Bicycle insurance - who has it

[Geneo_Guru]

A $4,000 bike adds $28.00 per anum to the policy and covers the bike anywhere in australia for damage theft etc, but not whilst racing. It is covered for non race events such as Around the Bay, training rides, whilst in or on the car etc.

What company is this with? $28 a year would by much better than the $200 SGIO charges...with a $2000 max.

I looked into Velosure. Started with my most expensive bike, came to $70 a month. Once I'd entered all my bikes it came up to $100/month.

Doesn't really make any sense to me as owning /using cheaper bikes makes theft damage of my expensive bike much less likely...

[GAJ]

HI Geneo_Guru
We're insured with RACV, we have 4 bikes insured with them as "Transportable Specified Items". We've been with them for years and have other policies with them so may recieve a "loyalty" discount.

We don't race, so this cover is adequate for our needs, but if I did race, I would take out the appropriate insurance. In the past 20 years I've lost one bike to theft and one to a car - the driver was insured, but my bike was a few years old and I ended up getting more for the repairs to my watch than replacement of my bike.

Even though my good bikes are insured, if I'm heading out and not sure where I'll be locking my bike I take the commuter I built up for that purpose - chromoloy frame, 27" wheels, nothing to draw attention to itself and even thread the lock through the saddle bars to make sure it's there when I return

[Ant.]

Cover during racing is where you get your money's worth.

Exactly. And training and commuting.

[GAJ]

Quick point of clarification.

I've taken out bike insurance in the past 18 months, since buying my new bikes.

I was not insured at that time of the Car Vs Bike incident and being uninsured and at the mercy of the drivers insurance cowboys is not a nice experience because they value your bike in the second hand market eg: what it, or what they consider a similar bike, might sell for in the Trading Post or Ebay.

I looked into insurance some years ago but it was almost unheard of.

I guess when bikes outsell cars for 8 years straight, insurance companies are finally picking up on that market.

[srl_26j]

Reading this thread with interest, but wondering whether the various insurance policies cover us for third party? If I fall and damage the bike, I get the need for insurance. If I fall and hurt myself, I can either rely on health insurance and largesse of employer, or get additional insurance. But what happens if I crash and damage someone else, or their property? I checked Cycling Australia insurance, and it seems to only cover you for 'approved events' but not recreational rides. Any ideas?

[GAJ]

Information regarding Bicycle Victorias Members insurance can be found at: http://www.bv.com.au/join-in/40350/
The insurance is included as part of your membership

Bicycle NSW's website is: http://www.bicyclensw.org.au/content/membership
Scroll down the page to see the membership benefits

[srl_26j]

Cool, thnx.

[Spiro]

I don't race but have had my ols MTB and Trek 1000SL nicked from my back yard. Elders covered everything but i had $100 excess which i think is great. It was home and contents. But they were going to replace my Trek with a Malvern Star Capo, kicked up a stink got the Trek 1.5 and my god it is GREAT only got it yesterday and did a quick 5 k's i'm in love once again

[GAJ]

Something that is worth considering with your bike(s) is to keep a record of the serial numbers stamped under the bottom bracket and have photos of it and your bike, regardless of if you choose to insure it.

If your bike is stolen and by chance recovered by the police, you have proof to positively identify it. This also helps the police charges stick.

Only takes a few minutes to record these details, but if your bike is stolen, it may end up stripped and difficult to identify from your initial desciption, it then comes down to positively identifying a frame.

If you choose not to insure your bike you can always opt to have your licence number engraved on the bike, but like a lot of cyclists, I can't bring myself to do that

[sparkles]

Something that is worth considering with your bike(s) is to keep a record of the serial numbers stamped under the bottom bracket and have photos of it and your bike, regardless of if you choose to insure it.

If your bike is stolen and by chance recovered by the police, you have proof to positively identify it. This also helps the police charges stick.

further to your point - it should be noted that the police will not even look for a stolen bike unless the serial number has been noted

[pine]

' but not recreational rides. Any ideas?

I just insured my bike for recreational rides with NRMA

[Ant.]

For those interested, watch this space:
I'm about to start a claim with velosure. After crashing (AT) 70kph on my TT bike, we'll see how the ordeal unfolds.

[}SkOrPn--7]

For those interested, watch this space:
I'm about to start a claim with velosure. After crashing (AT) 70kph on my TT bike, we'll see how the ordeal unfolds.

Not good to hear about your stack but am interested to hear the outcome of this. I have been considering taking up there policy but there dribble comes off lined with a silver tongue. Your the first I know off that will be lodging a claim so this is a good test case for me just to see if the silver tongue is as it all seems. Having said that I hope this all works out right for you and good luck keep us informed.

[Mattsbike]

For those interested, watch this space:
I'm about to start a claim with velosure. After crashing (AT) 70kph on my TT bike, we'll see how the ordeal unfolds.

Hate hearing about crashes, especially at that sort of speed. Hope you're ok mate.
Thanks for offering to keep us informed of the claim's progress. I too will be very interested to see how they play the game. Best of luck mate.

Matt

[Ant.]

For those following, a little update:

Following my incompetence with the fax machine or something a week or so ago, they emailed me this morning, curious as to when I'd submit my claim. So disregard the delay thus far; as of today they have my claim.
They've given no time window or anything, but say they'll action it asap. Let's see.

[Max]

Any news, Ant? I'm interested in insurance for my new steed, so would like to hear about your experience. Sorry to hear about your crash

Max

[bJay]

If I wanted to insure one of my bikes for replacement value with velosure then they would be hitting me up for more than 120 per month.

Just for the sake of it, I investigated EU insurance companies for bike insurance and the quotes I was getting (for my age and if I lived in UK) were in the order of 60 pound per year These were companies offering coverage for racing as well as general riding (even if the accident was riders fault) and theft etc. with a value limit of 10000 pound. It also covered cycling related gear etc.

Ive spoken to people who pay an extra 8 pound a month with their home and contents insurer and get more extensive coverage than velosure gives....

I know its not as big a market here, but its ridiculous the price difference.

I dunno, call me young and naive, but it just doesnt feel right

[trailgumby]

If I wanted to insure one of my bikes for replacement value with velosure then they would be hitting me up for more than 120 per month.
... I dunno, call me young and naive, but it just doesnt feel right

That's more than 50% more than I pay for my car annually, insured for ~$12K. Not surprised it doesn't feel right. Ripoff.

[Ant.]

Any news, Ant? I'm interested in insurance for my new steed, so would like to hear about your experience. Sorry to hear about your crash

Max

So far so good. Fortunately, they think that no standard turkey should look at it and advise whether or not it is able to be repaired back to 100%, so it has been sent off to somewhere in QLD to someone with credentials in repairing/manufacturing for a full assessment of the damage.

They've been very timely with things, and great to deal with. Although I can't place that praise on Velosure alone - my bike shop has been doing the legwork for me (sending through photographs which led to Velosure requesting it to go to QLD, packing and sending off the bike for me, etc)

For those who say it's a ripoff:

(We won't mention the powertap Zipp wheels, or the groupset - both potentially damagable in such an accident) Frame replacement is $6000. How many years of premiums would it take me to "repay" (for want of a better word) to make up for what I would've lost out on? The answer is many. If you can't justify it, then each to their own, but don't go slandering it; it is well and truly worth it, at least for me, and presumably most other people in similar situations to myself.

[bJay]

For those who say it's a ripoff:

(We won't mention the powertap Zipp wheels, or the groupset - both potentially damagable in such an accident) Frame replacement is $6000. How many years of premiums would it take me to "repay" (for want of a better word) to make up for what I would've lost out on? The answer is many. If you can't justify it, then each to their own, but don't go slandering it; it is well and truly worth it, at least for me, and presumably most other people in similar situations to myself.

Is $6000 how much it would cost to replace or how much it is covered to replace? Here's a question, if your bike was totalled in a crash (say the bike falls into the path of an 18 wheeler) then would you be able to replace it with your insurance payout..?

The quote given to me by velosure works out to just under 8 years 3 months of premiums to replace my bike (if it were insured for its replacement value). I got a quote for car insurance to cover my 2008 volkswagen golf, and due to my age and gender (22, male) I can be covered for $24000 for a premium of $1200 per annum. I know comparing car and bike insurance is like comparing apples and oranges, but it doesnt take a physics degree to work out it would take 20 years of premiums to amount $24000.

I dont know if it is a ripoff, it just doesnt make sense to me that it could be so much more expensive to insure a bike here than in Europe. So while it may be worth it for you, that doesnt mean people cannot have their own opinions (and voice them as you have) which differ from yours.

Cheers

Bart

[Nate]

My 2c - you'd be crazy not to...

Had a ped run out infront of me - nothing i could do... down we go... few hundred in medical bills & 2 days off work
- insurance pays up to 85% of remaining costs of treatments (phsyio etc)
- covered for up to 20mil if the muppet tries to sue me

So already its almost payed for itself with ONE accident!

Going to change my home & contents to cover the bike to, any smally accy is going to almost always incur bike fix costs etc.

[jasimon]

I can think of a few reasons it would cost more to insure a bike here:
Smaller demand means higher relative cost of administration
Higher rate of accidents
Higher theft rate
Lower demand means higher buffer required for unexpectedly high claims (limited diversification benefits)
Lower demand means fewer suppliers and, therefore, less competition

The right way to think about it is relative premiums but car insurance may not be the best comparison. For example, if bike claims are predominantly for total replacement then the payout distribution would be significanlty skewed compared to car insurance where write-offs would be less frequent.

That said, I think that bike insurance in Australia is clearly well above both actuarially fair rates (a theoretical break-even rate that you can not get in practice) and rates for a mature, competitive market. It may, however, represent good value to some people. Because it is not mandatory people get to make their choices and what is good value for one is a ripoff for another. I have bike insurance through my contents insurance policy because it was a relative cost of about 6% per year ($75 for $1200 of coverage). I doubt I could justify a relative cost around 12% to myself, which seems to be the Velosure rate, but others clearly can.

(While the implied rates on bike insurance might be high it's not the worst. The worst 'insurance' I've come across is excess reduction charges for rental cars. It typically implies a 25% claim/crash likelihood, which is crazy.)

Which is quite apart from public liability insurance of the kind that Nate is taking comfort from (in part) which is available at a much lower relative cost.

[Chaderotti]

I'd love to insure my mistress just incase some slob wants to steal my girl away from me!
But... Have to be 18 to insure a bike.
Is there any insurance for riders under 18?

[Aushiker]

If I wanted to insure one of my bikes for replacement value with velosure then they would be hitting me up for more than 120 per month.
... I dunno, call me young and naive, but it just doesnt feel right

That's more than 50% more than I pay for my car annually, insured for ~$12K. Not surprised it doesn't feel right. Ripoff.

Which is why I went with my content insurance provider ... HBF. More bikes for the dollar and less restrictions.

Andrew

[sparkles]

I'd love to insure my mistress just incase some slob wants to steal my girl away from me!
But... Have to be 18 to insure a bike.
Is there any insurance for riders under 18?

how far off from 18 are you? have you tried calling insurers to see what they can offer?