M&S Insurance - changes to bike cover from Thursday 8th + 10% price rise

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M&S Insurance - changes to bike cover from Thursday 8th + 10% price rise

39 posts & 26 voices | Started 5 months ago by agentdagnamit | Latest reply from ART

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agentdagnamit - Member

I've just had my renewal, up 10% to £700! (buildings and contents, plus 3 bike claims in the last 3 years....). If you ring M&S you'll get the usual explanation about rising prices, cold winters etc.

But, I was also just told on the phone that their bike cover conditions are changing this thursday, but they couldnt give me the details until then. Does anyone else know more?

I can save 20% if I cancel and apply online, but will need to do it today or tomorrow if the new conditions dont cover £3k+ bikes.

cheers

Posted 5 months ago #
alfabus - Member

changing for existing policy holders or just for new policies/renewals?

I renewed last month - don't really want to stump up for separate bike insurance too.

Dave

Posted 5 months ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

Their bike cover was never going to last - far too good and cheap

Posted 5 months ago #
Harry_the_Spider - Member

My bikes are bundled with M&S buildings and content as unspecified items insured on and away from the premises. My premium came down this year even though I dropped an LCD TV.

Posted 5 months ago #
peachos - Member

surely they can't change a policy (contract) mid-term...only governments can do that kind of shiit.

Posted 5 months ago #
StirlingCrispin - Member

There's a 30-day cooling off period for new policies, so cancel and apply online.
Then re-cancel it if you don't like the new t&c's.

Posted 5 months ago #
alfabus - Member

only governments can do that kind of shiit.

Posted 5 months ago #
misterfrostie - Member

Thanks for the heads up - I'll keep an eye on this as the bike cover is the only reason I'm with M&S

Posted 5 months ago #
Oscillate Wildly - Member

hmmmm ive just spoke to them - basically if your bike is worth more than 1k then on new policies as from tomorrow you will have to specify it on the policy....

people whom are mid term will not be affected until renewal....

insurance cover the same, and same features, just basically a seperate premium on top of the home insurance for your bike over 1k....

it goes live tomorrow so somebody needs to do a check on the pricing

Posted 5 months ago #
mudshark - Member

Check out Barclays, they had the best price I could get to include bikes up to £2.5k

Posted 5 months ago #
speaker2animals - Member

To be honest OP I'm surprised that 1. Anyone would insure you if you have had three claims for the same item in 3 years or 2. That anyone who would cover you you wouldn't be able to afford the premium. I'm not having a go at you just stating the facts as I understand insurance. A friend of a friend had a series of house burglaries in the 80's over a number of years to the point that he could no longer get a quote for household contents (or any he could find anyway).

Were your claims theft loss/accident loss or combination, feel for your loss. I've had 2 nicked over the last 16 years and that is bad enough. If I lost 3 like you I doubt I'd take them out of the house. In fact I'd probably incase them totally in concrete to feel safe.

Posted 5 months ago #
agentdagnamit - Member

S2A - it's OK, I'm not going to take your post as personally as I took 2 burglaries in 3 months and £15k worth of bikes nicked. Just glad I could get insurance. M&S loaded it slightly at the time, and increased the excess, but were supposed to have reduced this over the next 2 years. Never happened. "Floods, harsh winters, increased labour costs, blah-de-blah....".

So, I'm still quids in as far as premiums paid vs sums received goes, but I dont really expect a 10% rise.

Interesting that another poster above was told the changes to conditions, but I couldnt find out.

So, I'd better either renew today or quickly apply again online and hope 3 claims doesnt stop me getting a 20% new customer discount.

I'll also try Barclays and Hiscox.

Posted 5 months ago #
Scamper - Member

Bought today, Policy starts tomorrow.

In the Policy Details can still only see the one item £4k clause, so should be ok.

Posted 5 months ago #
agentdagnamit - Member

Just to be clear, it isnt a change mid-term, but applies to new customers and those who renew after thursday I believe.

Posted 5 months ago #
titusrider - Member

ahhhh well the party had to end some day....

thinks about whether my girlfriend will put up with my bike insurance on the joint account as she puts up with M&S

Posted 5 months ago #
vinnyeh - Member

So, I'd better either renew today or quickly apply again online and hope 3 claims doesnt stop me getting a 20% new customer discount.

I don't think you'll be able to buy this online with the claims history- you should get referred to a call centre. I'd just take the 10% hit rather than run the risk of being turned down as said above a lot of companies are really wary of people with more than one claim in two years, and it used to be quite difficult to change insurers the year following a claim..

Posted 5 months ago #
Flashy - Member

I bought mine on Saturday, I rang them and was not informed of the new policy. My insurance starts on 12th. Although I don't think any of my bikes are over £1000, I do admit to having one for everyday of the week, (a standard week does have 11 days, doesn't it)

Posted 5 months ago #
toons - Member

Try esure

Posted 5 months ago #
thisisnotaspoon - Member

Didn't this exact threrad happen a few months ago and nothing changed?

Would I be cynical to suggest they're just saying that yo get you to renew ASAP?

Posted 5 months ago #
Oscillate Wildly - Member

but they have just suggested any NEW policy from tomorrow onwards will have to name bikes over £1000.....obviously if this is the case then there is going to be an additional premium on top of your standard policy surely?

whether or not people who already have the 4k limit can continue to do so for years to come who knows, he told me it would be reviewed up on the renewal date but is to far in advance for him to say exactly what will happen.....

i guess if you already own a say £4300 bike you would have it as a named item anyways, so whether a new quote would actually affect your premium or not compared to current who knows....i dont think at the mo if you say your bike is worth £4500 you actually pay that much more for the said individual item.....

Posted 5 months ago #
titusrider - Member

my experiance of living on the very edge of the 4k limit (;)) is that when i got a quote to name it as an item it was massivly more than not. so my bike is worth £4000 and not a penny more.......

Posted 5 months ago #
Oscillate Wildly - Member

ive just done a test quote at £4300 and it was the same price.....

Posted 5 months ago #
steviep - Member

Mudshark, does the barclays insurance cover just one bike up to £2500 or multiple bikes? I am not quite sure even after reading their small print. They are half the price of my M&S renewal quote.

Posted 5 months ago #
njee20 - Member

Didn't this exact threrad happen a few months ago and nothing changed?

I thought that - and double checked when we renewed last month, all was fine. I don't think it was this concrete before though, think it was a case that some people were finding the clause changing.

It was previously underwritten by Axa, perhaps that's changing - Axa may win another contract, you may find the cheap bikes discount goes somewhere else!

Although I don't think any of my bikes are over £1000, I do admit to having one for everyday of the week, (a standard week does have 11 days, doesn't it)

That doesn't matter - they're all separate items (luckily) not a 'collection'. Have to wonder though... 11 bikes all under £1000? I'd far rather have 2-3 super bling ones!

Posted 5 months ago #
vinnyeh - Member

i guess if you already own a say £4300 bike you would have it as a named item anyways, so whether a new quote would actually affect your premium or not compared to current who knows....i dont think at the mo if you say your bike is worth £4500 you actually pay that much more for the said individual item.....

this has always stumped me, and I must say I've taken the head in the sand approach- one of my bikes cost me less than 4k to build (a few secondhand parts, a few at less than rrp) but to replace new would be wayyy over. So what's the basis of the pricing- for say a pair of last years forks bought at half price- do they count as the price I paid, the rrp for that year, or the rrp for the current years model?

Posted 5 months ago #
Oscillate Wildly - Member

m&s are always fine with receipts.....if its custom built just keep your receipts and claim back what it cost you to build.....

just noticed when you do a quote as of today

at the bottom its only valid until 7/12/11 so thats valid for 1 day, usually around 30days validity for a quote, so it does look like changes are afoot tomorrow folks!

lets hope its not too bad to the cover, or at least the same cover with a teeeeny tinnnnnny increase

Posted 5 months ago #
b r - Member

Their bike cover was never going to last - far too good and cheap

Especially with people claiming 3 times in 3 years...

And its not really 'bike' cover, but non-standard-items-home-and-away - so for us it also covers about £10k of equestrian gear.

Been bloody good value, not that we've ever claimed.

Posted 5 months ago #
agentdagnamit - Member

b r - lucky you.

Posted 5 months ago #
Oscillate Wildly - Member

m&s has always been good i just hope the level stays the same, yes the price is good for most who havent claimed etc etc when combined with home insurance...but its always been great having no get out clauses like which locks to use blah blah blah blah....

if they have to increase it to cover claims fair enough as long as it doesnt go ridicolous through the roof, id much prefer they keep the same cover, and cover away from home etc....

as most have said it cant go on forever with claims at 5-10k a time for a few bikes....

hopefully they will just see it as a way of ensuring only cyclists hit the bill for the contents (as it will effect every other person who uses m&s not just cyclists) and they are seeing it as a way of seperating normal everyday customers to cyclists who have more chance of theft?

very interested to see what extra premium a 3000 bike would have for example, wonder what the 2k extra on bike will add to a premium...

Posted 5 months ago #
aracer - Member

my experiance of living on the very edge of the 4k limit (;)) is that when i got a quote to name it as an item it was massivly more than not. so my bike is worth £4000 and not a penny more.......

+1! (it cost less than that to build, but replacement cost is more).

Posted 5 months ago #
FuzzyWuzzy - Member

I thought when this came up before the new restrictions were just for people who had made a claim? Will be a shame if it's applied to all new/renewed policies. one of my bikes is £4.8k so listed separately and I think is about £10 a month so still way cheaper than specialist bike insurers (typically 10% of value per annum) but still not something I'd want to extend to my other bikes over £1k...

Posted 5 months ago #
ART - Member

Oh joy ... reminds me that I will shortly be embarking on my annual hunt around/ battle with M&S to achieve a premium that doesn't totally take the piss...

Posted 5 months ago #
richc - Member

I can save 20% if I cancel and apply online, but will need to do it today or tomorrow if the new conditions dont cover £3k+ bikes.

You may need to be careful with this, as they told me that if you have had a claim worth more than 3K in the last 5 years they will no longer take you on as new business. Which you will be if you cancel and renew (if you let the policy roll over you are OK)

I found this out when I moved, and had a pause in my policy and when I came to renew/restart the policy they informed me that AXA (the underwriter wouldn't cover me, even though I had only had 1 claim in 9 years)

Posted 5 months ago #
J273 - Member

Ive not got my bike named its under the 4K contents limit.

Will this still be honoured for the full 4k as its worth more than 4K or am i best to name the bike before the 8th on the policy?

Thanks

Posted 5 months ago #
richc - Member

you need to check your policy wording, however I can tell you when I got burgled I got paid 4k, and lost the rest.

But you do need to check the wording, incase they have taken the line of over 4K = not covered.

Posted 5 months ago #

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