had a big-un whilst in the alps and did some damage to my bike. All fine, par for the course. Got home and realised I might have a claim on my travel insurance, as it insures accidental damage for belongings.

Fast forwards a month and the claim’s been rejected as the policy limits

Loss, theft of, or damage to, vehicles, their accessories, or items in a vehicle where there is no evidence of break in.

In my reading of this, I would assume that a bike is not a vehicle, and a vehicle is more likely something with 4 wheels and an engine. Other policies provided by the same underwriter specifically exclude “vehicles and bicycles” (along with other stuff), but my (posh) coverage doesn’t. The word bicycle\bike isn’t mentioned once on the t&cs.

I’ve lodged a complaint, as I feel like a normal customer would not take a vehicular exclusion as to be excluding bicycles, but thought I’d see if I was on my own on this 🙂 the bike in question is a full on DH bike which can’t even take a bottle of water, not an old dawes tourer capable of carrying 50kg of luggage.

Do you have accidental damage cover on your home insurance?

IANAL but no it isn’t they’ve made a mistake.

Maybe they thought the bike was in a car when it was damaged??

is a bicycle a vehicle?

From an engineering perspective, yes. From a legal perspective of making an insurance claim, no idea.

Well the definition of vehicle is “a thing used for transporting people or goods, especially on land, such as a car, lorry, or cart”

So i would say yes a bike is a vehicle. Especially where na insurance company have made no mention of vehicle not covering a bicycle.

Do the T&C’s specifically not cover certain types of activities though, as that’s where they might get you.

*assumption made by me that you were mountain biking in the alps.

Travel insurance policies have been shite for bikes for years. Change the claim to “golf trolley” and you’ll probably have more luck 🙄

But to answer the question, no, in this case I’d say not, it’s a sporting good.

had a big-un whilst in the alps and did some damage to my bike

Did your policy specifically cover damage to a bike while mountain biking?

no it isn’t they’ve made a mistake.

Yeah, a mistake is that accidentally-on-purpose thing insurance companies do to get out of paying claims.

Google say: ““vehicle” means any motor vehicle. intended for travel on land and propelled.” – motor vehicle. So long as it’s not an E-downhill bike, it’s not a vehicle.

Did you take out optional extreme sports cover?🤔

Do the T&C’s specifically not cover certain types of activities though, as that’s where they might get you.

Did your policy specifically cover damage to a bike while mountain biking?

no activities related to biking, bicycles or similar are mentioned in any way other than

Mountain bicycling

being a “covered sport” (I checked this before using the policy). Interestingly road cycling isn’t mentioned, but there is a catch-all of “usual holiday sports” so maybe that’s in? out?

there is also coverage for

Reimbursement of any pre-paid excursion or specialised hired sports equipment: Up to £500 if You have an accident, suffer an unforeseen illness or are undergoing medical treatment during Your Trip and a registered Medical Practitioner advises You not to continue Your excursion or sports activity

my bike wasn’t rented, but it looks like they do consider sports equipment to be a thing and not specifically excluded..

just to add, I didn’t really expect my bike to be covered, smashing up bikes is kinda what happens (in fact, I snapped a frame 5 years ago whilst travelling under the same policy and didn’t think to claim) – but if they forget to put stuff in the exclusions, maybe its on them?

this policy isn’t purchased directly (comes as part of a package with other stuff) – so there’s no optional extras like extreme sports, extra countries, that kinda thing. Its a fairly carte-blanche coverall policy.

Think the last time i looked it was covered (or not) as sports equipment.

A bike is a vehicle. It is a machine to transport people or goods.
Hence a machine with a motor is known as a motor vehicle.
I wouldn’t expect travel insurance to cover a bike accident. Especially not a Mountain bike unless the policy actually states so.

Even if it does, what’s the single item limit on your policy? This is where travel insurance usually falls down for bikes in any instance unless you’ve specific cover for the bike.

(my various “posh” covers have usually had a single item limit of £500, [and a couple of hundred excess] despite 10s of thousands of cover for possessions)

I wouldn’t expect travel insurance to cover a bike accident. Especially not a Mountain bike unless the policy actually states so.

well it covers accidental damage to belongings (other than vehicles), and specifically covers mountain biking. If I snapped my phone or something whilst biking it’d definitely be covered, I think the question is whether it covers bikes.

the bike isn’t super valuable, and the damange amount not massive either (£500 ish). If I didn’t have this policy I’d not look for one that covered bike damage. I’m not talking about snapping a cc santa cruz here, if I had one of those I’d probably insure it more carefully

Even if it does, what’s the single item limit on your policy?

as you suggested in yours (maybe the same policy) – £500 per item, so I’m on the borderline of that claim limit.

Other policies provided by the same underwriter specifically exclude “vehicles and bicycles” (along with other stuff), but my (posh) coverage doesn’t. The word bicycle\bike isn’t mentioned once on the t&cs.

Does your insurance state something like:
Insurance excludes blah blah bicycles blah blah
In addition, posh insurance is the same as basic but in addition… blah, blah no bikes as its already mentioned blah blah

Might explain the wording.

Mountain bicycling

being a “covered sport”

medical policies certainly differentiate though between (mountain) cycling & lift-assisted/downhill MTB (the latter requiring specialist cover). Would be extremely surprised if a generic, non-specific household policy covered extreme sports use! They probably want to decline your claim, but the work-experience lad wasn’t quite sure what the reason should be 😂

well it covers accidental damage to belongings (other than vehicles), and specifically covers mountain biking

I think those sort of policies are for covering things you break while you’re biking, like your phone falling out of your pocket. Generally speaking, travel insurance is for your person – home insurance is for your things.

Does your insurance state something like:
Insurance excludes blah blah bicycles blah blah
In addition, posh insurance is the same as basic but in addition… blah, blah no bikes as its already mentioned blah blah

Might explain the wording.

not really – the underwriter has a couple of policies under different brands. Their own brand insurance specifically excludes bikes. Fair enough.

My policy is bundled with a bunch of other “perks” and does not exclude bikes. It doesn’t mention the cheaper policy at all (as its not sold under the same brand) – I just read the other underwriters policies to see if they defined vehicle at all

medical policies certainly differentiate though between (mountain) cycling & lift-assisted/downhill MTB (the latter requiring specialist cover). Would be extremely surprised if a generic, non-specific household policy covered extreme sports use! They probably want to decline your claim, but the work-experience lad wasn’t quite sure what the reason should be 😂

this one just covers “mountain biking”. Incidentally I considered moving to HSBC’s insurance, but they only cover cycling blue/green trails. I think some policies are very specific, others aren’t.

I think those sort of policies are for covering things you break while you’re biking, like your phone falling out of your pocket. Generally speaking, travel insurance is for your person – home insurance is for your things.

don’t disagree as to the intent and I didn’t get this policy for the purpose of covering my bike.. however if I am (according to their paperwork) covered, why not pop a claim in?

For an alternate view, if I was golfing with a particularly expensive set of clubs, and snapped one (I guess that can happen?) – there’s nothing in the policy to exclude claiming for a new golf club

Given my experience with a mobile phone claim and a recent contents insurance claim, I’d be tempted to not claim. Last year some home insurers refused to quote based on my recent claim history – which totaled £760. I lost out on 3 of the cheapest insurers
I have now dialled back all my insurance as I reckon the chance of them ever paying out, or at least making me pay later are quite high and I’ll just bank the savngs and be happy to pay for my own repairs.
Insurance is a form of gambling, the house always wins. Yes you need insurance for life changing amounts of money (like building insurance on your house) but smaller claims will sting you in the end.

A cycle is a vehicle according to the Vienna Convention.

https://road-safety.transport.ec.europa.eu/eu-road-safety-policy/priorities/safe-road-use/cyclists/traffic-rules-and-regulations-cyclists-and-their-vehicles_en

If the policy explicitly excludes vehicles then you’re out of luck, I suspect. Unless your policy covered sports equipment and you can make an argument in favour of treating the bike as that.

£500 per item, so I’m on the borderline of that claim limit.

Is it a claim limit or a value limit? If you have a bike worth £2000, with £500 of damage, and a value limit of £500, they will say either that it’s not covered, or that it’s under-insured, ie, insured for only 25% of its value, and only pay out £125. I read somewhere that they can reduce the payout for under-insured items by twice the amount of under-insurance – not sure what the logic is, but that would be £62.50.

Would be extremely surprised if a generic, non-specific household policy covered extreme sports use!

I would be especially surprised if it covers damage to the bike when used in that way, even if it covers getting the rider patched up and sent home. For context, I used to work in insurance. Unless your policy explicitly covers the bike, I’d be surprised if it was covered in this situation. Fingers crossed for you though 5lab.

Is it a claim limit or a value limit?

aiui, a claim limit. I can claim up to £500 for the value or cost to repair item. As in, I can’t claim £500 to repair a £200 phone. its worded a bit vaguely, but it doesn’t mention what you’re talking about (which is in home policies, I agree)

£2,000 in total per Trip;
b) £500 for the current value or cost to repair any item, or any pair or set of items which are
complimentary or used together;

For context, I used to work in insurance. Unless your policy explicitly covers the bike, I’d be surprised if it was covered in this situation. Fingers crossed for you though 5lab.

I’d assume it also isn’t intended for covering snapping a snowboard – as in its not explicitly mentioned, but snow-sports are generically coverd. however if the T&Cs don’t exclude it, is there actually any way for them to not cover it?

as I said, I don’t mind too much either way, I accept that damaging my big bike is what happens, but a “free” £500ish won’t go amiss either 🙂