Pedelec Insurance Options Please

[SteveRuss]

I did search for this topic but I couldn't find a direct thread for it. Sorry if it already exists!

It appears a £2000 Pedelec demands approximately £17 a month to insure against theft. Ugg. That's not a million miles off my car insurance costs

Am I missing something here or is it just blinking expensive?

Has anyone linked theirs to their house contents insurance?

Thanks.. Steve

 

[Osho]

Before buying my Kalkoff I investigated specialist bike insurers and was a bit shocked to receive quotes near the £100 mark. However I am delighted that AVIVA have included my bike on my home insurance with no additional premium. Only restrictions/conditions relate to how I secure it when not attended.

 

[RobF]

Mine is on my house insurance.

Can't recall the extra premium, but it was small, maybe £20 for the year.

There is a maximum payout of £2,500, so if all my bikes were stolen or destroyed in a fire, I will be out of pocket.

Risk I'm prepared to take.

 

[SteveRuss]

Thanks guys!

 

[Walklikegump]

Just tried the following Esure, Shielawheels, and Bradfod and Bingley . They will not cover my new Kalkhoff £2000. Saw the post above and contacted Aviva, who after some prodding advised that they will insure it .
I chose not to go with them and take a horrendously priced policy because
1 , no claims bonus will not be affected
2, I do not lose the money from wasted cover cancellig my current home insurance and changing to aviva
3, accesories etc are covered
4, I move house in November and do not have to mess with home insurance premiums again .

Total additional cost is £110.

It would be good if we had a thread detailiing which insurers do what. It takes a long time to get confirmation from them . I even had one tht said they only cover bikes 200w or under .!

Right, pick up the bike in two hours and not got insurance yet. better get my skates ? tyres? on !
Walklikegump

 

[jonathan75]

Cycleguard seem good! I'm with them. Check the lock requirements though. And smallprint obviously.

I couldn't understand your reasoning earlier as those sound like reasons to take rather than reject a policy (apart from that of 'horrendous' cost).

 

[JamesW]

Just had my bike break due to metal fatigue - NOT covered by insureance as no on else was involved in the accident and it was not "an accident" "an act of vandalism" "theft" or "accidental damage" - what a way to write of your bike - for it just to snap under you and then to find the insurance doesn't cover you... BEWARE

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Can we have some more details of the breakage please,

 

[Croxden]

It doesn't do what it doesn't say on the tin.

 

[JamesW]

Can we have some more details of the breakage please,

Hi Dave,
I've got a separate thread for that - about my "new Folding bike"

 

[Tomtomato]

Just had my bike break due to metal fatigue - NOT covered by insureance as no on else was involved in the accident and it was not "an accident" "an act of vandalism" "theft" or "accidental damage" - what a way to write of your bike - for it just to snap under you and then to find the insurance doesn't cover you... BEWARE

How old was your bike? Surely, you can go back to the retailer under the SOGA rules, and ask for the frame to be repaired if it didn't last the expected time.

 

[jonathan75]

How old was your bike? Surely, you can go back to the retailer under the SOGA rules, and ask for the frame to be repaired if it didn't last the expected time.

Or indeed his credit card provider who has parallel SOGA liability under s 75 CCA.

 

[JamesW]

Can't go back to retailer under SOGA even though it was within the 10yr warranty period (it was only 3 yrs old when I fitted the conversion kit) as I explicitly checked with them before fitting the conversion kit and he checked the warranty and Raleigh warrantys become void if you fit a conversion kit. - I've read the small print in the paperwork myself. - This would mean that SOGA doesn't apply as it was not being used for it's intended purpose! So CCA no good either under section 75!

See this thread for more details:
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/now-i-have-another-folding-bike.21393/#post-268893

 

[jonathan75]

Can't go back to retailer under SOGA even though it was within the 10yr warranty period (it was only 3 yrs old when I fitted the conversion kit) as I explicitly checked with them before fitting the conversion kit and he checked the warranty and Raleigh warrantys become void if you fit a conversion kit. - I've read the small print in the paperwork myself. - This would mean that SOGA doesn't apply as it was not being used for it's intended purpose! So CCA no good either under section 75!

See this thread for more details:
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/now-i-have-another-folding-bike.21393/#post-268893

That's a good point you make, but I think it's not quite so clear cut as you say. I'm not sure as a matter of contractual construction, that the warranty exclusion expresses intended purpose, nor that it successfully avoids SOGA liability. Even if it does (which I'm not sure) demonstrate intent to adopt a given level of risk and no more, firstly (and in your favour) it seems to just relate to the intent to limit the extent of the gratuitous promise of the warranty - especially given the red hand rule (which requires that onerous clauses be made prominent in order to be incorporated into contracts - and an onerous clause which is implied rather than written is even less prominent). I think you're imferring or imputing intent, rather than actually seeing it in the flesh. However alternatively, if it did also relate to intent regarding SOGA, it would amount to a non-negotiated clause attempting to reduce or exclude liability for breach of what would otherwise be those SOGA obligations.

That would make it assessable for fairness under s 18 UCTA 1977 and s 5 UTCCR 1999.

Given they haven't attempted to explicitly limit SOGA liability, and even if they had that would be assessable for fairness, the real question I think is what's fair in all the circumstances, and this may come down to reasonable durability, and that in turn may turn on the design and its appropriateness for being used as an ebike - and perhaps how much you used it too.

Can you post a link to the type of bike it was?

 

[Cyclezee]

If you look to the right of the screen and click on the Lexham ad you can get an online quote

 

[crankyhorse]

My Churchill home insurance is covering my Voodoo bike and Cube pedelec for a few quid extra each month and it includes accidental damage.

 

[JamesW]

That's a good point you make, but I think it's not quite so clear cut as you say. I'm not sure as a matter of contractual construction, that the warranty exclusion expresses intended purpose, nor that it successfully avoids SOGA liability. Even if it does (which I'm not sure) demonstrate intent to adopt a given level of risk and no more, firstly (and in your favour) it seems to just relate to the intent to limit the extent of the gratuitous promise of the warranty - especially given the red hand rule (which requires that onerous clauses be made prominent in order to be incorporated into contracts - and an onerous clause which is implied rather than written is even less prominent). I think you're imferring or imputing intent, rather than actually seeing it in the flesh. However alternatively, if it did also relate to intent regarding SOGA, it would amount to a non-negotiated clause attempting to reduce or exclude liability for breach of what would otherwise be those SOGA obligations.

That would make it assessable for fairness under s 18 UCTA 1977 and s 5 UTCCR 1999.

Given they haven't attempted to explicitly limit SOGA liability, and even if they had that would be assessable for fairness, the real question I think is what's fair in all the circumstances, and this may come down to reasonable durability, and that in turn may turn on the design and its appropriateness for being used as an ebike - and perhaps how much you used it too.

Can you post a link to the type of bike it was?

this this looks pretty much it:
https://www.thebikefactory.co.uk/productdetails.asp?productid=67415
(got the LBS to change the saddle before I walked out the door as a white saddle on an otherwise black bike - euck!
used it pretty much 5/7 for the last year on aggregate, would have used it more but servicing maintenance and electrical faults reduced the electrical usage.

 

[jonathan75]

this this looks pretty much it:
https://www.thebikefactory.co.uk/productdetails.asp?productid=67415
(got the LBS to change the saddle before I walked out the door as a white saddle on an otherwise black bike - euck!
used it pretty much 5/7 for the last year on aggregate, would have used it more but servicing maintenance and electrical faults reduced the electrical usage.

Yeah I think you're just going to have to use your own conscience and common sense to decide whether it was reasonably durable bearing in mind the wear you put on it. I had thought maybe it was a step through folder but it looks like a pretty alright bike. Maybe if you chatted to Raleigh or someone in the know just to get an idea of what makes bikes more and less suitable for ebike conversion, you might get a better idea. Or maybe someone on here would know.

I think it ought to be you and the credit card company, I wouldn't want to put this on the bike shop. Then if they agree responsibility, the question is whether they pay for a replacement frame (at pro-rata rates with deduction for usage based on expected lifetime in the circumstances) or for a pro-rata whole bike. As I say use your conscience and common sense.

 

[JamesW]

I'm just going on the basis of I was very blessed to walk away from that with only minor bruising and not end up in intensive care or worse. £250 towards a new bike isn't going to make enough of an impact to be bothered about on the spec of bike that will have a frame warranty lasting over 12months and comes prebuilt!

 

[jonathan75]

I'm just going on the basis of I was very blessed to walk away from that with only minor bruising and not end up in intensive care or worse. £250 towards a new bike isn't going to make enough of an impact to be bothered about on the spec of bike that will have a frame warranty lasting over 12months and comes prebuilt!

What you're now describing isn't a consumer contract claim, it's a personal injury claim. That is an entirely different head of liability to SOGA. Different as in additional. I don't think the latter is worth your time, though it is worth speaking with Raleigh explaining what happened because as a courtesy they might help you out somehow.

I'd also be interested to know if damage to the bike occurred during the normal guarantee period because the proper construction of the warranty may be such that the bicycle as a whole enjoys 1 year or whatever and that it is only the additional frame guarantee over and above the 1 year which is excluded by an ebike conversion,leaving frame damage within the year covered. It depends on the language used.