Compare the Market, Confused, Go Compare, Money Supermarket ,Only, Tesco,USwitch) can save time initially, sorting out the cheapest and most expensive, but then the work begins on delving into the detail to be sure they do cover what we want (we work from home, so need office-type cover too). Also, although they compare most of the big names, there is some duplication of comparisons, and at least one company is not included (i.e. Direct Line).

Once we've decided on a policy, if the wording is a bit obscure, we like to put our queries in writing so we can keep the written response with our policy to avoid any disputes later if we do need to claim.

Excess

We look at the excess (the first amount of the claim that will not be paid out) - the higher the excess, the lower the premium, so we sometimes decide to go for the maximum excess, and then compare again. Sometimes the excess is already set to maximum on simple website calculators to make the insurance look good.

Postcode

We can't do much about this, but if we were planning to move, part of our housebuying strategy would be to compare various postcodes for one insurance company to find out which areas they considered a higher or lower risk.

We once had the extreme situation of an insurer cancelling our cover when we moved house, as they did not insure that postcode area. Fortunately we didn't have any trouble finding another company, but the premiums were higher.

New for old

The small print is revealing. If the bike is stolen or damaged beyond repair, but is a few years old, the company might decide to pay out less after deducting a percentage for wear and tear. Which brings us back to 'Is it worth it?'..

Which country?

Most of the time our bikes are in the UK, so a policy that is limited to here is fine. If we take them abroad, we contact the company to see if we can extend cover to our destination, or look at stand-alone holiday cover with cycle coverage, or stand-alone cycle cover with holiday coverage.

Security requirements

A lot of policies specify exactly what type of lock to use for outbuildings, and what type of lock to use to secure bikes when out and about. Unfortunately, in the light of research done on these A-listed cycle-specific locks (read our tips on reducing the risk of cycle theft), this could just give a false sense of security. Fortunately, some insurers, such as specialist cycle insurer E&L, will consider approving other locks if you ask, so others might too.

What's covered?

Or perhaps we should say, what's not covered?

What risks are covered to the bike itself. Theft? Damage as the result of an accident? Damage to an unattended bike (hit by a vehicle when left locked up somewhere, or damaged by careless baggage handling in transit)?

What about accessories and panniers plus contents? The policies we've seen usually only cover the accessories (ie removable bits - pump, lights, saddle, wheels...) if the whole bike is stolen or damaged.

For holidays, we've discovered that pannier contents (clothing and personal items) are already covered in our home contents insurance under the 'personal belongings away from home' or 'all risks' section so we've looked for a cycle or holiday insurance where baggage cover is optional, to save quite a lot on the premium.

Exclusions and travel abroad

This list can be as long as your arm, or your street. Sometimes after we've read all the situations that are excluded, we wonder if it's worth bothering with the insurance at all. If it's a high premium with onerous requirements and lengthy exclusions, we don't bother - in some cases we've taken our bikes abroad (to the continent) without any insurance. This is where we've been with the bikes all the time, cycle camping, and travelling on the European Bike Express, or a ferry (e.g.Brittany Ferries, DFDS Seaways ,Norfolk Line,Sea France, P & O ). Eurostar is another possibility, as is the Eurotunnel but we've yet to use either with bicycles.

Of course, once in mainland Europe it's common to find secure cycle parking areas in cities, so we've been able to leave the bikes and do the sights on foot without worrying about theft.

With the specialist cycle insurances, we've needed to check whether the insurance is specifically for one particular rider. Also some provide inclusive cover for things we don't do, like race or time trials, so there's no point paying the higher premiums for these.

Stand-alone cycle insurance

Cycling club membership can include some basic insurance or access to specialist or discounted insurance that can make the membership fee worthwhile. We sometimes used the Cyclists' Touring Club Cyclecover for Cyclists' Touring Club members (from Butterworth) when we were members.

General cyclist insurances for everyday or holiday cycling that we've come across when shopping around are the Cycleguard range to suit different cyclists, Cyclesure, Evans Cycles , E&L, ETA (includes roadside recovery), Endsleigh (well known to students) and UK Insurance Net.

There are also more specific insurance policies from Butterworth - Urban Cycling (for London Cycling Campaign members), Ecoinsure (which includes a donation to Sustrans) and BTF triCycle (for British Triathlon competitors).

Please note

We're not insurance advisors or brokers and are merely sharing the relevant information from personal experience.

This page includes links to insurance web sites (Beat that Quote, Compare the Market, Confused, Direct Line, Go Compare, Money Supermarket, Only, RIAS, Tesco, USwitch), cycle insurance websites (Cyclecover, Butterworth, Cycleguard, Cyclesure, Evans Cycles insurance, E&L, ETA, Endsleigh, UK Insurance Net, Urban Cycling, Ecoinsure, BTF triCycle) and Argos, eBay, Amazon, Halfords, Freecycle, and travel by Eurostar, Europan Bike Express, Eurostar, P&O Ferries, DFDS Seaways Ferries, Nofolk Line, Sea France, Brittany Ferries.