General Discussion Triathlon Talk » BIKE INSURANCE Rss Feed  
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2014-02-14 2:00 PM

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Subject: BIKE INSURANCE
Not sure if this is the right place to ask an insurance question. Here goes...my State Farm agent told me that they stopped insuring bikes as of January 1st, and I should find another way to insure my bike. Looking in the interwebs I only find a few alternatives like Velosurance and Markle company..I got a quote from them last year but ended up staying with SF but now I have to move..... any other suggestions?

Edited by D3Henry 2014-02-14 2:06 PM


2014-03-17 6:01 PM
in reply to: D3Henry

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Subject: RE: BIKE INSURANCE
Did your agent tell you exactly why they won't be covered anymore? Sounds kind of odd.

Our home is insured with State Farm, and our bikes fall under the general homeowners policy.

I asked our agent about coverage for replacement if something happened to my bike that was not the result of another party (ie what if I just wipe out on it, versus it getting stolen or hit by another vehicle). To insure all our bikes like this (2 road bikes and a carbon TT bike) costs an extra $75 or so a year, and will give us the purchase amount of our bike (so, not replacement value as the prices increase, but not "current value", which is fine with us.)

2014-03-17 8:22 PM
in reply to: kristaae

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Subject: RE: BIKE INSURANCE
Originally posted by kristaae

Did your agent tell you exactly why they won't be covered anymore? Sounds kind of odd.

Our home is insured with State Farm, and our bikes fall under the general homeowners policy.

I asked our agent about coverage for replacement if something happened to my bike that was not the result of another party (ie what if I just wipe out on it, versus it getting stolen or hit by another vehicle). To insure all our bikes like this (2 road bikes and a carbon TT bike) costs an extra $75 or so a year, and will give us the purchase amount of our bike (so, not replacement value as the prices increase, but not "current value", which is fine with us.)




we have State Farm and have claimed stolen bikes on our general policy. Be very careful here. It will be a non property claim, they may elect to not renew your insurance due to it. You would want a specific policy for the items, bikes in this case. We also most got dropped due to this.
2014-03-17 8:55 PM
in reply to: magic

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Subject: RE: BIKE INSURANCE
Valid point, for sure. I don't know if it's because we're long time customers, but we had no issues when we had to claim a stolen bike. In fact, nothing changed on our policy as a result. I'd say it's an advantage of working closely with your agent and having a good relationship with them.
2014-03-17 9:55 PM
in reply to: kristaae

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Subject: RE: BIKE INSURANCE
Originally posted by kristaae

Valid point, for sure. I don't know if it's because we're long time customers, but we had no issues when we had to claim a stolen bike. In fact, nothing changed on our policy as a result. I'd say it's an advantage of working closely with your agent and having a good relationship with them.


its not the agent, they don't have much to say if your deemed a bad risk. From what I learned one claim for non house stuff is not that big of deal. 2 claims over 5 years or a really big claim is a different story. Our bike theft was well over $!0K. We worked with our agent to re-work our entire insurance portfolio to balance things out.
2014-03-24 10:59 AM
in reply to: kristaae

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Subject: RE: BIKE INSURANCE

Originally posted by kristaae Valid point, for sure. I don't know if it's because we're long time customers, but we had no issues when we had to claim a stolen bike. In fact, nothing changed on our policy as a result. I'd say it's an advantage of working closely with your agent and having a good relationship with them.

Unfortunately your agent can't do much of anything about it if the company underwriter decides you are a bad risk. We can plead your case but that is about it. 

As far as the bike insurance goes, you want your home insurance with a company that will allow you to schedule your bicycle on the policy, not all companies will do bikes. 

The issue is most homeowners policies insure the personal property on a named peril form. So only the specific named perils are covered. There is no named peril for crashing your carbon bike and breaking the frame. Scheduling the bike on the policy changes the form to what is sometimes called an "all risk" form. The difference is they specifically state what is not covered, everything else imaginable is covered. Crashing is not specifically excluded so it is therefore covered. 

Theft will be on a named peril policy so there usually isn't a problem when a bike is stolen. However, you will pay your deductible, and some policies have an internal limit on bikes. If your policy has an internal limit on theft of bikes of $2k and you get a $5k bike stolen, you are going to get $2k minus the deductible which isn't going to help you much. 

Scheduling the item removes the deductible and removes any internal limits. So you get $5k for the above bike rather than $1,500.

Scheduling is a good idea for bikes, jewelry that you wear on a regular basis, guns you take out of the safe often, musical instruments, etc. 

If State Farm won't do it, consider moving your home and auto coverage to a company that will. Find an independent agent and get them to find a company that will work for you. Safeco/Liberty Mutual has a good form for scheduling bicycles, covers both of min for $5k worth of value for $30 or so a year. 



2014-03-25 6:40 PM
in reply to: D3Henry

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Richland, Washington
Subject: RE: BIKE INSURANCE
Ok, this is strange because we have state farm and they do insure my bike. I just talked to my agent yesterday to talk about adding my wife's new P3 and there were no issues there either. I'd say you might need to call again and chat with someone else. Or better yet, call a different agent and ask questions.
2014-03-26 3:56 PM
in reply to: Swimaway


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Subject: RE: BIKE INSURANCE
Originally posted by Swimaway

Ok, this is strange because we have state farm and they do insure my bike. I just talked to my agent yesterday to talk about adding my wife's new P3 and there were no issues there either. I'd say you might need to call again and chat with someone else. Or better yet, call a different agent and ask questions.


I have State Farm home and auto. I've asked specifically about bikes before and they wanted a ridiculous amount (like $10/yr for each $100 insured - $300/yr for a $3000 bike). Exactly what type of policies do you have on your bikes and what do they cover (crashes or just theft)?
2014-03-26 10:11 PM
in reply to: jkintn

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Richland, Washington
Subject: RE: BIKE INSURANCE
I called my agent today... here are the details

For my wife's new P3 we pay $98 - insured for $6200. That covers crashes and theft. Reason the coverage is so high is to cover the wheels as well.
For my P5-6 I pay $140/year - insured for $11000 to cover crash and theft. I have coverage on my wheels as well.

We have a ton insured with State Farm.. and have been with them forever.... actually my entire family has been with them forever. I am getting a slamming deal with them.

In my opinion.... $300 a year is $25 a month for your insurance.... To me, that is worth the peace of mind I'd get from knowing my bike was insured. Trust me, I've wrecked a bike before... it wasn't insured.... Thankfully Cervelo hooked me up with a HUGE discount on the frame and I transferred all my components over. After that, I swore I would pay whatever it cost to have bike insurance just in case.
2014-03-29 8:59 AM
in reply to: 0

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Subject: RE: BIKE INSURANCE
What you describe is pretty much what I have. The insurance industry is something I've never understood, other than that it goes a really long way to have a good relationship with your agent. It really was no problem to get our bikes insured.

And, in fact (as a side note), when we found a less expensive car policy with USAA, my State Farm insurance agent reviewed what USAA offered (to assure an apples-to-apples comparison) and candidly said "yeah, we can't beat that, don't blame you for switching". That said, USAA can't beat the homeowners coverage we get through State Farm.

As for the comment about the underwriters considering us a bad risk...I guess we're not. We're in our 40s with clean records and no claims. Truly, getting anything clarified or added to our policy has been seamless for years.

Edited by kristaae 2014-03-29 9:02 AM
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