Bikes stolen, file a claim?

Getting a claim from a insurance company is a negotiation.  Most likely they will not offer you replacement value.  I once had a 36" TV broken during a move among other things and the offer was $25 which they claimed was the value.

But back to your point.  You are looking at a net check for $1200 if they value the bikes at $2200 - the $1000 deductible.  If that's the case it should easily offset any increase in premium.  I doubt they will give "replacement value".

I shouldn't say "most" about replacement cost - man that stinks that your bike were stolen! Even if the INS Co. does pay they will prob. surcharge you for it.

That Sucks!  Scumbags!!!

Ok, having said that, I'll tell you what little I know about bikes and insurance claims.  Recently my bike "fell" off of the bike rack on my truck...while going down the interstate.  In the 5 minutes it took me to get turned around at the next exit and get back to where I saw it skidding down the road some dumba$$ had stolen it.  Can you believe it?  Anyway, I called my American Family agent and he suggested I make a claim.  The Math:  Replacement cost of bike $2500ish...Deductible $1000...Increase in premium over the next 3 years $200 per...net $600. 

I initially called and started the claim process, but then had to get some additional info collected and procrastinated for a few weeks until I received a letter from Am Fam stating that the claim had been closed due to lack of info or whatever.  I've decided to pay for my own stupidity.

I don't know if this helps you any, but it's been theraputic for me...hope you get it all worked out soon.

We pay just a little extra each year to have to 'replacement cost' option from our insurance vs. the normal depreciated value.  This summer we had an installer make a huge mistake while working in our basement.  So when we ended up loosing many of our personal items I was able to cite replacement value of the lost items rather than have someone say 'your items were worth $X at the time of the damage.

Everyone:  call your insurance agent and ask to have the replacement cost option added to your policy!  It will save you a lot of frustration if you ever break anything!

Thanks for the info.

We inquired with our insurance and I guess what they do is take what was on our bikes and go out to replacement value companies and do some internet searching to see what those parts go for.  So now we're a little more confused.  

I'm having him make a list of everything he had on the bike and just do some cursory searching for some going prices.  If together we get over $2k (net 1k from the insurance) then we might think about a claim.  Otherwise we aren't sure its really worth it to mar our nice clean insurance record.

You can also just go to your LBS and have them come up with a price for the exact bikes if you bought them now.

I have a rider on my bikes and Nan's jewlery.  It costs about $40/yr.  If my bikes disappear, I make a call and get a new one.  No increase in premium and no deductible.

Sorry to hijack but...is your rider on Home insurance? Since I don't own a home can I still get a rider on say auto or renters insurance? I've been thinking about this a lot and would like to have my bike covered seeing as I wouldn't really be able to replace it if something happened to it. I am a little less than knowledgable on matters of insurance.

This idea is why insurance companies make a lot of money.  "Nice clean insurance record"?   um, ok whatever that means.  Don't feel guilty about collecting on a policy you pay for. 

Now if if was a $100 maybe $200 I understand...but a $1000, that's worth the claim.  

Also not to be a downer - ( I have had lots of stuff stolen - I feel for ya )  but home owners policies were designed to cover catastrophic losses - i.e. house burns down - they are not meant to protect your sporting equipment. Although some companies will let you add increased coverage for things like sporting goods and business property or even schedule items if you have an appraisal - which I would recommend for high value items. Keep in mind too on items that have a higher inherent value (jewlry, watches, furs, sporting goods) there are inside limits - Its a good idea to READ your policy to see what ya got!

Exactly what The_Nat said.  My Home owners policy only covers up to $2k of stuff.  That's not even one of my bikes.  Enter rider.

Go get one TODAY!!

Not 100% sure about that.  I think insurance is for that catastrophic event to cover major loss of property or loss of life or injury.

I used to agree with you untill I heard a horror story from a friend.

First, a windstorm blew his fence down, and it was a couple thousand to have it fixed/replaced, so he claimed it.

Second, something happened to his garage, another couple thousand of damage, so he claimed it.

Third, someone broke into his house and stole a couple thousand worth of stuff.  Claimed it.

All of this happened over the span of a couple years.

The insurance company dropped him for being a high risk and making too many claims.  They would NOT pick him back up or insure him.

Then, when he applied for insurance with other companies, they would always ask if he was dropped by another company.  When he said 'yes', they would look into it, and THEY would not insure him.  He finally found a company, but pays out the arse for it.

On hind site, he said he would have just paid the extra couple hundred or thousand bucks and take care of the items himself (after the $1000 deductable).

don't mean to scare you, but if you are only going to get reimbursed a couple hundred after the deductable, I may just skip it....

Most insurance companies look at the rule of 3.  if you have 3 claims in a short period of time (1-2 years) they will drop you regardless of the claim amounts.  Not sure why that is but that's what our SF agent told us when we had a water claim 3 years ago and were trying to determine if it was worth turning the claim in.