Cycling - insurance

[Alex321]

Same as mine, Aviva

I do think Aviva are one of the better ones for cycle coverage. I switched to them at the last renewal mainly because of that.

 

[vickster]

I do think Aviva are one of the better ones for cycle coverage. I switched to them at the last renewal mainly because of that.

Yep, pretty much unlimited at home and high limit away too

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Third Party insurance is included as standard on many household contents policies.

The wording on mine says (under legal liability cover):


And that is standard, you don't need to have taken out extra cover for your bike(s) to get that.

Just checked and Direct Line do a standalone Cycling Insurance Policy - Public Liability (£2m) is £15 pa with a small discount of 72p as we have our House insured with them.

 

[kingrollo]

Just checked and Direct Line do a standalone Cycling Insurance Policy - Public Liability (£2m) is £15 pa with a small discount of 72p as we have our House insured with them.

Watch it - incredibly it doesn't cover you if you ride in a group and there definition of group is "you are in situation where you are cycling behind or alongside someone"

I actually queried it - if I went cycling with my son would I be covered - the answer was no.!!!!

 

[PaulSB]

Watch it - incredibly it doesn't cover you if you ride in a group and there definition of group is "you are in situation where you are cycling behind or alongside someone"

I actually queried it - if I went cycling with my son would I be covered - the answer was no.!!!!

Probably underlines why belonging to organisations such as BC and CUK is a good alternative. They will understand the risk or otherwise posed by any given cycling situation far better than a more general insurance company.

 

[Two-Wheels]

For those of you who have been in situations where you have needed to claim, I'm wondering if anyone can convert this in to simple mans English...

In the event that you do not have LEI, or your LEI policy is unsuitable, we will be able to act for you under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), commonly referred to as a “no win, no fee” agreement. Under the terms of the CFA, if your claim is not successful you will not normally have to pay our costs, provided you have not breached the terms of the agreement.



In the event that your claim is unsuccessful, you will however remain liable to pay any expenses we have had to pay out on your behalf, sometimes referred to as disbursements. These include court fees, the cost of obtaining medical reports, and other expert’s fees. There may in addition be circumstances where you become liable for your opponent’s costs and expenses. To ensure that you are not out of pocket in this situation, we will need to take out an After The Event (ATE) insurance policy on your behalf to accompany the CFA. You will have to pay the premium for this policy if your claim is successful, although you will not have to pay any premium at the outset as it will be paid from any damages you receive. The insurance premium is likely to be at least £135 (plus Insurance Premium Tax). We will let you know if it is likely to be any higher than this. You will not be required to make any other contribution towards the costs of your claim, and unlike many firms we will not take a percentage of your compensation as a success fee.

I wont say on the open forum who I'm in contact with as I don't suspect it matters - I imagine the above would be something any solicitor would put out.
Obviously, I don't want to find myself out of pocket. It's all well and good the other guys insurance saying it "looks like" they'll be accepting liability but i like certain things, not things that look like things.

So on the phone to the solicitor, i'm told the case will be taken on as a "no win no fee".
Now to me that sounds great. If I lose, I pay literally nothing. No win = no fee, right?
And on the flipside, if I do win then they'll take their payment from it & i'll get the remainder so I'm still technically not out of pocket.

However reading one of their documents this morning - i will "not normally" have to pay their costs - which means I might. I don't know if the only situation is where I breach terms or if there's other things that may cause me to have to pay costs. Anyway, it's the next bit that concerns me more...

So basically if i don't win - i will still have to pay their expenses? Kind of contradicts no win no fee does it not? Sounds more like "no win no fee except for this fee and that fee but we wont mention that in the nametag as it may put people off".

The other guys insurance have already talked about accepting liability. Anyone with half an ounce of sense & decency would rule it as his fault but I hate to assume that I should win just because it's the right outcome for what happened. You just never know.

 

[kingrollo]

For those of you who have been in situations where you have needed to claim, I'm wondering if anyone can convert this in to simple mans English...



I wont say on the open forum who I'm in contact with as I don't suspect it matters - I imagine the above would be something any solicitor would put out.
Obviously, I don't want to find myself out of pocket. It's all well and good the other guys insurance saying it "looks like" they'll be accepting liability but i like certain things, not things that look like things.

So on the phone to the solicitor, i'm told the case will be taken on as a "no win no fee".
Now to me that sounds great. If I lose, I pay literally nothing. No win = no fee, right?
And on the flipside, if I do win then they'll take their payment from it & i'll get the remainder so I'm still technically not out of pocket.

However reading one of their documents this morning - i will "not normally" have to pay their costs - which means I might. I don't know if the only situation is where I breach terms or if there's other things that may cause me to have to pay costs. Anyway, it's the next bit that concerns me more...

So basically if i don't win - i will still have to pay their expenses? Kind of contradicts no win no fee does it not? Sounds more like "no win no fee except for this fee and that fee but we wont mention that in the nametag as it may put people off".

The other guys insurance have already talked about accepting liability. Anyone with half an ounce of sense & decency would rule it as his fault but I hate to assume that I should win just because it's the right outcome for what happened. You just never know.

I think 'not normal' in practice means you don't \ wont - But thats easy for me to say when its not my case.

Consumer protection in the UK in the minute seems at am all time low. Ive just lost £700 on a holiday I had to cancel due to testing positive for covid less than 24 hours before the flight. Despite Jet2 promising a refund guarantee & buying 'covid covered' insurance policy.

 

[Solocle]

If you want 3rd party insurance then you can get it for £12 per year. https://laka.co/gb/club
Note that it covers international travel up to 120 days, except USA/Canada.

Personally, I'm with Pedalsure, and it's actually now more expensive than my car insurance. But that's accident/theft cover on a very nice bike, plus 3rd party indemnity, which doesn't really factor in. They've been great when I've had to use them - for instance when I was run off the road by a taxi, and they made a full recovery of their insurer.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

So basically if i don't win - i will still have to pay their expenses? Kind of contradicts no win no fee does it not? Sounds more like "no win no fee except for this fee and that fee but we wont mention that in the nametag as it may put people off".

I 'think' it means you won't pay their wages/fees but if they have had to apply for something i.e. a Doctors report, or a Mechanics report, then you are liable for those expenses, but the only way to be sure is to ask.

 

[vickster]

I 'think' it means you won't pay their wages/fees but if they have had to apply for something i.e. a Doctors report, or a Mechanics report, then you are liable for those expenses, but the only way to be sure is to ask.

This.
But you can insure against these costs (do bear in mind, fees could run into the 000s if you need expert appointments for both sides, scans, physio or whatever)

 

[ricknmorty28]

So one of the consistent pieces of advice put my way after my accident recently is to get myself insurance. Had a look & it's not on the house insurance, only theft from my shed.

For anyone who isn't aware of my situation - basically I was clattered by a car while on my bike. I'm having to go solicitor route & injuries include nerve damage & I'm also off work - all ongoing.
To give a little background on me - I don't take part in races, group rides etc. I'm a fairweather rider (I know, booo, hisssss) who gets out on his own on a Sunday if weather allows & a Saturday if work allows. Only just started breaking the 40mile/ride barrier. I don't use my bike to commute to work. Maybe that'll change one day with these petrol prices but for now it's an I don't.

So two names that kept getting put my way were British Cycling & CyclingUK.
I contacted BC to ask if they could advise me on my situation should I join. Contacted them 2 Sunday's ago, they responded the next Morning to say obviously they can't help direct as it would've happened before joining but yes they could advise.
Contacted CyclingUK yesterday. Fair enough it's still early days but no response yet.

CyclingUK seem a tad dearer, but it's in & about the same price really. Just a few quid difference.

I tried Googling a bit of feedback on them both to try & see if it'd help with a decision but all the threads I pulled seemed quite dated. They tended to say BC was more for racing (which obviously I don't do) but as I say, they were dated threads & just because they may have been or are more tailored towards racing, that doesn't mean they're not (or are) suitable for my situation.

So in a nutshell, which to go for and why?

I'm not sure on Cycling UK but I've been with BC before and decided to move to Sports Fs who I found were much cheaper and so helpful during and after the whole process

 

[Two-Wheels]

Insurance on top of insurance.

There's been various ones mentioned, I was going to ask how do you "insure against these costs" to protect myself in this case but then I thought - I suspect any cover will not apply as it's now an existing case.

And apologies - with all their legal jargon and padding out, I imagine my head is going to be battered on a regular basis on this ride. I don't particularly want to ask them 10 questions per day for the next 12 months and be that irritating client

 

[vickster]

Insurance on top of insurance.

There's been various ones mentioned, I was going to ask how do you "insure against these costs" to protect myself in this case but then I thought - I suspect any cover will not apply as it's now an existing case.

And apologies - with all their legal jargon and padding out, I imagine my head is going to be battered on a regular basis on this ride. I don't particularly want to ask them 10 questions per day for the next 12 months and be that irritating client

It reads like you take the insurance out when you engage them to take your case (sign the CFA paperwork).

There may in addition be circumstances where you become liable for your opponent’s costs and expenses. To ensure that you are not out of pocket in this situation, we will need to take out an After The Event (ATE) insurance policy on your behalf to accompany the CFA. You will have to pay the premium for this policy if your claim is successful, although you will not have to pay any premium at the outset as it will be paid from any damages you receive. The insurance premium is likely to be at least £135 (plus Insurance Premium Tax).

 

[Two-Wheels]

You don't say where to are OP (or I may have missed it.)

England.
North West.
And you didn't miss it I don't think. I think I've only mentioned it via PM

Last year, now living back in Scotland, Mrs SydZ again went through BC and was referred to a law firm in Scotland. There was a fair but more paperwork for her to go through initially and an agreement, not dissimilar to the one the OP got for her to complete and sign.

Yeah I suspected that all solicitors will be much the same with minor differences and the process/paperwork will be much the same.
Just a case of picking a firm & saying let's go.

Also, if you do a bit of volunteering, marshalling for example, with BC, you get Race Membership for free but, if you want Ride membership for example, only pay the difference (currently £17) between the two.

No volunteering for this recluse I'm afraid

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Watch it - incredibly it doesn't cover you if you ride in a group and there definition of group is "you are in situation where you are cycling behind or alongside someone"

I actually queried it - if I went cycling with my son would I be covered - the answer was no.!!!!

Thanks.

I phoned them and they said that it excluded cover for injury to other cyclists who you are specifically riding with.

That's ok with me - I'm a solo rider.

My main concern was for accidents that were my fault involving pedestrians & motor vehicles which the policy covers.

If I've missed anything please let me know - I don't need the insurance until June.