I think I read recently that a lot of these limits don’t apply to bikes stored in the house. Not sure if I misunderstood, but as our bikes are never left unattended away from home and are stored inside the house, this could be quite an important point for me.

Is anyone able to clarify?

You’re better off asking M&S directly. Only way to be sure.

£900 with M and S, so I went to a cycle type company the AA try them good price, bikes up to £1500 covered name 3 over and it still came in at £350

I’ve read that AA aren’t new for old on bicycles. If true, it’s not a like-for-like comparison with M&S.

Edit: I’ve just read their policy documentation and it states:

If your claim is for loss or damage to household linen, clothing or pedal cycles, we will take off an amount for wear and tear

It’s a real mine-field. I’ve been trying for the last 3 days to get a better quote than M&S’s renewal. Initially, the other companies provide very attractive, lower quotes, but then you have to adjust your details to make it as like-for-like as possible. So in my case: cover away from home, accidental, decent limits (item and total), excess. Then the quote sky rockets! Factor in most of the other policies aren’t new-for-old on cycles and I still can’t beat M&S, despite their premium increase. 🙁

Dedicated cycle insurance policy premiums are often 10% of cycle value, so they’re out of the question.

Yes but you can name bikes up to 3 over £1500. I have 8 bikes in the house 3 of which are over that figure so all my bikes are covered. Be nice not to take off any £££s in the event but the real world states its best to. The money I’ve saved over the last umpteen years [saved £600 last yera] has more than paid for 2 top end bikes.

Yes, they’re covered, but if you have to make a claim on a bike they won’t pay out what they cost you. Bikes depreciate and you could lose hundreds, even thousands.

If any of them are a few years old (mine is over 8 years old) they’ll reduce the payout for wear and tear to a point where, including your excess, it’s not worth claiming and you’ve effectively been paying for nothing.

That’s the thing with insurance – you have a choice of buying it, or self-insuring. It boils down to what you want, the risk you’re willing to take, or can afford and we’re all different.

I have a bike that initially cost me over £2600 and I’ve spent £100s over the years upgrading components. If it gets stolen I want to be able to replace it with a similar bike. If I insured with the AA I’d be lucky to get enough to buy an Apollo from Halfords. My situation is not unique.

The bottom line is, people need information to be able to make an informed choice. Many, if not most, people don’t read all the documentation accompanying a policy, or simply miss parts. They just see the premium and click buy. So making sure people know some companys, e.g. the AA, deduct £££ for wear & tear, is very important. If they then use them, great. 🙂

Got my M&S renewal and premium’s gone up a few quid a month. Have just done a quote and naming ‘pedal cycles’ has gone down to ‘over £1000’. I added one bike over the limit and the quote was more than the renewal :(, so I’ll be staying as l am, as it’s £2000 limit.

?

I’m moving house in a matter of days so have been sorting out (reading: banging head against wall) all the boring crap, contents insurance being one of them.

M&S used to be great, £14 a month on the old policy, called them about moving my policy to my new address, it’s now gone up to £22 a month (still not bad) which is probably reasonable for contents, but like everyone knows now, their pedal cycles amount is nowhere near the ‘new for old’ value of my Blur.

Done a quote with More Than which looks brilliant to be honest, just under a tenner a month with my bike and a guitar specified (over 8grand together), they’re only insured when in the house, but the bike doesn’t have to be locked to an immovable structure unless it’s in an outbuilding. They also repair new for old.

This sounds pretty damn good, right? I’ve read through the entire policy book but is there anything else I should look for?

We’ve just moved and M&S confirmed that when our policy renews in August it will be on the new terms and any bike over £1000 will have to be named and therefore attracts a premium. They have continued the existing policy across to the new house for the meantime

All of my bikes are custom built – how would M&S value them if they got stolen?

change from M&S as at renewal as policy for bikes changed where premium was going to be charged

M&S were ridiculously good when my roadrat was stolen. Wheelies went thought a custom build breakdown in which I told them about every component on the bike. They then took RRP on each component, added it up, and gave me that sum to play with.

I guess thats what happens when the people you pay to value the loss are the same people selling the replacement.

Just checked my Policy and on renewal in December my £4000 limit for any item drops to £2000 for an individual bike, but covered in out buildings, although forced entry must be shown for the claim. Regarding the comments above, i thought you are insured on replacement cost, not what the bike is worth when its stolen.