General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Bike Insurance - What are folks doing? Rss Feed  
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2014-08-18 10:47 AM

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Subject: Bike Insurance - What are folks doing?
Seeing I have a 5000 bike and there's always that chance of a crash (though rare), what do you do?

What are most doing here?

1 Get it covered via homeowners?

2 Use something like Veloinsurance?

3 Just hope for the best?


2014-08-18 11:06 AM
in reply to: JohnP_NY

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Subject: RE: Bike Insurance - What are folks doing?
Originally posted by JohnP_NY

Seeing I have a 5000 bike and there's always that chance of a crash (though rare), what do you do?

What are most doing here?

1 Get it covered via homeowners?

2 Use something like Veloinsurance?

3 Just hope for the best?


What includes theft?
2014-08-18 11:27 AM
in reply to: Lupy

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Subject: RE: Bike Insurance - What are folks doing?
You can get some insurance via your homeowner's coverage but watch the limitations closely. Many will exclude 'races' and that definition varies greatly. And yes, you can get standalone coverage that includes theft.

2014-08-18 12:54 PM
in reply to: Stuartap

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Subject: RE: Bike Insurance - What are folks doing?
We had three bikes stolen from our garage two year back. Local police found one, other two where gone. I made a claim via homeowners and learned a lot in the process. Individual coverage (separate from your general homeowner's) is expensive. I'm remembering 10% annually of insured amount. When comparing that to the cost of policy to cover something like jewelry, it's a lot more expensive. What I was told is there are a lot of people that have policies to cover jewelry and there is a low claim rate. With bikes fewer people have coverage and there is a higher claim rate. That is what drives the costs up.

What I have done post theft is to lock all of the bikes up in the garage. It's a very minor hassle to me to unlock the one I want to ride, and I realize that it's a slight deterrent to a motivated thief. I believe in our case the theft was more opportunistic than planned, so I'd expect decent locks to deter.

There are a few companies specializing in bike coverage these days, I've not really looked to much at them. We have 6 expensive bikes and do I insure one, a few, or all? If all of them then I could nearly buy a new nice bike a year for the cost. So I chose to self fund replacement of a stolen bike if needed, and lock them up when out of sight.
2014-08-18 1:08 PM
in reply to: magic

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Subject: RE: Bike Insurance - What are folks doing?
I lock mine in the garage too, but that's not my biggest risk.

I think skidding out and cracking the carbon fiber frame is far greater of a possibility, though remote.

Last race a guy crashed into a bunch of our bikes in T2 running like crazy around people trying to get his bike racked.

I somehow need some insurance. Just trying to figure out what, and how I can get it.
2014-08-18 1:23 PM
in reply to: JohnP_NY


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Subject: RE: Bike Insurance - What are folks doing?
I haven't pulled the trigger yet on the extra insurance but either its USAT or USA Cycling has a sponsor...Markel Insurance. Bike insurance is specialty insurance.

http://www.markelinsuresfun.com/products/bicycle

They've been the closest thing to decent race insurance without too many holes. But in researching after being cut off by a car and needing to dump my bike a few years ago, I found out that if I actually got hit and crashed, insurance will pay but if I avoid a car to save my life and the bike gets trashed, different story.


2014-08-18 1:32 PM
in reply to: JohnP_NY

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Subject: RE: Bike Insurance - What are folks doing?
You will most likely pay more in insurance premiums for a rider or separate plan than if you just paid for damage yourself. If you did have a claim on your homeowners policy, the deductible is on you anyway. Than the insurance co would likely raise your premium after the occurrence. Would they even pay for a new bike or the depreciated value of your old bike?

I have no special insurance, I take my chances.
2014-08-18 1:44 PM
in reply to: mike761

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Subject: RE: Bike Insurance - What are folks doing?
Originally posted by mike761

You will most likely pay more in insurance premiums for a rider or separate plan than if you just paid for damage yourself. If you did have a claim on your homeowners policy, the deductible is on you anyway. Than the insurance co would likely raise your premium after the occurrence. Would they even pay for a new bike or the depreciated value of your old bike?

I have no special insurance, I take my chances.


When I claimed our stolen bikes, StateFarm needed a detailed invoice or receipt to determine a value. From there they did subtract depreciation and our deductible for the payout. During the process I found we were over insured on our houses (primary and rental) and under insured on our cars. Ended up redoing our entire insurance coverages as a part of the process. Insurance companies don't like non-household damage claims either. StateFarm was close to not renewing our homeowner's insurance after the bike claim.
2014-08-18 2:07 PM
in reply to: #5040632

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Subject: RE: Bike Insurance - What are folks doing?
My insurance carrier (USAA) covers everything about the bike within my homeowner's policy (less deductible of course).
2014-08-18 3:20 PM
in reply to: GMAN 19030

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Subject: RE: Bike Insurance - What are folks doing?

 

Do a quick search and you will find a few threads on this in the last year or so with some good info and stories in them. 

 

That said it is different for different companies. Full disclosure, I am an independent insurance agent, which means I work for my clients and represent many different companies so I can find the right company for the client's need.

As such I did research with all of my companies to determine how to cover my bikes and to find out how they would be covered. My solution was to place my homeowners insurance with a company that would allow me to "schedule" the bikes as a valuable article just like jewelry, guns, art, musical instruments, etc.

Only one of my companies would allow me to do this for a bike, others did not have a classification that would cover a bike so I was on my own with those companies, another would allow it but the charge was prohibitively expensive. By scheduling the bikes it changes the coverage form to an "all risk" form. So every possible loss is covered except was is specifically excluded, in this case nuclear war, terrorism, etc were the only things specifically excluded. Crashing, theft, melting, etc is not excluded so it is covered. This is done on a stated value basis, I cover my bike for what it would cost me to get a new one of the same model. With my company the coverage is very affordable. I have my Cervelo P2c covered for $2,500, I have my roadie covered for $2,000 and I recently added my Zipp 404's at $2,700, total for all three for the year is $30. Pretty well impossible to not cover them at that price. Forgot to mention, scheduling also removes the deductible so there is no out of pocket on a loss. Also many companies will not count a scheduled loss against you. That can also mean different things, while some may not surcharge for a scheduled item loss, they may still consider the loss when looking at frequency of claims, too many claims in a short period of time and you are looking at a non-renewal. So for a bike under $1k it may not be worth the claim, for a higher end bike it may well be worth claiming, depends on your situation. 

As I said every company is different so you need to shop around and ask specifically about bikes and how they are handled, every company treats bikes differently. I would recommend finding an independent agent, telling them you have a specific need to cover high end bikes, then have them do the company shopping for you. 

2014-08-19 5:33 AM
in reply to: JohnP_NY

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Subject: RE: Bike Insurance - What are folks doing?
One thing to watch out for if you have your bike insured under your home insurance is the maximum value of the bike. It's quite common that the maximum is $1000-1500, which doesn't cover much at all.


2014-08-19 8:56 PM
in reply to: JohnP_NY

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Subject: RE: Bike Insurance - What are folks doing?
3) Hope for the best. Actually, I think of myself as self insured when it comes to "toys". If I can't pay cash for them upfront and afford to loose them, then I have no business buying them.

I have no data to support this, but I suspect that this is what most people do.

Insurance is a great tool, but, at the end of the day, insurance companies are profit driven. I look to insure the catastrophic loss that I can't tolerate.

This question boils down to risk tolerance and your willingness to pay up-front for a loss you may never experience.

Would you carry full coverage on a $5,000 car? I wouldn't.
2014-08-20 7:09 AM
in reply to: g_shotts

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Subject: RE: Bike Insurance - What are folks doing?
Originally posted by g_shotts

3) Hope for the best. Actually, I think of myself as self insured when it comes to "toys". If I can't pay cash for them upfront and afford to loose them, then I have no business buying them.

I have no data to support this, but I suspect that this is what most people do.

Insurance is a great tool, but, at the end of the day, insurance companies are profit driven. I look to insure the catastrophic loss that I can't tolerate.

This question boils down to risk tolerance and your willingness to pay up-front for a loss you may never experience.

Would you carry full coverage on a $5,000 car? I wouldn't.


My car is worth about 5K now and I have full coverage on it! That's because when I wanted to drop everything but liability the premium was only going to drop $50/year.

I do agree with the toys, however if I were able to cover them for a $30/year I probably would.
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