Which cyclist insurance?

[TheDotProd]

Hi

I'm about to start commuting by bike and was wondering about what cyclist insurance you would recommend.

I have regular hospital cover, salary insurance, and RACV for home and contents, but want to be covered when I'm on the bike and against bike theft.

Are there any you would recommend?
I see some bike clubs offer some cover as part of membership, is that cover any good?

Also if I insure against bike theft can I use a light weight bike lock or will I only be covered if I use some 2kg monster lock?

Thanks in advance
Wayne

[AUbicycles]

Hi Wayne, this is a good starting point to understand the market:

Insurance and Cycling in Australia – a Comprehensive Overview

Advocacy membership won't give you theft nor will Cycling Australia membership which is the insurer in a racing club.

The cover you get with an advocacy body or Cycling Australia is never as good as with a more comprehensive insurance provider - at a glance they are comparable however when you look at the details (and you really should) then you can start to see the differences. There are also a couple of behind the scenes details about how an insurance claim is handled.

Generally you can go for separate policies (theft and separate accident and third party) or a combined one. Again the details are important, if you race, you may not be eligible for cover if you don't have the right policy.

If you look for a house and contents - compared the provided who provide everything, the existing cover you already get and the cost of an add-on with your provider - if they have a $2k limit on sports good and you have a $6k bike (or multiple bikes) you may not be sufficiently covered.

[Cardy George]

If you look for a house and contents - compared the provided who provide everything, the existing cover you already get and the cost of an add-on with your provider - if they have a $2k limit on sports good and you have a $6k bike (or multiple bikes) you may not be sufficiently covered.

We're currently with RACV too and they're covering my $6k roadie for theft/loss/damage as a specified item on our contents. It was with a different insurer, but the same specific item cover replaced my Orbea when a dog brought me down and wrote it off.

All this insurance talk is making me think it's time to check what I'm actually covered for......

[Thoglette]

All this insurance talk is making me think it's time to check what I'm actually covered for......

Absolutely.

My main aim for cover is third party damage and public liability. The bike isn't worth insuring and as for me, well, the health insurance I have already covers the ambo ($800 per trip, RRP) and after that all bets are off.

[trailgumby]

All this insurance talk is making me think it's time to check what I'm actually covered for......

Absolutely.

My main aim for cover is third party damage and public liability. The bike isn't worth insuring and as for me, well, the health insurance I have already covers the ambo ($800 per trip, RRP) and after that all bets are off.

Probably time I canned my Velosure cover. My Scalpel is now 5 years old, so probably not worth bothering with insuring.

[Jmuzz]

Theft cover will usually require an approved lock, which are the 1.5kg D locks.
Remember you can just leave your lock locked to the rack at work there is no need to carry it, you can leave locks nearby other frequent locations too, eg pool and shops.

It also doesn't cover theft of parts like wheels, levers, deraileur unless the whole frame is taken.
Also restrictions on what you secure it to, has to be thick. Some wording of "secure" basically means that if they cut the pole rather than the lock then it was not secure.
Usually requires lock in house and also in car.

Watch the size of excess.
Some are more flexible with their exclusions but it doesn't count for much of they have a $1000 excess.

Third party cover is easy and should be considered essential. That may already be part of your contents cover. Otherwise your state cycling body membership will give it, you generally need that to join clubs anyway.

Even third party has about $500 excess, so realistically you might just pay a car scratch out of your own pocket anyway. A bike can still cause a huge incident like a truck rollover when they swerve so it's important to have cover for worst case situations.

[TheDotProd]

Thanks for the advice, I checked with RACV and for about $80 additional per annum they have added the bike to my home contents policy as an out of home protected object.
They said I can use whatever lock I want, and will replace new for old etc
My home insurance policy already included public liability and they assure me I will be covered as long as I'm not racing.

They also offer bike assist for $50 a year (less with member discount) where they will change a flat or get you a taxi, but I figure I can change a tyre in less time than it will take to wait for the RACV team.


Pretty happy with that, fingers crossed I never have to find out how well it will work in practice

[Jmuzz]

Just remember to read the actual contract re locks etc.
Phone staff often provide the wrong advice and it all counts for nothing if there is a claim.

There is a lot of theft of the flexible cable type, all the crooks know how quickly a simple pocket sized set of cable cutters go through them so it's like no lock to them.

I think Strava premium offers a similar taxi reimbursement service as a perk. Not sure if phone app has to be in use at the time though.

[Cardy George]

They also offer bike assist for $50 a year (less with member discount) where they will change a flat or get you a taxi, but I figure I can change a tyre in less time than it will take to wait for the RACV team.

Yup, I knocked it back on those grounds too. Where I live it takes an hour at best it to rock up, and that's during business hours!