Theft Insurance for Bikes

[Tony S]

Friend had his nice MTB stolen off the back of his car recently. Middle of the day. They cut the sturdy padlock.

This made me start thinking seriously about insurance. If my partner's bike and mine were stolen it would represent more than her car is worth ... and no, it's not a beater. What are Pugs doing about this?

(Back when I owned a house and had homeowner's insurance, I grilled the agency several times on this topic and never got a clear answer. They were slippery. For one thing, even though I told them what the replacement value was, I suspect they either thought I was delusional or was trying to pull some kind of con job.)

 

[AmyPJ]

I never really thought about the fact that my renter's insurance, which is supposed to cover my bike, might not go for covering such a spendy bike. But, then again, if you have $35,000 worth of coverage, why wouldn't it?

Bike thieves SUCK.

 

[Tricia]

Bike thieves SUCK.

This X 10

 

[Tom K.]

When I get a new bike, I send a pic to my agent, along with the MSRP and a link to the manufacturer's website, along with a request for a "you're covered" response.

It's never been a problem getting that statement, but......I haven't had to call them on it since 1983.

In the meantime, my best theft deterrent is bike transport almost exclusively inside vehicles with darkly tinted windows.

 

[Plai]

When I get a new bike, I send a pic to my agent, along with the MSRP and a link to the manufacturer's website, along with a request for a "you're covered" response.

It's never been a problem getting that statement, but......I haven't had to call them on it since 1983.

That's a great SOP. I'll steal the idea.

 

[Philpug]

...thieves SUCK.

FIFY. A nieghbor a few doors down from us happened to leave their garage door open one night, some theives came in and cleared out the bikes and a few motorcycles.

 

[Wilhelmson]

About 20 years my bike was stolen from the garage with the door closed but unlocked. The bike itself wasn't anything special except for the wheels which were built by some famous wheel guy. They were a return or never paid for set I bought for a great price when my friend worked at a shop.

 

[crgildart]

Downside, way too easy to steal bikes with liquid nitrogen to freeze and shatter any lock, cable, or chain. Also surprised people aren't getting their racks ripped off their car roofs more often. Pull up next to the car in a pick up, rip rack off bikes and all, drive off. Way harder to secure a $10,000 bike than a car.

Good side. More and more active security cameras recording driveways, parking lots, and might even be good to add a camera to your garage if you don't already have one there too. These tweakers will be caught more often thanks to more video cameras everywhere.

 

[Bruuuce]

Bikes are covered under our homoeowners policy. I got great advice way back to photograph all personal property (closets, rooms, bikes, tools, skis, etc,.) and keep model numbers where possible.

The down side is that our deductible is high enough that we wouldn't get much back from a bike claim, but yours may be lower.

And yes, growing up near a large city (and having multiple bikes stolen) taught me that bike thieves really really suck.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Our skis are covered under the personal property umbrella on our renters insurance so Imagine bikes would be includes in this also. This extends to our storage unit as well. Now that we have the condo our skis are in our lockers so this reminds me to check our homeowner policy to ensure they are covered under that personal property coverage. I imagine they would be but no harm in checking. Any kind of equipment thief simply sucks.

 

[4ster]

I rely on my Homeowners Insurance but learned at a young age to make it a general rule to never leave my bike out of my site unless secured inside my car covered up or locked in the garage.
After working all summer at odd jobs as a pre-teen to purchase my dream “Peugeot 10 speed” just to have the heavy chain & lock cut & bike stolen the first week school, I was traumatized enough to always be wary.

& yes, thieves suck

 

[Ski&ride]

When I get a new bike, I send a pic to my agent

What agent?

 

[crgildart]

Pretty sure you have to declare items beyond a certain value to be covered on your home/property insurance beyond the deductible. Yes, a $1500 bike probably is assuming it's beyond the deductible. A Picasso or Rembrandt probably isn't without additional declarations and coverage. A 10,000 bike might actually be treated more like a car than a 1500 bike unless properly declared and noted in the policy.

 

[neonorchid]

Another option -

 

[crgildart]

Needs a little solar panel or wheel powered alternator to keep it charged.

 

[graham418]

My more valuable bikes are identified in a separate rider to my homeowners insurance policy. Good practice.

Another thing to do , not to prevent theft but to possibly aid in recovery of a stolen bike, is to tape a piece of paper to the steerer tube with some clear tape, with your name and phone#, and the words " this bike is stolen, I am the rightful owner" or words to that effect.

 

[AmyPJ]

This is a good reminder to call my insurance company and ask them, especially since I'm not riding a $1000 bike (or anything close to that.) I know I've asked before, but I'm not sure I ever asked about a more valuable bike.

 

[Tom K.]

What agent?

My personal agent that negotiates multi-million dollar sponsorship contracts on my behalf,

or.......

My insurance agent.

 

[firebanex]

This reminds me that I really need to call my insurance and make sure all the bikes and skis are covered properly.. while a single pair of skis isn't too much we have 8. And 4 bikes that would cost $2k+ to replace each. Thankfully, the really nice bikes and all the skis are stored inside our house and the ones stored outside are out of sight on a second story covered deck. You can't see them from the road and we have plenty of trees blocking the rest of the view, the bad part is that if someone was to be snooping around, no one else could tell.

 

[zircon]

Velosurance (Markel) theoretically covers theft for full stated replacement value of your bike, if you're looking for a standalone policy. You do have to tell them the details of the bike upfront and it's pretty pricey. I've never known anyone to claim for theft on it, though. People seem to mostly use it for racing crash damage.