Check your contents insurance chaps

[Jazzchimp]

My contents insurance covers my bikes against theft and damage both in the house and outside but cover excluded the following:

Quote 'Any bike used for racing or showing.'

Who can insure them for this purpose?

[jon016847]

Yep EVERY STANDARD OFF THE SHELF HOME CONTENTS POLICYY that i have looked at will not cover them,  the problem is that if you have them and don't decalare them  you invalidate your entire contents policy,

The only way to go is specilaist insurnance policy, I am in the process of looking for one as i have been told that the insurance company i have will not cover them so I need to move, I am expecting to pay about £1500  per year now on my contents insurance - oouch !

[retrogeezer]

Quote 'Any bike used for racing or showing.'

So I guess that would all depend on what you put on the claim form then? 

[jon016847]

Well lets suppose you had a total loss claim, fire or theft, and the insurance assesor was involved, If it turns out you have not declared correctly your policy could be invalid and you could loose the lot !

Not a nice thought,    Right now, I am most concered about a fire risk of total loss,

Secruity is like fort knox where i live, 12ft gates, cctv, 24 hour permanatly based security guards based at the entrance to the gated comunity, monitored alarm system etc so its nice and safe,  problem is if a fire goes through the place the insurance assesor is called out and you are stuffed !

[retrogeezer]

yeh, I was only talking about that today with someone. The main gas supply on/off is at the back of my garage and would take 15 mins to get to! I don't think the fire service would be too chuffed.

[kdw712]

humm
got me worried
better check this out now

thanks for heads up

[jT Racing]

get em valued and registered. If you don't get em valued professionally you will get screwed by an insurance company.

[stuntmaster]

any idea who`s best to use and cheap but give full cover .

yeh, I was only talking about that today with someone. The main gas supply on/off is at the back of my garage and would take 15 mins to get to! I don't think the fire service would be too chuffed.




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i don`t think transco would be too chuffed either

[Waxintaxin]

I have added mine through Nationwide , they are listed as bikes pure and simple , they know they are old and thats fine, i have listed the parts and registered them to ensure that replacement is correct.

It cost me about 100 quid to add to contents as it was part of a add on product protecting possesions while out of the house and sports equipment , bikes are sports equipment so they are covered.

Rich

[se]

I always chain and lock mine together when I'm not around and leave them in a room that makes it difficult to lug bikes from. Sorry if this is a bit Shaw Taylor/bleedin obvious but hope it helps!

[retrogeezer]

Right, got my policy document in front of me, it's with the CIS (Co-Operative Insurance) and the only exclusions are :

Wear & Tear
Mechanical Failure

Damage by Vermin

Theft of Aceessoiies (unless stolen with the bike.

What is covered is:

Loss of or damage to ANY pedal cycle owned by the FAMILY

Up to £1000 for any one pedal cycle in respect of any one event, less the excess.

So I guess I have a couple worth a bit more than that but mainly I should be o.k.

[Flying_fox]

I looked into it and found that it was going to cost £1000s a year to insure them for what they are 'worth'... and try telling an insurance company a kids bike cost you over £2500. I just leave mine at work in a secure warehouse behind razor wire and cctv, much cheeper. And when I'm out my bike never leaves my side, I take it into hotels etc. I have insured two bicycles for £1000 a piece in the end just incase on my current policy, that didn't put my premium up much at all, and theres no stipulation about race bikes. Trouble is I've got a lot of bikes and none of them cost anywhere as little as £1000, so if somehow the lot got nicked I'd be stuffed. 

Last time I had a bike nicked I found out who stole it and where they lived. They lived with thier parents, so I went round paied them a visit and told them if my bike wasn't back with me in 24 hours I would burn their house down with their parents in it! Seemed to do the job. ha ha ha, chav skum.

[bodamus]

I have unlimited insurance cover provided by the Halifax and I can claim on anything as long as the value of any single item doesn't exceed £2000 then you will have to take out seperate insurance for each item and insure it individually. This insurance covers my Vinyl Record Decks and Bikes and I have a lot of these things. This insurance is also dependent on what security measures your home might have i.e. alarms etc.

From bodamus.

[ORB]

Abby's dad is the chief executive of the building society that we have our mortgage and insurance with.

He says i am not to worry about silly things like that.

[jT Racing]

yeah thats all fine and dandy, but if you don't get em valued just like a classic car or antique, you try and get an insurance company to pay out on anything other than their value based on the new value with depreciation. Insurance companies are the biggest twat's ever.  Better phone your broker or company and ask what you would get and are you covered for the actual value. To find out the hard way sucks and regret is a muggy c**t to live with. Do not be fooled into thinking that an insurance company will pay you more than the new retail value for somthing if it has not been properly asessed/valued !!! Insurance companies got to extreme lengths to avoid paying anymore than necesary. Just speaking from experience. You have been warned!!

[jon016847]

I agree with Townshend here, I used to work in insurance myself, I was branch manager of the AA insurance of a number of years early 90's , we sold home ins , car ins etc,    If you choose to read you policy and try to apply the wording to your situation, you could be in for a big shock if something bad happens.  I am convinced if you pick up the phone to a company and explain you have say 10 bikes worth £10k  you may find they will not take the same view !

I cant speak for all ins companies, but please jsut be careful, ignirance is bliss, but at then end of the day if finding out the gard way sucks !!

Jon W

[gmac]

So who would an insurance company recognise a valuation from ? Who's opinion would they consider as 'expert' ?

[ORB]

mine

[jon016847]

Good question, you should name it as a valuable item, ask the insurance companies how they want you to provve the value,

It would help if you kept records of similar auctions to show what thhe items are worth !

[jT Racing]

Insurance usually ask's you to give up a value. They ask as a general rule 1% per annum for coverage of high value special items. It can be rather pricey. Like I said, just take an hour to inquire where needed and possibly save a lot of hartache in the long run.