jyl

Are your bikes covered by insurance? Care to share what you did? Did you photograph them, have them appraised, listed on homeowners policy, etc?

My neighbors were burglarized recently, which has me thinking about this stuff.

eschlwc

just through my homeowner's policy with a $500 deductible. their location doesn't matter if i have a claim.

i have web photos of all my keepers and have all the serial numbers on my phone (evernote).

i keep a u-lock on my bikes inside the house. it makes me feel better, but they're only locked to themselves. i try to never lock my bike out of sight when shopping or whatever. most people don't care if i bring my bike in the shop or bar.

Bianchigirll 

I looked into once but the Agent said I needed a rider (other than myself) since I thought the value of some of the individual bikes was over $1000.00. Then to get the rider and get your '90 Bianchi Proto insured for say $1300 you need to get appraised. OK now where do I find a bike appraiser?

irwin7638

Mine are covered by my homeowner's policy subject to the $500 deductible. I don't know what policy others have but mine covers personal possessions at current replacement cost. That means comparable product not subject to depreciation. Other than that, I keep my bikes locked in a visible place and have the serial # recorded on a memo in my phone, photos on the cloud.

Marc

miamijim

Right here BG, back in my shop days I appraised bikes all the time for insurance purposes. I even testified court in regards to a bikes value following an accident.

miamijim

My favorite insurance company wording!!! A top of the line bike from 1980 w/ Campy Record is NOT a top off the line bike from 2014 with Record. Its more like entry level with Veloce or something built up with high quality parts from Ebay.

eschlwc

^ 1980 and 2014 are really not "comparable" that way.

like my mom's compaq portable computer from 1980 (basically a suitcase with a crt, two 5.25 floppies, and no hard drive) compared to my smartphone (4g, camera, wifi and 32 gig micro card).

auchencrow

With high insurance deductibles and what any one of my old used bikes is likely to appraise for, I don't think insurance is of any benefit - unless the culprit was intent on loading the whole lot into his semi trailer and making off with them.

KonAaron Snake 

Mine are covered by home owners, but with a higher deductible. I think $2000. We wanted more insurance and liability coverage, and raised the deductible to make it more affordable. Effectively most of the bikes aren't insured individually, but are in a larger loss. I think I have some transfer of risk through the lock warranty as well.

I'm sure Auchen is right in that I would have a nasty time arguing over the appraisals of my bikes. I remember they were aggressive as all hell low balling things with easily defined values, let alone a vintage bike.

The more important part of insurance, at least how my state works, is the medical under your auto. In PA that's the insurance in effect if you're hit by a car...then your medical and only third the other person's policy. We made that much higher after the accident in 2012. I'm less concerned about losing a bike and more concerned about health.

BlueDevil63 

I have a specific "Collectibles" rider on my policy. Covers the bikes and some other stuff. No up front appraisals needed. I have plenty of pics and resources to prove value should I need to.

wrk101

Without a rider, my insurance would be based on replacement cost. Fine for most of my bikes, not so good on the special ones. Then you have the issue of tools (if you have unique, vintage tools).

irwin7638

That's a good idea to help in case of individual theft. A few years ago I had a house fire and had no problem negotiating the value of anything, but in that circumstance, everything was destroyed and the loss was at policy limits. Trying to claim replacement for a 4-5K stolen bike might be a different issue entirely.

Marc