Wheelies Direct and insurance company…your thoughts please

Got a call today from a guy from Wheelies Direct, says he is dealing with my claim for my stolen bikes. First off, My insurance document in the house says Halifax, when I rang to claim they said LloydsTSB has my policy, then when he rings he mentions Axa. So I’m thinking at this stage, if they are going to offer me any £s who has already had a cut out of the deal?
Anyway, he says I can have a £1k, which is equivalent to £500 for each bike I lost as per policy (I have already learned the error of my ways and not covering as separate items before anybody invokes the schoolboy error clause) now I guess for a 2000 rockhopper and an 05 stumpy that’s not bad.
When they call me in the morning to discuss my options whats the likely outcome? as I have never heard of these guys and am only going to replace one bike.
I’m guessing they have some tie in with a number of insurers and (sadly) too many people will have heard from them regarding stolen bikes.

Dealt with them when my claud butler cape wrath was stolen. It wasn’t much bike in itself but I had fitted various bits including a rockshox revelation fork, new seatpst, saddle, grips etc. I thought it was going to be a nightmare explaining all this to a shop called wheelies that I’d never heard of as they had been given the task of valuing the bike for the insurance company. They were ace though and I was offered any bike from their site to the value of £900 or a cash settlement which was a couple of hundred less. They new their stuff and the stock on their site included Orange, Specialized etc.

Bike arrived quickly to my work addres as they were flexible about whee they delivered. Good ending to a crappy situation. Hope it works out for you.

Wheelies dealt with mine for my self-build which for stolen. The guy on the phone went through the bike spec list thoroughly then quoted to the insurance company who transferred the money to my bank account.

They were excellent when they replaced my stolen bikes (insured by Direct Line).
They didn’t stock the identical models to the stolen bikes but were very reasonable at providing equivalent value replacements from alternative brands.
I dealt with the same chap each time I had a question and he was very helpful in sorting out the right spec on a pretty expensive bike (Yeti 575 to replace a Santa Cruz Heckler).
I would have no worries using them.

As above, I found them good to deal with. I was given a value for bikes, and a second value for accessories that were nicked. These two sums had to be used separately for bikes or accessories, but within each category there was a lot of freedom to choose what you want from their website within the two budgets. If you want to add some more of your own money to get something better, you get a percentage discount off the list prices, but I don’t remember what that was.
My bike came well set up, and with appropriate accessories ready fitted. I’d suggest having a good look at the website to see what they’ve got before you speak to them.

I was told today I had £1k to spend on a bike and I got 25% off accessories, however there isnt much available similar to my Stumpy fsr without me putting in around £500 myself.
Think I’ll go back to insurance and chance my arm as they said I was getting nothing for the extras fitted to the bikes, lights computers etc. shy bairns get nowt and all that

I had a Merlin malt stolen last year and my insurance company tried to put me through wheelies. I have nothing against them but knew I could get a better bike elsewhere for the money so I requested a cheque which I got eventually.

Think i’m looking at £750 if I dont go with them, to make matters worse the insurance on the house that covers the damaged garage door that they got in through has been knocked back by insurance, they offered £50 for a new lock and handle. Not wanting to do this I am shelling out £700 for a roller door so this has put a squeeze on what cash I have to add to any payout from insurance.

Did a Cycle to work scheme with them and they were fine.

Look at what you can get for £1k through Wheelies and what you can get for £750 elsewhere and make your choice.

I had to use them this year unfortunately, and if I was in the same position again I think I’d just take the cash.

For £750 you should get a very nice secondhand hardtail.

I did ok by Wheelies – they actually valued my losses at more than the estimate I gave to the insurers.

Dealing with them was fairly painless and as has been mentioned, delivery was flexible, so my new bike came to my work.

Only downsides I found:
– Cheap, loose-ball headset was assembled with no grease so failed spectacularly within a month or two. Not sure if that was the manufacturer or the shop to blame.
– Couldn’t seem to get the seat angle right; turned out that the clamp had been assembled back to front.

Overall, good to deal with but worth double-checking the build before hitting the trails.

I’ve just been through a cycle insurance claim with Wheelies.

It was a custom build, so I told them the parts my stolen bike was comprised of and we agreed on a near-as-possible equivalent spec.

It came to over £3k 😯

Wheelies contacted my insurer (I’m with M&S, who are underwritten by AXA I think), who agreed the replacement value & we were clear to go ahead with the replacement build.

The claim included accessories that were also taken with the bike (Camelbak, pump, trail tools, inner tubes, gloves etc).

At the end of the day, once Wheelies had agreed a claim value, then I could have chosen anything I wanted up to that price (and got 25% off anything above).

It all took about 3 months in the end due to me taking time to decide on the spec, then it turned out the frame I’d first chosen was going to take 2 months to source due to the 2013 model range not being introduced yet, so I changed the frame & some other items.

When it finally arrived, everything was spot on though.

Took a while, but fairly painless.

Should I have just asked for a cheque & bought all my own stuff? Who knows…

They have offered me £1466 if I buy with them and 25% discount on anything over that, nothing for accesories (thats the insurance company).
Not sure if I what to go FS or go decent HT. Why cant I just have my stumpy back 😥 thieving gits.

Yeah there a good bunch, dealt with them back in February over a stolen bike plus a part build that was in a box. Luckily they paid out the cash as they couldnnt match the build bits up, with an 18% loss which is what they gave my insurer as a discount so between that a my local,bike shop I did ok in the end. If they do cube bike’s check them out great value for money and seem good bikes to boot.
Bats.

Unfortunately I’ve had to deal with them twice – both times they have been fast and reliable.

As bike was stolen from garage both times they were covered by the house insurance (Nationwide I think) which didn’t have a limit.

Couldn’t fault wheelies at all. Other than it was a Trek – I’m in norfolk, Wheelies are in Wales so meant a long drive to pick up bike.

I appreciate this is actually Trek’s fault. 👿

Think i’m looking at £750 if I dont go with them

Push back, you should be able to get a cheque for the same amount, they just don’t want to lose their cut.

What is it with Trek and collections?

There is a couple of decent Trek bikes on there but I’m kinda heading toward a Camber as its a bit similar to my stumpy in many ways.
Like the Lapierre as well, test riding time…

Wheelies were excellent in dealing with my theft. Highly recommended.

I’ve dealt with them twice now.
First time I chose a Giant XTC which was delivered to work the next day and this last time, as they couldn’t supply a Boardman to replace my stolen one, the insurance company (Halifax) put the money into my account.
Seem to know their stuff when you discuss specification with them.

I’ve just had contact with them after trashing two bikes on a low bridge – not recommended. They suggested they may need to take the bikes away to verify the damage, I’m guessing they’ll want to keep them, which I don’t want as there are bits I can salvage. Anyone know if I can refuse this? As yet they haven’t made me an offer for the trashed bikes.

PS, if anyone uses Thule roof mounted bars I can totally recommend that they are secure and bomb proof as they stayed put while the bikes got totally minced.

sorry for your loss and all but really I need PICTURES

Junkyard, havent got pictures anywhere but on my PC so not sure if I can post them up. I thought they needed to be hosted somewhere, flickr etc

Anyway, I went for a spin on a camber yesterday and as Wheelies have one on there site and I liked the ride I very much, cant beleive how much bikes have changed in the 7 years since I bought my stumpy. So when they ring me in the morning I going to go for that :D.

I dealt with them when my sons Mongoose Tyax was nicked. When they offered me an “equivalent” spesh hard rock worth nearly £200 more I bit their hands off. A month later they rang me and tried to get me to pay the difference because they’d made a mistake. I politely declined but did tell them they could collect my sons new but now well broken in hard rock. They said they would be in touch but that’s about 4 years ago! 😀

Sorry to keep bumping this thread, but just spoke to them again and I’ve been looking at the wrong wheelies website 😳
should have been looking at bikereplacement.co.uk which has completely different prices to the wheelies website, though this is the website I was pointed to in the first place.

And after a bit of confusion regarding rrp’s for bikes which still has me confused (1600 on one site and 1800 on the other) I have ended up paying £200.01 for my excess and the extra amount I have to pay for the bike on top of what they offered me (£1466)
Oddly he says my excess is £100 and that is what he has to pay Halifax (insurer) and the £100.01 is the difference for the bike less my 25% discount.

I’m happy with all that, except the excess on my policy says £200.

Awaits phone call back……………

I’m guessing they’ll want to keep them, which I don’t want as there are bits I can salvage. Anyone know if I can refuse this? As yet they haven’t made me an offer for the trashed bikes.

I would think the insurance company will own the bikes if they’re paying for replacements, which seems fair enough to me.

What is it with Trek and collections?

Protect their dealers. Avoids the shop in Cornwall being under cut by £20 because the bloke can get it from Aberdeen.

They should waive the condition for insurance replacements tbh, but then I suppose that would give the lie to the pretext they gave in the first place (don’t they say it’s to make sure the bike fits right?)

I have had to use them twice and have always been happy with the service. I believe the 25% discount is for life and includes a lot of the main bike brands