Bike insurance

[NORTY40]

Got a mate who has a few old school bikes and he wants to get them insured , he's not having much look with his house contents insurance and asked me if i would ask on here if anybody has used a specialist insurer for there collection . They are stored in his house .

Any help, company names or contact numbers would be appreciated and i will pass it on to him 

Cheers 

[dancetothedrummersbeat]

I think Lenny might be able to help out with this one. I'm sure he's sorted something out insurance wise with his bikes..

[brettypeeps]

Mine are covered by direct line as part of the house insurance,  ever year on renewal I always check that they are still covered
I do have to pay a bit extra though.

[meticulous]

Anthony pumpkin....   

[That Swan Guy]

House insurance more than covers mine. I did explain in depth and they are happy with it all.

[factory pilot]

A great idea for a thread .... Cheers Joff!

Would be great to hear people's stories/advice 

[Waxintaxin]

done this years ago

house cover will cover with an ammendment and them being added seperatley with a value ammount not replacement
you are esentially covering the value not the item
as they are unable to replace like for like they need to insure them against a cash value.

[Jaan]

You have to be really careful here.

The grey area is that you're insuring bikes. Most insurers have a separate clause for bikes as they're classified as high risk items, well at least the one you padlock outside Tesco on a late night munchie run is.

You need to make sure that although they're kept inside as a "collection" they're treated as contents and not bicycles - that may sound odd but if you drill most insurers they'll actually not pay out if they're stolen from your house an amount greater than your bicycle cover.  A surprising amount of insurers said they'd be classified as contents actually turned out not to be the case when I asked them to verify that with their managers.

All calls are recorded so they won't BS you. Just check and double check, leave no room for ambiguity so describe them as a collection of BMX bicycles.

I have mine insured with Aviva. They're individually photographed, with an accompanying parts list and serial number - major ball ache.

[NORTY40]

Anthony pumpkin....   

Sure is Sam , think he's stressed over it    I have sent him a txt to come on and read the lads replies 

[NORTY40]

Thanks for taking the time to reply lads , really appreciated   

Some good points there and something that may differ from insurance company to insurance company . I'll get him to log on and view all the points you have raised as i don't fancy explaining all that over the phone 

Thanks again lads 

[wildon]

I can imagine the real ball ache will begin when you need to make a claim on this type of stuff.  They are quick to take your money but i'm sure once a claim is filed they will be asking for proof of value backed up by receipts, which for 99% of our stuff we won't have.  It's almost impossible to value this type of stuff really.

[Badbaldie]

right ...... as Brett im insured with DIRECT LINE. and as Wildon says  insurance companys will take ur money no probs its the paying out that's difficult ... heres what you need to concider..... the person on the end of the phone who says ... yes yes of course , no problems etc etc.. IS NOT THE PERSON WHO WILL BE PAYING OUT ..... its the UNDER WRITER. and the under writer will try and find a reason not to pay out........... you need to be upfront and honest with the insurance. you need to explain that you don't have receipts as your bikes are vintage and the only true way to "prove" a price is to show similar item sales on ebay etc..... as you cant buy a replacement in a shop . to the insurer they will try and fob you off "when you claim" that you can by a bmx for 400/500 quid from winstanleys etc ... when you payed that for your frame and forks alone. this why  you need to make sure  that you agree a price...... this really matters . say you "insure " a bike for £1500 but when you come to claim you say its £2000 you have UNDER insured the bike by £500 so they will instantly take that off what they are willing to pay you plus your access ... so for that £2000 bike you only insured for £1500 - £500 under insured plus say £100 access your gona be lucky to get payed out £900 ... if a bike is over a certain price , its like having a piece of jewellery of high value it need to be insured seperatly , as an individual item ...... hope this helps guys 

[meticulous]

sounds like you will be paying an extra £500 at least a year for your bikes,  best get selling....

[Chapperz]

I got house insurance with admiral, they covered 5 bikes for specified value, and it wasn't too expensive, I think I put them all at £750 plus. Can't find my docs at the mo, but thought that it was reasonable cost, and they are covered away from home too, as long as they are locked.....same for all bikes now.

[wildon]

I worked for an insurance loss adjusting company for years.  Their specific job is to look into claims and save the insurance company as much money as possible.  The more they save them the more work they get from them.  If you have a substantial claim and your insurance appoint one (which would probably be the case with such odd insured items) you will have a battle on your hands.
Best to secure your property as best you can to minimise the risk of them going walkabout in the first place.  It'll be a lot cheaper i can almost guarantee it 

[NORTY40]

Thanks again for all your replies lads 

The main thing im getting from this is the fact you have to be 100% sure that what you are paying your premium on you are going to get back should you suffer a loss .  I have this type of insurance on my Fiesta RS Turbo .... ie a Guaranteed/Agreed value , should something happen to it I know exactly what i will get back as it is all in writing and backed up with an independant valuer . This was all done through the RSOC and there specialist insurance partner though . Unfortunately we don't have a specialist insurer connected with RAD/old school BMX's but maybe it could be something someone could look into . 

[pickle]

 Unfortunately we don't have a specialist insurer connected with RAD/old school BMX's but maybe it could be something someone could look into . 

well volunteered Joff   

[NORTY40]

 Unfortunately we don't have a specialist insurer connected with RAD/old school BMX's but maybe it could be something someone could look into . 

well volunteered Joff   

   Thanks Rob    ......


 but I was thinking someone like Griff as he has loads of time on his hands    ( only joking Griffster before you ban me from the FB page  )

To be honest it wasn't aimed at any of the mods but to any RADster in general who maybe works within the insurance industy or maybe knows a broker who might be interested in setting something up .  In all honesty it might not be worth their while as the take up could be quite low , i guess it all depends on how much work is involved .

[pickle]

I know mate, i was only kidding 

[rodriguez]

I've a working knowledge of the insurance industry in terms of both underwriting and claims and to be totally honest I'm not convinced those of you who have added your bikes to your insurance policy are as well covered as you think you are.

Collections can be difficult to get insurance and tend to be a niche market.

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/home-insurance/collectors-insurance/

Here's an example of an insurer that specialises in collections.

http://www.mjacroydon.co.uk/index.html

Most off the shelf household policies give you a certain amount of contents cover say £40k, they will ask you specify certain types of items or items of a certain value, for example, if you have a painting worth £5k you will be asked for a valuation from a Autioneer/Valuer, this will be provided to the underwriters who will set the additional premium that you'll be charged and this valuation will be used if there is a claim.

If you go to make a claim and there is no valuation, you will be asked is to prove the value, even if you have provided pictures and a breakdown of every part used, does it prove the value?

An insurance company will not pay out on something unless it has already has or can assess the value to it's satisfaction.

At the end of the day the proof of the pudding is in the eating and in this case it's whether or not your insurer will pay out on a claim and I agree with Terry that you might have a hell of a battle on your hands.