dnpaha

Anyone out there have separate coverage for their bike? My new bike is worth a few K but when I called about insurance I was told my home policy covers only $1,000 for a bike and cannot be increased. A separate coverage policy would be $375.00 a year! I am worried more about theft from my apartment then anything else. What do you folks with bikes worth a few thousand do for coverage if anything. I live in Toronto area, wondering if anyone knows of a good way to cover it?

Shimagnolo

Talk to an insurance agent and tell him you want an "Inland Marine" policy.
The odd name goes back to historical origins.
It is a type of insurance to cover *movable* property, no matter where it is located.
It was originated to cover cargo being shipped, but can be used for pretty much any type of valuable, portable property.

Machka 

I have had coverage for my bicycle since 2003.

Since you're in Canada, you've got a good insurance company available to you ... CAA. I insured apartment contents with them, and got my bicycle added to the policy as well. It's inexpensive, and provides full coverage for the amount you paid for the bicycle. It covers the bicycle in your apartment, in transit to wherever, and also in use, provided you're not using for races.

Drop in to your local CAA and have a chat with them.

dnpaha

Thanks, that's a great suggestion

fauxto nick

I'm definitely looking into this for my new Cannondale System Six, I want to race it but I can't justify racing a $3400 bike at my income level if I won't be able to get some coverage if I break the frame in a crash. Frankly for me a $1000 would cover it because they don't even make that frame anymore and a grand would cover a used System Six on ebay.

merlinextraligh

Never insure against a risk you can afford to absorb.

Use search engine for the remainder of the rant.

Or take a finance class.

dnpaha

Thanks for the lesson in the obvious. If I could afford to absorb this it would not be an issue. It took a good long while to save up for my new ride and if some lowlife steals it he/she will have a better ride than me for a long time. I think the adivce the others gave me is what I was looking for rather than a rant. Thanks.

merlinextraligh

if you're buying a bike that you cannot afford to lose, you need more financial planning advice than anyone could hope to convey on internet forum.

An expensive bike is a discretionary purchase. If you're spending so much of your assets on a bike used for recreational purposes that you could not afford to replace it, or go without it, you really need to rethink how you're spending your money.

merlinextraligh

and apparently its not all that obvious because people continue to post this thread over and over, when its really not difficult at all to grasp the concept that insuring toys is very poor finacial planning.

Machka 

Definitely go to CAA. If I recall correctly I was paying something like $250/year for my content insurance, including my extra bicycle policy. It has probably gone up since the last time I did that, but still I figured that $250/year for all my stuff wasn't a bad deal.

n00bL35

My buddy got his CAAD-9 insured for about $8/month. Shop around.

fauxto nick

So it's bad for me to want to pay a little each year to insure a huge investment that I risk every weekend. Whether or not I have the money to replace it w/o insurance how is that a bad idea?

rbart4506

You can also look at State Farm...

Bikes are covered in your home policy with no top limit...At least that's what it's like in Ontario...

And Merlin...Some of us do have pretty sound finances, but cycling is our one little extra thing that makes life worth living...

Sorry, but if all I'm doing is saving my money and planning for the future I'm not gonna be doing much living now. Also, he didn't ask what you opinion was on whether to insure or not...He wanted to know where to find insurance...

Some of us have given him options...

dnpaha

I could not agree more. However, according to the other poster we should not work towards a goal and try to fulfill dreams as that is only reserved for those who can afford it.

z415

merlin makes a good point, which is why my bike will never cost more than my rent.

rbart4506

That is fine for you, but not what the OP asked...

BTW how much should one spend on a bike then?? Is there a rule similar to the 3 months salary for an engagement ring??

JoelS

Merlin does make a good point. But financial situations change and something that could be easily bought a few years back may not be now. That's my situation. Back before kids, when my wife and I were both working, dropping $6k on a bike wasn't a big deal. Now there's no way we could afford to replace any of our bikes.

slimvela

Who needs a ring when words alone are more than enough for what you'll be paying for the rest of your life?


BOT, it is always a good idea to insure your property. For myself, many moveable items are covered under my home/renters policy; but we also have the 'inland marine' addition.

I get what Melin states, but that is neither here nor there, belongs in another thread.

z415

As merlin mentioned bikes, and their subsequent insurance, are discretionary purchases, so buy at your own discretion. And finance classes are a must - economics too. The public school system around here is pathetic. Makes me very sad.

And I probably should have said my bikes *have not* cost more than my rent. Still want nicer bikes and still young enough to get them later. Seven Sevens for every day of the week.... *drool*

froze

Whoa! This is the best advice I've ever heard on this forum on any subject!!! Bravo, well said.

Markj61

Not sure about how it works in CA, but a good homeowners policy in US should cover a bike up to at least few K, as "contents" of the home, which is also insured when off-premises.

You may be tried to be up-sold on a separate PAP (personal articles policy) but in most cases it's not needed unless your deductible is way-high on your homeowners policy.

I even have coverage that offers "replacement cost" for the contents of my home (adds a bit to premium, but not much higher), which would covers not just the current or depreciated value of the bike, but what it would cost to replace it with a new equal or equivalent model.

froze

You all are yaking about rule of thumbs. The problem with rule of thumbs is that they all change depending on who your talking to. A jewery store will tell you 3 times your monthly salary to get you to buy a expensive ring; real estate agents will tell you to spend 50% of your income on a home including taxes and insurance (but that changed over the years it use to be 25% which is the more accurate figure), car dealers want you to spend 33% (but that changed it use to be 25% including insurance), credit card companys want the rest, all of this so you can't save money but keep the ecomomy of America rolling by putting her citizens in debt and paying huge interest payments.

In reality the only thing you should ever have a debt for is a house at no more then 25% of your income including taxes and insurance. The rest of the stuff, (including cars!) you need to save money for and buy what you can afford with cash. We all need to learn to start paying ourselves first instead of a bank. You younger people need to realize that the Social Security system will be gone by the time you retire, if you don't start planning a retirement savings now your going to be working till you die!! So stop credit spending and get out of debt fast.

Machka 

Most content insurance that I've looked at has $1000 coverage for a bicycle with a $500 deductible. If your bicycle is $2000 regular content insurance just doesn't cut it.

I only have one bicycle, my most expensive bicycle, covered with the extra policy ... the rest are fine under the regular policy.

The thing is, adding the extra bicycle policy (with CAA) cost me something like $10/month. I know people who fork out more than that in a week for coffee.

agoodale

What if you race your bike so your risk level is much higher than a recreational rider?

I have 6k of coverage for $140/yr on my bike through my home owner's policy. There is a $1000 deductible which is fine. I'm only worried about a crash that totals the bike. Most members of my team have had a crash resulting in significant damage. It seems like a fairly good deal to me.

froze

How is that policy a good deal? If you already know that the likely hood of damage or loss of your bike is more than likely going to happen due to an accident then what's up with the insurance? You also said your racing the bike so your probably going to buy a new bike every other year so why not keep the retired units as a back up replacement? If the bike is a sponsored bike then won't that sponsor replace the bike every year and allow you to keep the old one? I guess my other concern is why would you spend $6000 for a bicycle your racing on that you know you could crash and total it? You could easily spend half that amount and get a bike that is every bit as good as the one you got just missing the higher bling factor.

Look dude, I use to race back in the mid 70's to the mid 80's, my first racing bike cost me $390, and everyone I raced against paid at least $3000!! And I still beat them!!!! I kept that bike for years until I crashed it and replaced it with the Trek 660 I still have today, and it cost me about $1500, still under the $3,000 arena and it was at least as light as those others and I won races with it. I was actually making pretty good income for back then and could of easily spent 3k for a bike but chose not to. A $6000 bike is pro level money and those guys get their bikes for free so where are you? If your not a pro $6k is way overkill and I bet you don't win every race with it, in fact I bet you there are guys you race against with "cheap" $3000 bikes (and maybe even less) that can kick your ass. I've been there and done it!

Forgot one thing, if you never crash your bike and you keep it for 10 years you would have paid $1,400 for the insurance, how much do you think that bike is going to be worth in 10 years? maybe $500. Are you seeing anything yet?

Look I'm not trying to insult you, just trying to wake you up to reality.