Insurance for e-bikes

[DavieH]

I insured my motor bike fully comp for only £107 so why is a ebike so expensive ?

 

[Gringo]

problem as I see it is 3rd party insurance in case you are deemed to be responsible for damage to someone else's property... If you accidently fall off and scratch a Maserati for instance..

Join British Cycling, the £35 membership gets you Liability insurance and legal support plus 10% off purchases at Halfords and Chain Reaction Cycles
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/membership

 

[stumpy150]

there is legal no requirement for cycles to have insurance for road use or to have liability insurance..I can understand why some people want liability insurance but how many years have we been cycling without it ??

 

[Gubbins]

there is legal no requirement for cycles to have insurance for road use or to have liability insurance..I can understand why some people want liability insurance but how many years have we been cycling without it ??

Yes, but we now live in a world where everyone seems to want to make a claim or sue someone.
When I was looking through websites and ringing about insurances I came across one offering public liability fir only £20 or so but I can't find my way back to it now..

 

[Gringo]

there is legal no requirement for cycles to have insurance for road use or to have liability insurance

Agreed but in a non fault accident it's nice to know the guys fighting on my side will be from the British Cycleing legal team, oh and yes 10% off is nice aswell.

 

[Tomtomato]

I bought third-party/personal liability insurance from the following company, for £9.50 a year (and got the bike itself insured at home and away, pretty much free of charge through my home content insurance):

http://lcc.org.uk/pages/third-party-liability-insurance

It seems to be a worthwhile investment, given the very reasonable cost.

For people who like to self-insure, good luck to you if you damage some property while on your bike, or injure or kill someone. Your other insurances typically won't provide third party insurance if you were ridding an electric bike...

 

[Tomtomato]

I can understand why some people want liability insurance but how many years have we been cycling without it ??

You are missing the point: you may already have third party/personal liability insurance if you are cycling on a push-bike, through your home insurance for instance.
However, it usually won't cover you if you are on an electric assisted bike...

 

[I Am Jon]

I called my home insurance (More Than) about adding my new eBike £3,300 to insurance including away from home cover. Currently pay about £500/year, been about 5 years since I reviewed it.

Their system came up with an extra £300/year but they said they should be able to give a more reasonable figure and will get back to me.

Due to renew anyhow so just got an online quote from Aviva which for same cover came up around £300/year. Site says they can cover bikes up to £3,500 but need to call them. Can anyone confirm they are ok with ebikes? Not sure they offer third party insurance as well?

Any other recommended home insurance for eBikes over £3,000?

 

[Benjahmin]

I'm with co-op. Spoke to them at renewal and he had to go away and check when I asked about e bikes. No go even though they cover bikes up to £1500. There seems to be some fear/lack of knowledge on the part of the insurance companies.

 

[I Am Jon]

Looking good for Aviva, just spoke to them on the phone. They can cover multiple bikes with individual value up to £3,300, total insurance £300/year (about £65/year for the bike cover).

And from Aviva's Policy Doc:
"Pedal cycles
This cover only applies when shown on your schedule. We will provide cover for loss of or damage to your pedal cycles (including electrically assisted pedal cycles) and their parts and accessories anywhere in the world up to the limit shown on your schedule."

For unattended theft cover just need any suitable bike lock to immovable object, don't specifically need Solid Secure: Gold, Silver etc..

So my new bike has resulted in me saving £200/year.

 

[Steve A]

My car insurance is much cheaper than trying to insure my bike, and one of them is a sports car (go figure). In the end, I didn't bother but have bike chained to wall / bolt anchors / CCTV and alarm. I'M NOT KIDDING!!.
We where robbed about 2 years ago and they literally ripped my house apart including children's bedrooms. Since then we have..

Trellis / razor wire on fence (to prevent birds of course). Before anyone say's checked with police and ok'd.
Alarms, with visual boxes front and rear.
CCTV
Security lights external
Security lighting internal when away
All glass doors downstairs replaced with security glass (like windscreen).

I'm sure you can guess how upset we were. It's like Colditz, but better than being robbed again.

 

[I Am Jon]

Insurance all sorted with Aviva. Standard cover also includes £2,000,000 personal liability which looks like it will cover while on an eBike.

Occupier’s, personal and employer’s liability
"We will cover your legal liability to pay damages and claimants’ costs and expenses for:
● accidental bodily injury or illness;
● accidental loss of or damage to property;"

Exclusions:
"Liability in connection with:
a. you owning land, buildings or other fixed property;
b. you living in or occupying land or buildings other than the home or its land;
c. aircraft other than pedestrian controlled toys or models;
d. you (or anyone on your behalf) owning, possessing or using any motorised vehicle;"

Motorised Vehicle
"Any electrically or mechanically powered vehicle, other than:
● vehicles used only as domestic gardening equipment within the boundaries of the land belonging to the home;
● vehicles designed to help disabled people (as long as the vehicles are not registered for road use);
● golf carts and trolleys;
● toys and models remotely controlled by a pedestrian;
● electrically assisted pedal cycles that are not legally required to pay Vehicle Excise Duty for road use"

Was surprisingly simple to switch over from old insurance, only taken a couple of hours to look into and complete the switch. Well worth taking the time to get an online quote or two, saved me £200/year for better cover than I had before.

 

[Steve A]

What happens if your bike costs £6000?. The cost of a middle to high end e-mtb has gone up due to euro / sterling exchange. A mid range to high end bike costs anywhere from £4k - £10k plus. The insurance companies are not so keen then, motorised or not.

 

[soundwave]

when i tried for my bike it was 45 quid a month for 6k.

 

[I Am Jon]

What happens if your bike costs £6000?. The cost of a middle to high end e-mtb has gone up due to euro / sterling exchange. A mid range to high end bike costs anywhere from £4k - £10k plus. The insurance companies are not so keen then, motorised or not.

Not sure how high they will go, site says up to £3,500 but online quote tool only lets you select £2,500, had to call up to add the increased amount. Only takes 15 min to fill out an online quote and give them a call with the quote ref if it looks promising.

 

[Steve A]

Hi Jon, My experience is they won't touch a bike over 4k. Need specific bike insurance which is very expensive vs say car insurance. I think its a case of you take a chance or not.

 

[soundwave]

what would a Ferrari FXX cost to insure then?

i mean if you have that much money would they even need to pay out as you could cover the cost anyway.

 

[I Am Jon]

Hi Jon, My experience is they won't touch a bike over 4k. Need specific bike insurance which is very expensive vs say car insurance. I think its a case of you take a chance or not.

That's a shame,would be good to know if anyone has found a good policy that does go higher. Home insurance does seem to work out a lot cheaper if they will give you the cover. Think I would rather risk it than pay out the specialist insurance rates which all seem to be 6-7% of the bikes value.

Aviva does allow multiple bikes worth up to £3,500 each for the same price as one which is a bonus for me as my wife is now looking to get one too. Seems to be higher than most providers offer and nice that they specifically include Pedelecs in the policy.

Not sure i'd trust myself on a bike worth much over 4k. Would end up stressing too much about scratching it or worse. As it is I expect i'm going to be overly protective of my precious new bike for a good few months.

Edit: Don't mean to sound like an advert, not on commission. Shows that it can pay to shop around on home insurance though, especially if you haven't reviewed it for a few years.

 

[Gubbins]

what would a Ferrari FXX cost to insure then?

i mean if you have that much money would they even need to pay out as you could cover the cost anyway.

People with that much money don't like paying for anything...

 

[Steve A]

Funny thing about £. Most of my customers are wealthy, but very few have time for hobbies and most are unhappy, sad really. The secret is to know when to stop, but greed takes over. Anyway...