Been reading this thread and wondering where is the best place to get liability insurance.

Am about to start commuting, half of which in dopey traffic, thankfully slow-moving, and wondering now if I ought to cover myself in terms of having liability insurance. Bike is covered (via NFU home policy) – will check with them whether it gives me any liability anywhere else, but I see British Cycling has a series of levels with cover – what to get? Frankly, the cheaper the better, but wondering if the ‘free – cos I’m not a member as it won’t happen to me’ deal is perhaps too risky…..

thoughts?

Home insurance will almost certainly give u public liability. Bc membership gives you the reassurance of a known and recommended set of people to fight your corner imo

Home insurance will almost certainly give u public liability.

Possibly, mine doesn’t though unless I pay extra (which I don’t) hence I joined the CTC.

The issue of a cyclist causing damage AND being at fault very rarely comes up, but it’s an interesting point because with cars these days even a low-speed impact could cause substantial (in cost terms) damage. I’m not one for compulsory insurance for bicycles but I also think it would be very bad form to simply cycle off after causing damage which is what I expect a lot of uninsured cyclists would do given the chance! But neither would I want to pay for the damage out of my own pocket so insurance seems sensible IMO if you do a fair number of road miles.

Home insurance will almost certainly give u public liability

As above – you’ll have been offered ‘legal cover’ on top of the price you get quoted for cover, so you won’t ‘certainly’ have it you typically need to have opted for it. If you wanted to be sure take a membership or subscription where cover is a perk rather than take a stand alone policy

BC Ride membership is pretty cheap, there’s an equivalent from the CTC too. There have been a few voucher codes for the British cycling membership floating around to get it for something like half price.

I think the option in home insurance is usually for legal expenses cover, not public (third party) liability insurance.
As above, BC or CTC.
Ken

CTC I think covers everything (including on business journies iirc)

OP, check your home insurance policy if you have it. Home insurance covers you against a wide range of public (third party) liability. There will be exceptions in the policy (e.g. not providing cover whilst driving a car, riding a golf scooter, flying model helicopters etc.) but riding a bike has always been covered in mine. I always make a point in checking. Check your policy details if you have it.

Some home insurance policies also offer or include legal expenses cover. My previous home insurer included it as standard but I had to buy it as an optional extra from my current insurer.

As an aside, competitive or organised events may be one of the exceptions so if you’re road-racing, time trialling etc. then you may need to take out additional cover.