Insurance Home content or specialist? Pros and Cons

[airbox]

Hi everyone,

My new e-bike came with a 1 month free insurance with Pedalsure through the retailer. I am thinking of adding the bike to the home content insurance which gave me a much more sensible quote but I am not sure if there any cons in doing so. I use the bike mainly for pleasure and commuting and I don't need any special cover. The home insurance (Churchill) said they can add the bike under a specified item and it will be covered for theft and accidental damage outside the property. I asked for the exact wording of the policy and they referred me to the specified item part of the policy. What worries me is specialist policies come with 10+ pages of conditions where Churchill don't even specified the lock (I asked they said any lock as long as locked to immovable object). Would such limited wording be in my favor in the even of theft? With the specialist policies at least I can make sure I comply with all their requirements.

Are there any benefits apart from the much cheaper policy in adding the bike to existing home contents insurance?

Thanks

 

[RossG]

Bike insurance is often mentioned on here so I'm sure others will come back with what they themselves have done.
What you have to remember when adding your bike to home insurance is that it doesn't cover you for accidents away from home, either to yourself or if you hit someone else God forbid.

If you decide to go down the route of public liability the insurance will cover you for theft anyway, so it might be a good idea to check out bike insurance as a separate option and be covered for all eventualities.
Some insurance companies offer no depreciation on the value of your machine should you need to claim, so you get back what you paid for it no matter what it's true worth is.

 

[sjpt]

Interesting points. One possible downside of using home insurance is that if you have a bike claim they may put the entire home insurance up in future. That could apply even if you change insurer because they'll ask the 'have you had a claim in the last n years'.

 

[RonnieX]

I contacted my home insurer and got my ebike as a named item on my policy. All risks home or away. Provided its not altered from manufacturers spec (derestricted!) and it’s not left in or on an unattended vehicle! It was an extra £13 for a £1700 bike. All specialist cycle insurers I checked were £100+.

 

[RossG]

Try Bikmo, they seem to be popular. I have no connection with them but I'm thinking of it.

 

[TedG]

Currently in the process of obtaining specialist cycle insurance which will cover two ebikes for a host of eventualities including public liability cover and breakdown / recovery as well as theft.
Currently they are on home insurance but via advice from Chief of Roads Policing here (some of you guys will remember her) the quote isn't OTT all things considered.
The company is Cycleguard, discovered in a post on this forum.

 

[Laser Man]

Both UK cycling organisations - Cycling UK and British Cycling - provide heavy duty 3rd party insurance and legal aid as part of their membership.

For me, the most cost effective solution is having the bikes on the house insurance and membership of Cycling UK.

The benefit of bikes on the house insurance is that the locking requirements are not so onerous - when I investigated specialist insurance they wanted ground anchors in the garage etc. whereas for the house insurance I just have to be sensible about putting the bikes away.

 

[TedG]

when I investigated specialist insurance they wanted ground anchors in the garage etc.

Not on this policy.

 

[Andy-Mat]

Interesting points. One possible downside of using home insurance is that if you have a bike claim they may put the entire home insurance up in future. That could apply even if you change insurer because they'll ask the 'have you had a claim in the last n years'.

Possible, but surely very easy to check out! Then decide.
Andy

 

[RossG]

The only answer is to Google them all and go through the lot very carefully to see who give best bang for buck.

 

[airbox]

Thank you all for the advice and suggestions! After comparing a number of specialist insurances I have narrow it down to either Yellow Jersey or the home content insurance. I will phone on Monday to see if there is no depreciation on the value with the home content and what would be the eventual increase in case I claim for theft.

To be honest after adding the cost of membership to CyclingUK for the third party cover to the quote of the Home insurance the difference is not that big with what Yellow Jersey is quoting.

 

[richtea99]

To be honest after adding the cost of membership to CyclingUK for the third party cover to the quote of the Home insurance the difference is not that big with what Yellow Jersey is quoting.

Go for the CyclingUK membership. It's a charity, so you'll support cycling in the UK, and get an excellent magazine to read every 2 months. What's not to like?

 

[Bobajob]

Hi everyone,

My new e-bike came with a 1 month free insurance with Pedalsure through the retailer. I am thinking of adding the bike to the home content insurance which gave me a much more sensible quote but I am not sure if there any cons in doing so. I use the bike mainly for pleasure and commuting and I don't need any special cover. The home insurance (Churchill) said they can add the bike under a specified item and it will be covered for theft and accidental damage outside the property. I asked for the exact wording of the policy and they referred me to the specified item part of the policy. What worries me is specialist policies come with 10+ pages of conditions where Churchill don't even specified the lock (I asked they said any lock as long as locked to immovable object). Would such limited wording be in my favor in the even of theft? With the specialist policies at least I can make sure I comply with all their requirements.

Are there any benefits apart from the much cheaper policy in adding the bike to existing home contents insurance?

Thanks

their conditions are the contract. If in the contract it fails to state anything such as lock requirements then if you lock it with a cheapo (not recommended and it’s stolen you’ll be walking home) they cannot alter the contract. If you were to lock it to an object that’s not fixed as their condition (contract) stipulated you must, then you’re out of contract and lose your cover.
Read the contract and decide which really.

 

[moket]

Currently in the process of obtaining specialist cycle insurance which will cover two ebikes for a host of eventualities including public liability cover and breakdown / recovery as well as theft.
Currently they are on home insurance but via advice from Chief of Roads Policing here (some of you guys will remember her) the quote isn't OTT all things considered.
The company is Cycleguard, discovered in a post on this forum.

Have you seen their Google reviews. Not the best