Does anyone know of a way outside of renters/homeowners insurance to protect your bike from theft/accidents?

I'm curious about this as well.

I read this wrong before. What's wrong with getting renters insurance? It's not that pricey. Also, since we're on the topic what are some good renter's insurance policies in ny? sorry don't mean to hijack.

As was I

Straight up bicycle insurance does exist. I don't know if it exists in your area though...

I don't rent, currently I'm living with my grandparents taking care of the house and helping take care of them since my grand mother had a stroke. I could attempt to look into insuring it through their home owners policy but as I've found doing anything such as dealing with the phone company is a PITA when its not in your name.

i know you said "outside of" renters, but mine is like 160 a year, and covers theft from the house, theft from my car, theft of my stuff if away from house/car (like traveling), and my bike......although the deductable is 500, my bike is close to 1000, and you dont really need proof of reciepts and stuff so im sure i could claim it as a 1500 or 1750 bike.

which is called insurance fraud

*shrug*
well what are they going to do? ask for each and every receipt for every component on my bike? do you keep every receipt for parts you buy from the LBS? i guess there is a record of it if you use a card, but what if you use cash? i highly doubt they make you trudge up every single receipt. what about frames/forks/components you buy off craigslist? friends? etc...

if you are going to go at it in a morality slant i dont really consider a few hundred dollars extra claimed on my bike from a giant insurance corporation that big of a deal.
what i call insurance fraud is what they charge me for my car insurance.

call me a bad guy if you want, i just dont really see the problem. perhaps the few hundred extra you could claim on your bike could be attributed to time and energy spent building it. (im sure thats arguable)
this is all theoretical of course ;p

my primary insurance against bike theft will still be a U lock combined with a cable lock.

BRB...going to ensure my SE Draft.

MrJay. Your not going to get far ensuring anything for any value. However, if you wanted to insure something im sure someone could help you out with that.

You can get away with claiming your bike that you bought used for half price for full MSRP. But if you try and screw your insurance company they have no problem taking a second look and bending you over too.

welp, i could be wrong but im pretty sure renters insurance dosn't require you to provide exact receipts for everything you claim. i havn't really looked into it because i got renters insurance because the place i was renting from required you have it. i just pay the measly 13-15 bucks a month because i have to in order to live in my current house.

i mean, in the case of my bike, its custom built by me little by little from parts off craigslist, ebay, friends, the LBS, and the internet. so its not like i have an exact total that i can show thru receipts and card payments. when i first got the renters insurance they asked me broad questions like what are the most expensive items i have, collections, etc....for instance my vinyl record collection, they asked me "how much do you think its worth?" and i was like "lol i have no clue. i dont keep record of every single piece of music i own and how much i payed" and she was like "well, ballpark" and i said "i dunno, like 3 grand maybe? maybe less?" and she seemed fine with that. is it 3 grand? i dunno, probably not. maybe its like exactly 2145 or something. but if my record collection is stolen im pretty sure if i pay the 500 deductable ill be getting how much i ballparked without being hassled.

probably the same would happen with my bike. i cant really produce an exact amount, ballpark like a grand, probably a little less. but i know what components are on it, and if i listed them out, new @ MSRP, it could total to 1500, probably more....but then again i bought allot of used components for half or less MSRP. if my bike is stolen and they ask me how much it was worth and i said 1500 when probably its more like 878 total, im thinking they wouldn't "bend me over" and make me provide proof. certain components i could provide proof of thru check card records thru my bank or paypal records, others i couldn't because i payed cash at the LBS or to some guy on craigslist. would they be like "well, you have no proof of that cash transaction so you dont get money for your wheelset" ?? i wouldn't think so lol.... i could be totally wrong though, so i guess i should look into it.

my guess is if something is less than a certain amount they dont really check into it. or if you are claiming a ridiculous amount that dosn't sound right for a certain item, then they will look into it.
i dunno i guess ill ask my insurance agent and find out better details on my renters insurance, i just havn't ever bothered to because renters insurance was something i got just to be able to move into an apartment to meet the landlords requirements.

i guess once i find out details i will let people know.

I bought it for 34% of full MSRP.

But no, I would never do that. I wouldn't want anything suspicious coming up on my record when I run for political office; I'm sure some savvy blogger will find this very thread and link it to me, ultimately sabotaging my campaign.

They will probably, if you're claiming it costs that much tell you to have a bike shop give you an estimate of the value of the bike. If you register the Kryptonite protection (up to 1500) you have to, when registering include a copy of the evaluation or the actual purchase receipt?

It's why I bought/have a Vilano. I figure insurance would eventually cost more than the bike and the deductible itself is more than the bike brand new. I'm also relying on there being better bikes more worthy of stealing. I watch over even the Vilano, simply because I'm not into walking home. Even my higher end bikes though, I don't leave them unattended. If my bikes not welcome, I'm not welcome.

typically, if you have a parts list and a photo or two to back it up, the claims adjuster will take a value estimate from a knowledgeable source (like your LBS). no need for receipts.

also, if you are living full-time in a household with homeowners' coverage, you needn't do anything special to qualify for coverage. you're good.

i own a home, and a whole pile of expensive bikes. my wife had to get a rider for her jewelry (ie: extra cost for special high-value item coverage), which made me wonder about my bikes. so i called my agent...

'we had to get a rider for the jewelry. what about my bikes?'
'how much are we talking about?'
'$15k?'
'bicycles, with pedals?'
'yes.'
'wow. let me check...'

after looking into it, the official answer (at least as far as state farm is concerned) is as i said previously. bikes are covered. so long as you have some form of documentation regarding the make/model parts (a photo is fine) and a statement from a shop as to the value, they are covered. no limit to the coverage, no rider necessary.

but please, do your own due diligence. ymmv.

To me stealing small amounts is more reprehensible than stealing large amounts. The temptation is a lot harder to resist the larger the sum. It takes a minimal amount of moral fiber to reject taking a few hundred dollars. Everyone has their price. You can only hope your price is high.

Imagine paying for years and then not having any claim, thousands of dollars to insure. Then finally needing a new bike because it was stolen and it falling under the deductible. Insurance companies are notorious for analyzing where the threshold is. Take healthcare insurance, it starts off with a certain amount of coverage, every year or so the insurable coverage got weaker and weaker, yet premiums would increase, same with co-pays and the deductibles are there just the same. Now imagine that insurance company not paying the claim period or dropping you because you had a claim. Not justifying stealing and lying about it, but they're doing it for profit, not because they are swell guys and want you to be protected. I was rear ended in my truck years ago, it was an older truck, but when I went for the adjusting process, they tried to get cheap because the tailgate was damaged. I looked at the claims adjuster when he tried to get cheap and told him what he thought a sore neck and back, not to mention the headache I had for a couple of days after his insured policyholder had rear ended me, what he thought that was worth, pain & suffering ? I wound up with a new tail gate that day priced into the check.

Lot's of well meaning speculation about how to insure your bike. Seeing as I do it for a living I'll give you my 2 cents. Most, but not all, renters or homeowners polices cover a bicycle as contents. You actually have to read the fine print to be sure. If your bike is considered contents then it's covered subject to deductible. If you don't have "replacement cost contents" then your bike is going to be depreciated. FYI, bikes depreciate fast.

The best way to insure a bike is to get a rider or inland marine policy, which is the correct term. You can specify $0 deductible instead of the policy deductible. Make sure your company uses "agreed value." That means you specify what it's worth. Be forewarned you can't say your $500 BD bike is worth $10K. Insurance folks aren't stupid!

Yes, it's expensive. But it's the only way I know of to be compensated for in the event of a theft or other covered peril. Call your insurance agent and talk to him/her. If they don't know, get another agent. There's literally thousand out there.

Good luck.

Have you considered that maybe insurance is so expensive because everyone always tries to fudge their insurance claims for 50% more than they're worth?

ROFLOL, I can totally hear that conversation.

'How much cheaper is the rider going to be if we leave the pedals off?'