I was riding my Speed Concept on Saturday 6/16/18 and became distracted by a loud noise on the side of the road. The road had a bend in it, and I ended up going into the ditch as a result of the distraction (it was a loud bang from a mechanical gate on a gated neighborhood).
I have had insurance on the bike through Markel since I purchased it in 2017. I have had Markel policies on bikes since 2012 or 2013, and never filed a claim before.
The handlebars swung around and damaged the carbon on the head tube. There are also 2 spots on the fork, about the size of a pencil eraser, where the paint and clearcoat is gone. In my opinion, it is impossible to "eyeball test" if the carbon is damaged in those spots.
The Trek store told me that the frame is not safe to ride. They think the fork is OK (not my opinion, but oh well). Markel is telling me that they sent the pictures to a "carbon repair expert" and they said the headtube damage is "not structural." This means that it's "cosmetic damage" and not covered by the policy.
My assigned Markel claims guy did not forward the pictures of the fork to the "carbon repair expert." I'm still waiting on an answer why he did not. I sent him all pictures a week+ ago.
They are denying my claim at this point, unless I send the bike in to Trek and Trek deems it unsafe. They somehow will believe Trek corporate, but not a corporate-owned Trek store.
I've probably paid them more in premiums over 5-6 years than this claim is worth. Am I getting screwed here?
-Physiojoe
Instagram: @thephysiojoe
Cycling coach, Elite racer on Wooster Bikewerks p/b Wootown Bagels
I have had insurance on the bike through Markel since I purchased it in 2017. I have had Markel policies on bikes since 2012 or 2013, and never filed a claim before.
The handlebars swung around and damaged the carbon on the head tube. There are also 2 spots on the fork, about the size of a pencil eraser, where the paint and clearcoat is gone. In my opinion, it is impossible to "eyeball test" if the carbon is damaged in those spots.
The Trek store told me that the frame is not safe to ride. They think the fork is OK (not my opinion, but oh well). Markel is telling me that they sent the pictures to a "carbon repair expert" and they said the headtube damage is "not structural." This means that it's "cosmetic damage" and not covered by the policy.
My assigned Markel claims guy did not forward the pictures of the fork to the "carbon repair expert." I'm still waiting on an answer why he did not. I sent him all pictures a week+ ago.
They are denying my claim at this point, unless I send the bike in to Trek and Trek deems it unsafe. They somehow will believe Trek corporate, but not a corporate-owned Trek store.
I've probably paid them more in premiums over 5-6 years than this claim is worth. Am I getting screwed here?
-Physiojoe
Instagram: @thephysiojoe
Cycling coach, Elite racer on Wooster Bikewerks p/b Wootown Bagels