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I have been with John Lewis Insurance for the last 5 years and always been happy with the premium as we have 3 bikes each worth in excess of £2k.
Just received my renewal quote and it has gone up by 23% plus an increase in the policy excesses. I have not made a claim for anything in the last 5 years. A quick call to JLI to question this and was told it is due to an increase in claims for 'escape of water'. They helpfully said they could reduce the premium by increasing the excesses and reducing the cover.
Obviously I am not happy with this so which are the current favoured insurers that will include realistic cycle cover?
Over to you, hive mind...
Pedalcover
Pedalcover?
Not particularly cheap but seems good cover for bikes at home and in the vehicle when I'm away.
We've had Aviva for a while.
All the bikes are under £3.5k, they don't need to be registered individually.
Quote actually went down this year.
Nationwide?
As above, pedalcover for us too
legal and general for us, they do upto £10k bikes max, must be secured gold standard locks etc
AXA via Fresh Insurance.
Igo4, found them via one of the comparison sites, you have to list any decent bikes (cant remember the cut off but mine are ~£800 and listed) but it still came out significantly cheaper than any of the usual recommendations.
Only problem is they stipulate the bikes must be locked with a D-lock (doesn't say it has to be rated to any standard though, but even a good cable or chain won't count) which makes storing several bikes in a small shed a bit of a PITA as there's not enough wall space to lock them all to and still have room for ay other hobbies.
Pedalcover n+1
Thanks, all.
Just did an on-line quote with Aviva and it comes in at almost half of the JL quote. Bikes covered up to £2.5k each when at home or out and about - must be kept in a locked building at home but not locked to anything.
I'm with Pedalcover - going through a claim at the moment. You don't need to specify each bike and we have an away from home accidental damage limit of £8k which covered my almost brand new £4k bike without needing to tell them about it when I bought it.
Slight niggle at the moment is that I'm chasing for updates on my claim and not getting calls returned, but I think it's because they're struggling to get an answer from the manufacturer - they've confirmed it's covered, the delay is working out whether the replacement will be a frameset or a full bike. (And it hasn't been that long to be fair, I'm just impatient when I look out of the window and see sunshine! I have other bikes, but none I like as much as that one)
Going back a couple of years now, be we had home and contents with Allianz and when our bikes were nicked (5 of them) they were a pleasure to deal with. Really efficient. Lady came round, took details, agreed claim, and we had the money in a few days.
Could have knocked me down with a feather.
HTH
I use LANSDOWNE WOODWARD LTD - a broker.
<p style="font-weight: 400;">T: 01202 874 989</p>
Currently with RSA via Landsdowne but they've tweaked the policy to include two named bikes, which I couldn't do on my own.
in recent years they've me moved from Aviva and email me every year with the best deal.
Previously with M&S and JL specialist. Now with pedalcover. Cheaper and better cover
Just gone to Aviva - just had to give them a price for the most expensive bike and it came to about £20 to cover all of them.
As a former claims manager, no idea what the underwriters were thinking!
Another vote for Pedalcover
or if you want to stay with John Lewis increase the excess to lower the price and take out a seperate excess protection policy to cover the full amount of the excess
my excess with Pedalcover is about £300 but that reduced the policy price by much more than the £50 the excess protection costs
Said it before said it again, direct line. Nobody ever seems to take it up. Great website and checked with an actual person where and how my bike was covered before paying the policy.
Never had to claim though so that is there for debate still....
JL were way off the mark this year.
Pedalcover weren't keen on a sturdy wooden shed with ground anchor.
Found a company called Neos in the end that were quite happy with high value items, just needed to name the more expensive ones and cover them away from the house. Still half the price of JL and some techy bits to come in the post with it too.
Hi
Im with NFU (previously with M&S)
Competitive price. All 8 bikes named some with high value.
Had one stolen from the garage last year and money was in my account within a week-no quibble.
Repalcement value was higher than I had specified but they gave me the full amount anyway and didn’t charge the excess.
Max single claim for outside buildings is 5K though so just be aware this includes attached garage. Luckily only one bike was taken.
Local office that you can actually visit with friendly staff.
Cheers
Steve
I would have said Nationwide but they've just changed their underwriter to RSL who have a much stricter limit when it comes to bikes. I've got them to agree to the old terms for the remainder of my policy (in writing) but come August I'm going with Pedal Cover as while they are more expensive they actually give a decent level of cover for the bits that matter ie the bikes!
Direct Line are another option but after they tried to screw my dad over on his car after it was written off I'm not giving them another penny ever again. We had to go through the ombudsman to get a fair payout for his car and even after they ruled in our favour DL tried to pay less than they were told. Back to the ombudsman and we eventually got the payout after 18 months. Went from £825 (minus fees) to £1665 (minus fees) to £2673 fee-free with £100 compensation. If they behave like that with a car how much trouble would they be with a bike?
Another for Pedalcover here.