[Closed] House/bike insurance renewal time (Pedalcover no longer covering me )

Barclays

£5k max on most expensive bike, don't need to list them, either

Try Aviva - just had my renewal through but not checked it, think terms may have changed on security from another recent thread

I'm using wiggle - Covers my roadie to a value of about £6k. Only one I could find that allowed a custom build to be insured as the sum of parts rather than needing proof of purchase for the whole bike.

Cheers for Barclays shout, any idea if they have restrictions on outbuildings cover?

just spoke to aviva and there cover for outbuildings is £2500k max

Sofa, have you already got a policy with Aviva?
I spoke to them as well about my renewal quote and cover for outbuildings and after a few I'll just find out moments they said it would stay at the £5K I had on this years.

Oh don't tell me Aviva now won't cover us in outbuildings... My renewal is end of this month.

Best phone them matt and report back here if you don't mind!

The Aviva Plus site was really easy to tweak and ajust parts of the cover to suit your needs last year but it's not as good this year.

Roger.

I had to speak to them to amend my policy to cover my bike in the garage, £5k is the limit before they want it listed/declared on the policy and agreed with the underwriters.

Marks and Spencer was good for me last year when I had to move away from PedalCover.

Just saved £100 by moving from Aviva to Esure, including specifying all the bikes as the kids were also over the £500 limit

Also in the market for new insurance cover. Currently with pedal cover but the renewal has gone up by 20% ish, with nothing changing over the past year. Also their policy doesn’t seem to cover as much!

E sure is coming out cheapest on comparison sites, but I’m currently on hold as they answer questions on bikes away from home. But they only cover £2k in out buildings, excluding bikes. So not much leeway for tools and garden stuff.

It seems very difficult to insure anything away from home! Or in an outbuilding!

Hiscox might be worth a shot, 10k cover in outbuildings at the moment.

So having arranged new cover with Esure to start next week, I'm now having to make a claim against my current Aviva policy as when I got the road bike out the garage now my injuries have healed up, it turns out that crash has - at least - bent and cracked the downtube.

I'll let you know what their claims service is like in the coming weeks

Also in the market for new insurance cover. Currently with pedal cover but the renewal has gone up by 20% ish, with nothing changing over the past year. Also their policy doesn’t seem to cover as much!

Yeah, they've always been more expensive than anyone else, and they've been gradually watering down their policy. I went elsewhere this year.

Have mine with Sainsburys on the house insurance and covers out the home and accidental damage. Just listed each bike and each value and they calculated the additional premium , which wasnt much. Think I overdid it as had to drop one road bike to include the wifes new LIV electric MTB last week, but still happy with the rest of them. Most of mine are custom built , but now just insured as a value than a complete bike, if that makes sense.

Does anyone feel like pedal cover is a bit bait and switch? I have been with them for 4 years and the bike cover was amazing at the beginning, but they have progressively eroded it and we are all back to hunting through small print again..

I don't feel that it was bait and switch. I did think that it was a bit too good to be true. They were offering cover that was better than that offered by specialist bike insurers but at a fraction of the cost. My premium was about the same as my previous home insurance, but included bike cover that would have cost me £2k with a bike policy. So I'm not surprised that the gap is narrowing, because a difference of that size indicates that either CTC/British Cycling were gouging to a ridiculous degree, or someone involved in the Pedalcover insurance got their risk calculations wrong.

CTC/British Cycling were gouging to a ridiculous degree

The insurance they offer isn't theirs is it? But by the by, I think the issue with specialist bike insurance, which is incredibly expensive, is it's a lot like phone insurance in that it's open to fraud especially when offering new for old on a 10 year old peice of kit and knowing bike theft isn't likely to elicit more than a crime number for the police these days, so incredibly pricey for what it is.
People are a lot less likely to claim on their home insurance IMO (I am not an insurance underwriter) so the cost of cover is lower, its also spread over a far greater number of policies.

Nfu were the only place that I could find last renewal to cover full value in out building, had to list bikes and the premium was a fair bit higher but not as bad as some places.

The problem is, someone finds an insurer doing a good deal on bike cover, they tell all their cycling friends on places like this, so more people insure with them, then they have to make claims, the underwriters see a spike in expensive cycle claims and adjust the premiums/impose terms to tackle it. And so the cycle continues

My bikes are named items on my Lloyds Contents Insurance. Added about £30 to the annual cost for nearly £10K of bikes. All risks, new for old, accidental damage, £50 excess.

Most of mine are custom built , but now just insured as a value than a complete bike, if that makes sense.

Be careful with that, at point of claim they may not just take the value you input on the quote system as the payout they'll give. Some insurers can be a bit funny about 'upgrading' the bike you purchased and insuring that higher value, worth checking with them.

Agree with Pedalcover though, my renewal came through, the restrictions keep on coming (premium virtually the same). Just did a quote with Sainsburys and they were less than half that of Pedalcover, which with PC I don't need a lot of the 'fancy biking extras', just good solid cover with high value bikes at home or locked to the car.

Yes thats probably true, over times as the claims ramped up they realised they were being too generous..
bummer.

My Pedalcover is due for renewal soon too. Last year it was touch and go whether it was cheaper to go with them for contents and someone else for buildings (the building quote was insanely high) or get a home and contents insurance policy from someone else and a bike only policy from Laka.

The key thing for me is that my bikes are kept in an Asgard. Pedalcover included it last year but if it's not in this year I suspect Laka for the bikes and whoever for the home insurance will be cheaper.

Has anyone else had any success with other insurers for the whole lot in relation to keeping your bike in a shed?

Just as a reference, the updated cover on my quote is -

Axa have recently revised the policy wording, please find a brief list of the changes below. For further information we have attached the new policy wording and the document to highlight the comparisons between the new and previous policy wording

* Theft claims from an Outbuilding is limited to £5,000 (Garages are not considered as an outbuilding).
-Outbuildings are defined as: Sheds, Greenhouses, Summer houses, other buildings (but not caravans, mobile homes, motor homes or structures made of canvas, PVC or any other non-rigid material)which do not form part of the main building of the home.

* We will settle claims for loss or damage to pedal cycles and pedal cycle accessories which are beyond economic repair on the basis of cost as new, subject to the excess as long as:
-The pedal cycle(s) and/or pedal cycle accessories were purchased from new.
-The pedal cycle(s) and/or pedal cycle accessories are no older than 5 years old and (Bikes greater than 5 years old but purchased from new will be settled at 50% of the new cost, if items/components on the bike can be proved to be younger than 5 years they will be settled on a new for old basis)

For pedal cycle(s) and/or pedal cycle accessories not purchased from new we will pay the value of the item immediately prior to the loss or damage based on the age and market.

They've also added a new security endorsement, which appears that it's now a requirement to lock bikes while secured inside with a gold approved lock to an immovable object - whether that applies for garages I am yet to hear back on the clarification, I dont think it is but the endorsement is poorly worded.

For wooden sheds it's a requirement at the new policy term to upgrade the locks if they don't meet the requirements to a 5 lever mortice deadlock or 5 lever padlock. For bikes over £3k they also need to be locked to an immovable object with a gold standard lock in the shed.

The above I'm assuming will be applied to all policies going forward as it doesn't apply to me as I don't have a shed nor never declared I was ever insuring bikes in a shed.

Is ^^^^ that the Pedal Cover terms or the Sainsburys terms Larry_Lamb?

Almost all my bikes are second hand or over 5 years old 🙁

Is ^^^^ that the Pedal Cover terms or the Sainsburys terms Larry_Lamb?

Almost all my bikes are second hand or over 5 years old 🙁

Pedalcover, these are the new terms.

Pedalcover: I was checking this yesterday as have outstanding job to make sure have upto date pictures of all bikes. Was reading the AXA revised policy wording and it does seem vague to what Pedalcover said to me at the time which I summarised as (but didnt check back with them):

If bike or component is under 5 years old and have receipt will pay for replacement. Photo evidence of ownership needed
If bike or component under 5 years old but no receipt or bought 2nd hand will pay 50% of cost of replacement. Photo evidence of ownership needed
If bike or component over 5 years then will pay 50% of replacement.  Photo evidence of ownership needed.

Which isnt quite what that policy wording is. So I need to check this with Pedalcover.

Also

They’ve also added a new security endorsement, which appears that it’s now a requirement to lock bikes while secured inside with a gold approved lock to an immovable object – whether that applies for garages I am yet to hear back on the clarification, I dont think it is but the endorsement is poorly worded.

Please do post back as the bike locked in garages wasnt confirmed to me when I renewed 2 months ago.

I am in a similar situation and have moved from Pedalcover to Laka.

Laka? New one on me...

Does anyone feel like pedal cover is a bit bait and switch? I have been with them for 4 years and the bike cover was amazing at the beginning, but they have progressively eroded it and we are all back to hunting through small print again..

Nah. They were always reasonably open about policy changes. Hard to call that bait and switching.

Not sure I agree with the "too good to be true" sentiments. Sure, they offered good, comprehensive cover, but they charged for it. I think I was paying nearly double for pedalcover what I could have done elsewhere.

Now that it's less good, and less comprehensive, I'll pay less elsewhere, though.

Also - I don't know if it was just me, but I was never really taken with Pedalcover's idea of customer service. I only ever dealt with them for policy renewals too, I never made a claim.

In case it's useful to anyone, I just spoke to someone at PedalCover and they told me that any bike worth over £3000 kept in an outbuilding (not a garage) needs to be locked. That applies to the value when new, not the depreciated value if the bike is over 5 years old.

Just had my PedalCover renewal through, gone up by 40 quid with no claims and level of protection massively reduced, which is an arse as I've just bought an Asgard!

There really is no point to PedalCover anymore, for cyclist specific stuff.

Pleased to report excellent claims service from Aviva on my crash damaged Condor frame.

Taken two weeks to get full cash payment for an identical replacement frame and forks, plus the custom colour paint upgrade, plus the cost of getting the LBS to swap the bits over, plus the cost of the LBS report on the bike. Half that time was waiting for the LBS to fit me in to check the bike over.

I am in a similar situation and have moved from Pedalcover to Laka.

Just got my Pedalcover renewal. £394, up from £350 last year. But Laka wanted £1k, could be up to £1.5k, and I'd still have to find someone to insure my house and contents. No thanks.

Please do post back as the bike locked in garages wasnt confirmed to me when I renewed 2 months ago.

Had it confirmed that bikes in garages are still covered as normal, no requirements to lock them to anything inside the garage.

The change in policy is regarding outbuildings i.e. sheds.

In the same boat regarding shed and pedalcover now maxxing at 5K.
It was always so nice not having to name our bikes with them. Ah well.

As for being 'too good to be true'. They were definitely half the price of any alternatives 4 years ago when M&S first changed their cover. Providing you had a few bikes in an outbuilding.
Cheapest alternative I could find was £750 and pedalcover were £298 (now crept up to £310 although I seem to remember it going down one year).

The pain of filling out all the data and bike info to get quotes is just too much
I can see mentions of:
Hiscox
Barclays
NFU
Sainsburys
Laka

Has anyone moved recently with >5k bikes in shed and got anywhere near £300?

The pain of filling out all the data and bike info to get quotes is just too much
I can see mentions of:
Hiscox
Barclays
NFU
Sainsburys
Laka

Even if you go direct to any of these, you'll have to fill out all that data anyway, they're not going to just magically know what you're trying to insure.

Has anyone moved recently with >5k bikes in shed and got anywhere near £300?

🖐️ Went with Nationwide, all the bells and whistles (bar garden cover) and £12k worth of bikes between the shed and garage. A smidge over £300.

Has anyone moved recently with >5k bikes in shed and got anywhere near £300?

yes, to e-sure. i need t get quotes for the £5K max in outbuilding reason. hvae both of my bikes in an asgard bike shed outside with the combined value being significantly in excess of the £5K limit.

with e-sure they are named as specified items with new replacement values as the limit. no issues with being in outbuildings, or in / on a car (as long as locked) or away form home (again as ling as locked).

e-sure were about £100 cheaper than pedal cover as well with my buildings and contents coming in at about £230 for the year for a 3 bed semi in semi-rural area (including bikes, accidental damage etc), although i do live in a very low crime rate area with no history of flooding locally.

there are areas of cover where pedal cover still had broaer cover for the bikes )accidental damage iirc), however as theft is the key risk i want to insure them against it was no brainer

or in / on a car (as long as locked) or away form home (again as ling as locked).

Not true last week..

I ended up back at pedal cover in the end for this reason. Max cover on anything from a car is £750

Significant exclusions or limitations:
• covers You up to £1,499 for any one item, and any pedal cycle up to £500.

(higher limit for specified items (so bikes over 1500 quid) but...)

theft or attempted theft from a road vehicle, unless the item(s) was contained in a locked boot, concealed
luggage compartment or glove compartment of a locked vehicle, which was broken into by using force
and violence - the maximum amount we will pay is £750