I’m thinking about getting bike insurance. I checked with my Travelers agent and they don’t have anything included with the coverage unless it would be stolen out of my house for example. As I have some expensive rides, I get increasingly nervous of a crash or something and losing my investment. Do you have bike insurance? What would be your recommendations? Thanks.
Best way to do it is go through a company that will allow you to schedule the bike on your renters or homeowners policy. Here is an article about it.
If you are in the Pac NW I can help you, if not I can still help with any questions.
Call Dave and talk to him.
Wow insurance is not cheap. $377 a year to insure a $5000 bike. I’m on the market for a bike and that made me think if i should get insurance after the purchase.
Call Dave and talk to him.
This is the route I took. Key for me was it covers bikes in transit by carriers such as fed ex.
My Home & Contents insurance covers my bikes.
They are covered, except for sanctioned “races”. Fun ride events (which are more dangerous IMHO) are covered, but IM races are not. There is the “Round Taupo” bike ride. A hilly century ride that at 1 point, had a mass start of about 9,000 people! As it grew from there, they had wave starts. Better but still large waves.
I have several mid range bikes and my insurance company just stipulates that I have to nominate any bike over $3k (about $2500 US) and I do so. I have to send them photos and spec’s. I’ve had to collect twice thanks to bike crashes. Both times they’ve made life a living hell, and I’ve had to battle for about 5 months both times, to get a settlement. Both times I’ve finally settled for less than the agreed sum, just to get a bike. Thankfully a mate owned a bike store so I ended up doing OK, but not really the point. I hate insurance companies, but they are a somewhat necessary evil.
As with any insurance cover, you only need to get insurance to cover a loss you can’t afford to cover yourself. I don’t know if I’d pay extra for bike cover, but as it’s free with my home insurance, it’s pretty easy to simply send off the info they ask for.
Similar thing for me.
It covered a lot of additional aspects of biking/travel that normal insurance doesn’t. ~$300 a year for peace of mind is worth it for me. I’d rather that than shell out money for a $5000 new bike.
Maybe in a decade or two I won’t, but until then I don’t make enough to drop $5000 if I break the current one
Just had an awful wreck and am currently going through the process with Velosurance. Will report back on the experience but I’m hoping things go smoothly. Between my broken pelvis and cracked top tube, I’ve had a bad week and hopefully at least the insurance part goes right!
If you belong to a governing body it can sometimes be offered. For example in Canada a bike under $5000 can be insured for 55 for the year and a $15000 bike for 105 for the year. This is only available after you have paid your yearly dues to the triathlon association. The cost for the insurance is pretty cheap for peace of mind. Like any insurance you need to read the small print to see if they cover what you are concerned about like crash replacement.
Thank you everyone. That is very helpful. I’ll see if I can get a separate rider through my insurance and then try some other approaches you’ve recommended.
hey, what companies or clubs provide bike insurances in Canada?
could you please share some contacts.
Just make sure your home owners covers it. If your worries, “list it” as another poster mentioned.
My bike flew off my bike rack doing 60mph years back. $5000 claim and my homeowners paid for it. In fact, when I suggested rebuilding the power tap wheel and keeping the hub because it should be fine- the adjuster said no. We are buying you an entire new wheel. They did more than enough on the claim. Very pleased.
I am in Alberta and it is just through the Alberta Triathlon Assoc. Soon as you pay your yearly dues you have access to purchase the insurance.
I’m thinking about getting bike insurance. I checked with my Travelers agent and they don’t have anything included with the coverage unless it would be stolen out of my house for example. As I have some expensive rides, I get increasingly nervous of a crash or something and losing my investment. Do you have bike insurance? What would be your recommendations? Thanks.
while not exactly the same, a friend of mine who is a lawyer at a firm thst focusses on motorcycle accidents said you should get uninsured driver coverage on your auto policy and it would cover any accident they involved a car whose driver didn’t have insurance our was under insured. i thunk the homeowner policy aldi sounds like a good route.
Just bought Velosurance to cover my new P5x. Reasons I recommend if you buy a pricey bike (and probably any serious bike):
- It’s basically $10/month per $1000 of value (or thereabouts). And for a fraction more you can get $100,000 in liability. I recommend it (taking it to the ridiculous…its an extra $100k in case you cause damage while on your bike for a few dollars a month…in the USA people sue for no reason at all).
- Claims stories about Velosurance and their partner Merkel are good. Claims stories on “homeowners” or even suing others at fault are not good - long durations and processes, not always good outcomes and almost never great outcomes.
- If you buy an $11k vehicle and don’t have the funds to insure it, you probably cannot replace it and probably should be buying something cheaper. Things have accidents, people steal things. Even if statistically it won’t happen, you have to assume it will.
- You can decrease the value insured over the years, until you feel you no longer need it, which is probably about the time you should get a new bike
- It covers USA, Canada, bike transport (and you would need to otherwise buy Tri-Bike Transport insurance…discount that against your premiums, in my case its probably worth a few hundred dollars minimum). You can add international as well if and when you are ready to.
So you’re paying $100+/month to insure your bicycle? That’s as much as on a $50,000 car.
I pay 103 for a 18,000 truck…no accidents, no speeding tickets. Dang my young age
The answer is different state to state (country to country) and company to company. I have written about this (needs to be updated!!) regarding claims in NC here at IronmanLawyer.com . We have helped a lot of cyclists with a lot of weird stuff when they were initially told that it wasn’t covered. For example, a cyclist hits a pothole, goes down, and cracks the frame. After deductible we got replacement value for the frame, all scratched components, and damaged clothing and helmet. I have helped and guided several here on ST who were initially told “no” get their claims paid. Also, remember that agents are salespeople and sometimes (many times) really don’t fully understand the intricacies of coverage, so don’t necessarily just go by what the agent says. . And, then there are the adjustors who rarely handle bike claims, so they many times need to be educated. For example when we made a $10,000 claim for a totaled custom-made Seven bike we had to walk to adjustor through the whole process baby step by baby step.
So, first, make sure you really understand your coverage. What risks are you worried about? For example, you are probably covered if your bike is stolen anywhere (not just out of your house). I really have nothing against any of these specialty bike insurance companies or coverages; however, they are typically very expensive and many times redundant. One of these companies recently had an ad in a national magazine that was flat out wrong (at least in NC) on what you actually have coverage for by either homeowners or auto coverage.
Next, as mentioned somewhere in this thread, you really should only insure what you can’t afford to replace . . . Warren Buffett doesn’t need life insurance! And I would add only buy a bicycle you can afford to replace. You also mention having multiple bikes . . . remember that you are only riding one at a time, so your exposure really isn’t increased but the cost of coverage sure will.
Lastly, specialty coverage is usually fairly expensive. Do the math - when was the last time you would have needed the coverage (or how long in between incidents). Add up the premiums, subtract the deductible and depreciation and see how it adds up. How long do you keep your bikes? I typically get a new TT every four years, and I don’t have an issue that frequently. Unless you are high risk, perhaps criterium racing, the insurance probably is not a good “value.” Again the “however,” if you are a worry wart and and the $300+ premium makes you feel better and sleep better then maybe that alone is worth it for you.
By and large, it’s a waste of money.
In general insurance costs you money, that’s how companies stay I’m business.
You should only insure things you can’t afford to self insure.
If you can afford to buy a 5k or 10k bike, then you can probably self insure.
I’ll probably get hate for this, but if you can’t self insure a bike you bought, then you probably shouldn’t have bought the bike to begin with.
If you can afford to buy a 5k or 10k bike, then you can probably self insure.
Or, for about $100 you could be protected for the first year from having to dip another $5k or $10K out of savings again. That does not sound like a bad deal. Most of us can self insure but limiting dipping into the family savings too soon for a new bike can make life easier at home 
Insuring a bike long term is not a great deal but for the first year or two it seems like a good deal to me.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are lots of aspiring 20 somethings who really stretch to buy bikes to race on and there is no way they can easily replace them immediately. I know a kid who is an awesome racer but has not gotten to the free bike every year sponsorship level yet. He got hit by a car and destroyed his bike, which for him was like losing a $100K car relative to his income. His bike insurance got him back up and racing immediately. In a couple years he’ll be getting free bikes, but for now he has to have something to race on to get there and insurance helps.