[Closed] Pedal cover insurance

I renewed with them a bout 3 weeks ago and they were bloody brilliant, really nice to deal with. massive thumbs up from me

and no I dont work for them 🙂

I'm just going through the process of claiming against their cover so will update you shortly 🙁

sorry scaled. be interested to hear what happens after - if you're allowed to renew. Got it in my head that they only accept people with clean claims experiences.

Anyone know if that's right?

Up for renewal on the 9th December as well, so i guess i'll find out!

I've found them very good and easy to deal with wasn't aware of any "clean claims" proviso.

I claimed on my Pedalcover insurance earlier this year.
Renewal price was only about £20 up on previous year.
Painless claim experience too. Really easy to deal with. Recommended.

I've had to claim with them too. Nice and straight forward, and you get to always speak with the same person which is helpful. Premium only went up about £20 for the year.

I found them great to deal with. Never made a claim yet tho.

Scaled - soz to hear that. Keep us posted if you would.

Got it in my head that they only accept people with clean claims experiences.

Resurrecting this thread as it popped up while I was Googling for bike insurance.

Has anyone got anything to add about Pedal Cover in the last 6 months?

I really want to cover my Geometron which probably clocks in over 6k and my girlfriend's Stumpjumper. Don't really need home or contents insurance as we're just renting a room in a shared house and all my other valuables are on a photography specific policy.

Any other companies worth considering? And how much are you paying? Is it a few hundred quid a year or a few quid a month?

Cheers

450 quid. Buildings and contents. A few decent bikes.

I just have contents with Pedalcover @ £175 a year (covers over £10k of bikes but they don't need to be listed individually).

Policy summary:

• £75k Contents cover (would cover all your bikes at home – no limit in the garage unlike other insurers) – valuables limited to £30,000 in total with a single item of £15,000
• New for old cover included but full Accidental Damage cover at home declined
• £2 million public liability
• £7000 of cover worldwide (can be increased if required) – this would include any personal possessions such as jewellery, watches, cameras and your bikes worldwide – single item limit £10,000 (note, with the exception of bikes, theft from a vehicle for other items is limited to £1,000)
• Competition cover is included for Triathlons, Duathlon, Sportives & time trials (Road Racing, Criterium racing, circuit racing and equivalent, Track racing, competitive downhill mountain bike racing are excluded)
• family legal cover

I'd give them a ring and see if you can insure contents in your situation (most won't), however last time I looked at bike only insurance it was crazy money, about 10% of the combined value a year I think + lots of conditions (that was a few years back though, not sure if the market has changed)

I took out cover beginning of the year as impressed by the seemingly comprehensive cover for when we travel abroad with our bikes. Especially stuff like being able to rent a bike should ours get lost/damaged that the chap raised as an example during our chat.

It wasn't until later that I checked the small print to see rental is capped at £25 a day - not a lot of full-sussers available in Moab or Whistler for £25.

Dose this crowd cover you for injury (loss of earnings), or is it just cover for bikes & stuff?

I'm currently trying to settle a claim with PedalCover, they are currently saying the bikes were not locked to a sufficiently permanent object, despite that object still being there after the theft. Feels to me very much like trying to get out on a technicality, I expected better from a company that has so many good reviews.

they are currently saying the bikes were not locked to a sufficiently permanent object,

Was this whilst travelling, in a shed, in a garage or in a house?

Feels to me very much like trying to get out on a technicality, I expected better from a company that has so many good reviews.

Feel like we're also a bit light on details

They were locked to a bike which was locked to a tree. Both tree and other bike remained undamaged during the theft. They have no issue with the tree, that is considered OK, its that there was another bike in between, despite the thieves cut my lock from our bikes to the other bike.

I too had a very slow claims process, only resolved by multiple calls and emails, then finally accidently getting the boss on the phone one day.

I won't use them again - especially as Aviva were cheaper for more cover, and no daft and awkward excess policy do-dah.

Why would you lock your bike to another bike rather than something permanent given there's a tree there?

Just phone them direct and ask questions till you are either put off or satisfied.

I should say it was a friends bike, not a random bike. We could have locked it to the tree on the other side but that would have meant the bikes spilling out on to the pavement. By locking them to my friend's bike they were between the tree and the front wall of my friend's house which I thought was more considerate.

On the face of it that seems disappointing.

I've very recently resolved a claim with them. There were several mistakes by their claims adjuster and their appointed repairer - and it took around six months altogether with more chasing on my part than I'd have liked.

Would I recommend them now? I don't know TBH, but I will be offering feedback based on my experience.

That is disappointing - although it is in line with their policy wording.

Given the lacklustre reports above, I'll probably reconsider staying with them come renewal time.

It's surprising, and a bit of a shame, that there aren't any other home insurers designed around cyclists.

I recently got a quote off them and they asked if I ever took part in any road races/crits/ track racing or mtb races as if I did they would not cover you even while not competing.
Seems like an odd clause to a company specialising in cycling, I did ask what you could do and was told sportives, timetrials and triathlons..

Seems like an odd clause to a company specialising in cycling

Not really. Competitive use is usually excluded from regular insurance. Makes sense too as it's only a very small minority that race.

I didn't want cover for accident damage while racing etc just for theft at home but wouldn't provide a quote on the basis I might take part in a race or organised event

Well when I think about the security at races (mostly none) I'm not surprised there is no cover for theft at them.

"Why would you lock your bike to another bike rather than something permanent given there’s a tree there?"

If the options are locking with a D-lock to a bike locked with a solid chain around a tree or locked to a flimsy cable lock around a tree, then I'd lock to the bike. Or the chain. Secure locks that will go around a tree are rare and not easily portable.

Yeah, it seems like a reasonable clause to state that competition cover is excluded.

It's strange that if you race, they're not prepared to cover you at all, though. (That's not what the policy wording says for me, FWIW).

wouldn’t provide a quote on the basis I might take part in a race or organised event

I think you’ve got something wrong here. They don’t cover those races (they’d be ****ing mad to), it’s just an exclusion on the policy rather than a reason not to quote

I didn't expect them to cover competitions etc. But did think it was odd they said they wouldn't be able to cover my standard house/contents with bikes at home because I may ride a couple of events a year,

I did question the person that rang me back about it and that's what he said and went off to check and came back and said they wouldn't cover me?

Never mind, their loss of business from it and they did however send me a letter saying sorry they couldn't provide cover for me and send me a free neck warmer to say sorry.

Positive experience for me when claiming with Pedal Cover. First year insured and they have covered crash damage on my wife’s frame which disappointingly wasn’t going to be covered by the manufacturer. Really good service and happy with the amount settled.

then finally accidently getting the boss on the phone one day.

Why accidently Ring up and ask for Darren?

Spoke to him a few times.

I was with pedal cover, made a large claim with them, and it was settled fairly quickly.
However aviva give the exact same cover for around £200 less , so went with aviva

Strange that theft isn't covered whilst at a road race, I would have thought it was just the increased crash risk they didn't want to cover. Then again triathlons are covered and from my limited TV viewing triathletes are just as prone to falling off as people in a road race. I guess even at a triathlon the bikes wouldn't be covered for theft if left unattended and not locked up (how secure are the transition areas?).

Happy enough with Pedal Cover myself but then I've never had to claim, will check out Aviva's pricing next renewal though. You must have a lot of cover if saving £200 though, my entire contents policy is only £175 with Pedal Cover.

Checked Aviva's cover as I was with them a while back. Yeah it might not be the £500 I'm paying but it says it covers up to £2500 from the garage/theft.

Not really comparable to what I've got covered with Pedalcover.

Cheaper for a reason.

I'm ready to renew the buildings/contents, currently with Pedalcover and their renewal quote was £400. Went onto a price comparison site, listed each of my bikes and the cheapest quote was from Halifax and was £190. Need to understand exactly to what extent the bikes are covered but that's a massive saving. Anyone have any experience with Halifax?

spooky
My understanding is they wont be covered if stolen from inside a locked car with Halifax, or an outbuilding not physically attached and connected to your house (so now shed or detached garage)

I heard about Laka on the Rapha podcast. Peer to peer bike insurance where your monthly premium is based on the value of your bikes and the number of claims made in the month, so theoretically you could pay a zero premium if no claims are made, there is also a maximum premium each month.

Race coverage included and they only make money when claims are settled so its in their interest to settle.

Not used them but like the look of the model.

That Laka is fascinating. Thanks for that.

Ultimately I guess we all pay the price of claims somewhere though.

Interesting .

Comes up way more expensive for me - i guess due to having a few bikes at quite a cost, and effecitvely specifying individual items.

My understanding is they wont be covered if stolen from inside a locked car with Halifax, or an outbuilding not physically attached and connected to your house (so now shed or detached garage)

This was the thing that pushed me to PedalCover. With the other 'normal' insurers the bikes were added as specified items (which cost a fortune) and then not actually covered 99% of the time because they were in a detached garage. I got confirmation from one of them that the bikes would be covered if I left them locked to a lamppost on the street, but not if they were locked to a motorbike ground anchor in a locked, CCTV covered, garage.

Was with pedalcover. Had a claim (burglary no bikes taken just electrics and jewellery and the like) renewal premium, compounded by moving was an additional £1k

Currently with aviva stuff above about building cover is only if you don’t take out the bike cover, which works the same way as pedalcover for an extra £80 I have 5k bike cover. And I checked you only need to insure most valuable not total value of all bikes.

I’ve just renewed my Pedalcover policy today. It was Darren that answered the phone and we had a really good chat about their cover, he gave me a comprehensive breakdown of how my premium was calculated and what coverage we have. I asked him specifically about how racing affects the policy, I do XC, Road Crit, Road Racing and TT as well as enduro and MTB marathons. He then confirmed what he told me in an email.

Rest assured all out of competition riding is covered so club rides, chain gangs, racing to the café, trail riding etc (type of stuff we all do in the office), it’s only road, crit, velodrome and downhill racing & 4x which are excluded.

I’m fully aware since we took out our policy 3 years ago of what the racing exclusion were, but was nice to have it confirmed by the boss.

I'm currently exploring my options with home insurance as it's due for renewal after the AA added over £100 to my renewal (no claims or change in circumstances) and the above report of problems making a claim with a bike locked to a bike is off-putting.

We go out riding as a family of five and frequently have to lock bike, to a bike, to a bike, etc. I've also got my bikes locked in a similar fashion inside my garage, ultimately to a motorcycle ground anchor and 11mm pragmasis chain. If the outside bike gets stolen and they don't pay out as they regard it as not being locked to a perm. object then it pretty much writes them off for me.

Halifax have come out a lot cheaper and I was probably going to go with them. I've even opened a bank account with them to get an extra 10% off. But I'll need to contact them about loss from a detached garage though.

They don't make it easy, do they!?