Before I blindly cough up another years money for M&S's unbeatably comprehensive cover, just thought I'd ask the question…is it still unbeatable?

M&S pretty much doesn't have any small print for bikes…insured inside the car even if left on view, insured if I snap the frame whilst 'just riding along', insured in the shed, abroad, on the plane, against baggage handlers etc etc etc. Up to £4k per bike. Have four bikes that would need to be covered so a policy with an extra premium for bikes probably won't be competitive.

Looking for buildings and contents. I remember one of those posh ones (hiscox or something?) that also does similar cover but its aimed at country mansions and priced accordingly…

Thanks 🙂

Just had my frame replaced by M&S after a 'just riding along' incident… Can't fault them, all sorted in a week, and the money in my account 2 days later. As long as you have 'away from home' and 'accidental damage' cover on your contents I don't think you can go far wrong!

Paul

ING and FMU do similar iirc. but don't forget to get a new quote online for M&S, it will be cheaper than their renewal quote.

thanks mrsflash,I did that trick last time and started a new policy in my gf's name but it had slipped my mind, was just going to phone up and see if they would haggle down a bit!

i looke all over last year before renewing, and could not find anything near to M&S for the bike cover offered

I got cover through a broker: http://www.nwbrown.co.uk – sounds pretty similar to M&S from what you describe.

We tried the new quote route but a new quote cost more. We did take the buildings out of the policy though. We saved overall by getting the buildings insuarance elsewhere. Couldn't match M&S anywhere for the bike cover though.

M & S is underwritten by AXA now – as is John Lewis' (Greenbee. com) The policies seem identical?

My renewal will be up shortly – it'll be an interesting exercise…. 😯

We moved this year, I checked the price of a new policy online versus renewal and would have been paying an extra £250 so I cancelled the renewal. It was only at that point that they said they couldn't cover us for Mrs NBT's home-working, so I had to shop around. Went to our local insurance agent and they found us cover from Axa, with 5 named bikes on the policy, for even less than the price of M&S. WOrth checking. BTW the axa cover online won't cover bikes, insurance agents can get other policies so it's always worth checking.

M & S is underwritten by AXA now – as is John Lewis' (Greenbee. com) The policies seem identical?

+1

I'm with Greenbee after M&S more than doubled my premium when I moved flats. They weren't prepared to haggle so I went with Greenbee. Give them a look!

Just got round to doing some quotes…

M&S renewal letter = £417
M&S Requote = £362
Greenbee = £674 😯 I think its standard cover is the same as M&S premium cover, but my M+S quotes are premium.
ING – Max claim for bikes limited to £2.5k
MFU – Couldn't find, did you mean NFU?

Got seven days before renewal so might try a broker.

If you go with a new policy with M+S no need to use a different name just phone them tell your letting it expire and then set new one to start day after your old one. That's exactly what their operator told me to do.

My M&S renewal has doubled since last year and now due to the AXA underwriting I cant get an online quote as my house apparently now lies in an area at high risk of flooding/subsidence. Incidentally, Greenbee quoted me but it was £58 more than M&S.

Just had my renewal notification from M&S (buildings & contents) so have checked on Greenbee etc

M&S 2007 = £583
M&S renewed 2008 = £620
M&S renewal quote = £662

Greenebee quote = £589

M&S new quote = £445!

Right, I shall be letting ours lapse and start a new M&S policy then! 😉
Mad.

my house apparently now lies in an area at high risk of flooding/subsidence

We got that from some insurers as our house is within 400 yards of a canal. That fact that we're 100 feet higher than the canal is not relevant, apparently 🙄

Don't understand why Greenbee was so much more expensive for us…we are within 200m of a tidal harbour which came up on our survey but we are halfway up a hill so no risk of flooding…maybe Greenbee can see that we are close to a risk?

Alternative to M&S ?

S&M = Spanking good deals