Renters Insurance & Bikes

[seanile]

hey everyone!
i've read through some archived threads here about insuring fancy bikes.. but nobody is naming names re: their insurance companies.
ive been calling around and am having difficulty getting anywhere with them once i mention that i have multiple high value bikes (progressive says $5000 max, total, all bikes included). i have 7, 4 are custom..$5k is laughable.

if anything, id be happy getting a policy that covers only my bikes, my computer, a few suits, and maybe a camera, but havent found that yet.

anyone want to offer some names of insurers theyve had success with?

thanks!

edit: recommended companies seem to be...
state farm (most recommended)
amica
metlife
geico
allstate
liberty mutual via usaa

[pitcrew]

When I had a renters policy, I had mine covered under Allstate. That was probably 12-13 years ago, but I had no issues. I made sure they were clear that if I ever had an issue where I needed to make a claim, they were aware of my bike collection.

Their response was something to the effect of, "as long as you have enough coverage to cover your stuff, you're good".....

[jds108]

I was using Allstate 3 - 4 years ago for renter's insurance. They told me the bikes were covered for replacement value. I'm glad I never had to find out, I was always a little worried there would be problems if I ever had to submit a claim.

[RedRider]

I used State Farm for homeowners and had an additional rider for the bicycles. It's similar to what you do for expensive jewelry and art. General contents insurance usually has a total limit so if a flood, fire, theft took most of your stuff the full replacement would get maxed out at some point.

[moose8]

I use whoever geico farms it out to and they said there was nothing additional for bikes or stereo equipment which are the higher value items in my house. For jewelry though there's an additional rider that costs more. Mine was homeowners condo insurance not renters though.

[54ny77]

Try Chubb. You'll have to go through an agency.

[staggerwing]

I used State Farm for homeowners and had an additional rider for the bicycles. It's similar to what you do for expensive jewelry and art. General contents insurance usually has a total limit so if a flood, fire, theft took most of your stuff the full replacement would get maxed out at some point.

High zoot toys, of almost any flavor, bike or otherwise, are generally covered under a specific riders. And sadly, once you go there, you can't just buy say $5000 of bike insurance, playing the side bet that perhaps only one of your nice rigs will go missing at one time. They are going to want photos, serial numbers, receipts, and perhaps an appraisal.

If you can't get any of the reps from the bigger names to give you a straight answer, search out an independent broker.

[eBAUMANN]

I use whoever geico farms it out to and they said there was nothing additional for bikes or stereo equipment which are the higher value items in my house. For jewelry though there's an additional rider that costs more. Mine was homeowners condo insurance not renters though.

i also got mine through geico (i think with fidelity?) with my car insurance. they had no issue with bikes, offered as much coverage as I felt like paying for and they even said i would be covered if anything should happen to my bikes OUTSIDE of my home as well. that means its also TRAVEL INSURANCE if stolen or damaged in transit anywhere, or even riding down the street for that matter.

pretty good deal if you ask me.

[jamesutiopia]

Amica explicitly covered my bikes, including a tandem, under a renters policy. The bikes were really the only valuable thing I owned at the time.

[moose8]

i also got mine through geico (i think with fidelity?) with my car insurance. they had no issue with bikes, offered as much coverage as I felt like paying for and they even said i would be covered if anything should happen to my bikes OUTSIDE of my home as well. that means its also TRAVEL INSURANCE if stolen or damaged in transit anywhere, or even riding down the street for that matter.

pretty good deal if you ask me.

On that note, I actually was in Iceland and my wallet, iphone, camera and two jackets were stolen and that insurance covered everything past my $500 deductible without any issues. I'd recommend them based on that. I'd also say don't leave a jacket stuffed with valuable items on a chair in a bar you are in even if you feel like you are in a crime free place.

[ThaRiddla]

I'm pretty sure that any coverage you get will only be applicable to theft or accidental damage due to some natural disaster, fire, flood, etc. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I doubt anyone will cover you for damage during racing or actual riding. For that you'd have to get some bike-specific insurance. Of course, if you get hit by a motorist or something like that, it'll be covered under the offender's insurance, not yours.

[Peter P.]

I have renter's insurance with Metropolitan through a local broker.
Included was an "actual replacement cost" clause so my bike's couldn't be depreciated if a claim was made.

When my commuter bike was stolen, away from the apartment, I had no problem filing a claim and getting reimbursed for my entire Bilenky Signature Clubsman.

[seanile]

thanks everyone, i'll take a look into what geico offers with fidelity, that sounds like a good option.
i looked into bike-specific insurance with velosurance, priceyyy, but seems like decent coverage.

[michaelh]

I went through the process with geico (actually insured via progressive) for my renter's insurance at the beginning of the year. They were responsive and cut a check almost immediately.

[khessel]

Figure I'd chime in since I've actually filed a bike-theft-related claim...

I have State Farm Renter's Insurance, which runs about $15 / mo., mostly for my bikes and computer (I rent in Brooklyn and had a laptop stolen from my apartment prior to getting insurance).

However, since my policy has $500 deductible per claim (more on that below), it's really only useful if a whole bicycle is stolen. I was able to file a $600 claim on a set of Phils that was stolen from under my nose—sordid tale that I'll spare you—with a copy of the police report, for which I received a check for the difference (of $100) and a nominally higher premium.

Since they had no concept of how much these things are worth, the cops had me fill in the value of the wheels on the report; naturally, I listed the MSRP of every part, down to the tubes and rimtape (I didn't know the cost of spokes at the time). I had actually purchased the wheels secondhand (handbuilt; less than retail), but I did not need to furnish the Craigslist e-mail exchange to file my claim.

I hope this doesn't come back to haunt me, but I'll also note that there is a bit of gray area when it comes to ascribing value to stolen goods, especially when it comes to bicycles/parts, for which most everyone here is likely (hopefully) not paying MSRP. In fact, my LBS offered to be listed as a reference for the claim (I had them inspect the wheels when I bought them) to confirm the value if State Farm asked. Any good LBS is, per Nationwide's motto, 'on your side.'

As for the deductible, I later had just my front wheel stolen, but since I could only price it at ~$250, I didn't file a claim. I was told that this would not count towards the deductible regardless (as with yearly deductibles for Medical, afaik)—the value of each claim must exceed $500.

But renter's insurance is a just a backup policy—I now lock both of my wheels religiously and (knock on wood) haven't had any issues since.

Hope this helps.

[Rebel_Biker]

I had a bike stolen that was locked up on a NYC street. We had renters insurance through USAA. I submitted a police report and replacement values of all the parts off online retailers. They sent me a check, less the $250 deductible, in less than 2 weeks.

[djg]

hey everyone!
i've read through some archived threads here about insuring fancy bikes.. but nobody is naming names re: their insurance companies.
ive been calling around and am having difficulty getting anywhere with them once i mention that i have multiple high value bikes (progressive says $5000 max, total, all bikes included). i have 7, 4 are custom..$5k is laughable.

if anything, id be happy getting a policy that covers only my bikes, my computer, a few suits, and maybe a camera, but havent found that yet.

anyone want to offer some names of insurers theyve had success with?

thanks!

I don't have a stand-alone policy or rider for my bikes. When my Ti cross bike was stolen a few years ago, my State Farm home owner's policy covered the replacement value -- they paid out more than 5k on that one bike (which was more than my receipts said, but fit their replacement value). I really don't know what sort of separate policy they might offer. Wasn't something being offered through USA Cycling?

[Neves]

My buddy and his wife just had both of their bikes stolen on vacation this week. He'd picked up his bike the week before they left and I'd value their bikes north of 8 grand for the pair. They are insured by State Farm who is going to cover them both at replacement value. I thought their deductible was on the high side, but that could be their doing.

[RacerJRP]

Interesting thread. I just moved and setup a renters policy with Nationwide. I told them of my bikes and their values, and their response was, that no rider was needed as long as they were documented and the amount of personal property loss was above what I thought would cover everything.

Hopefully we will never have to discuss it again...

[seanile]

Interesting thread. I just moved and setup a renters policy with Nationwide. I told them of my bikes and their values, and their response was, that no rider was needed as long as they were documented and the amount of personal property loss was above what I thought would cover everything.

Hopefully we will never have to discuss it again...

just to bump with my situation update, went with travelers, they said basically the above statement. appraisals would be very helpful, but even a video of each bike in detail down to the components would suffice. and they said it'd also double as travel insurance for my things. we were looking at scheduling them (projected about $1200 cost), but the underwriters then told the agent i was working with to just get the "full" coverage to max out all the possibilities and the recovery maximums or something to that extent.

[tbike4]

I figured I would ask on this old thread instead of starting a new one.

I don't have a lot of expensive bike stuff that I bought new with receipts, maybe a 6800 group and some wheels. The rest is Craig's list buys and trades, etc. It all totals a fair amount of $$ put together.

Questions is, do you make some kind of list of all those Dura Ace parts and nice steel frames you own but have no receipts? Take photos? I have State Farm renters insurance with the usual $500 deductible.

[Ken Robb]

I figured I would ask on this old thread instead of starting a new one.

I don't have a lot of expensive bike stuff that I bought new with receipts, maybe a 6800 group and some wheels. The rest is Craig's list buys and trades, etc. It all totals a fair amount of $$ put together.

Questions is, do you make some kind of list of all those Dura Ace parts and nice steel frames you own but have no receipts? Take photos? I have State Farm renters insurance with the usual $500 deductible.

I would send an email to your insurer asking how to ensure that you have the coverage you want and are clear as to what documentation you might need. These things vary by company.

[seanile]

^ that plus a shop's appraisal of the current components, as well as ensuring the policy is a Replacement Cost Coverage instead of Actual Cash Value policy, will put you in a good place. do it via email so you have it in writing, if you do it via phone, ask for a follow-up email summing up the call and the common understanding of the situation, and do be proactive if they don't provide that because that's a valuable piece of documentation.

[tbike4]

Thanks for the info. I will follow the sage advice.

[11.4]

I've had losses with both Chubb and Amica and been reimbursed fully. The Chubb one was about $12,000; the Amica one was almost $20,000. Several years apart.

I didn't have separate riders on the bikes but was very clear with each company that I was purchasing a fairly considerable amount of coverage because of the bikes. Other insurance companies who demanded riders were going to charge extra for each rider, and a rider (as someone pointed out above) only covers one particular bike so you need riders on any bikes you want covered.

I asked for replacement cost coverage, which makes it easy. At that point, they pretty much have to replace with a new comparable bike. I had a Serotta Ti Legend stolen just after Serotta shut down, and Amica covered the loss with a Moots RSL and covered the cost of a new group, wheels, etc. on the bike.

Insurers can't figure out a pile of parts. Insure it as a complete bike with replacement cost coverage. Then you can sleep easy. And I'd strongly recommend both Chubb and Amica. I wasn't paying more than quoted by Progressive or Allstate but the customer orientation was much much better. They work with higher net worth and more valuable properties, so they are used to approving fairly expensive or technical losses. My Chubb loss was overseas while traveling, and they went far beyond what they were required to so I could get back in a bike quickly and get something that was frankly better than the bike I previously had. I lost clothing, shoes, etc. in the same theft (a bike box delivered to a hotel that then disappeared) and they immediately wrote a check for three thousand dollars of Assos and related soft goods. Chubb and Amica get my business and my recommendation any day.

[fogrider]

Can I ask what you're paying per year? before and after?

I've had losses with both Chubb and Amica and been reimbursed fully. The Chubb one was about $12,000; the Amica one was almost $20,000. Several years apart.

I didn't have separate riders on the bikes but was very clear with each company that I was purchasing a fairly considerable amount of coverage because of the bikes. Other insurance companies who demanded riders were going to charge extra for each rider, and a rider (as someone pointed out above) only covers one particular bike so you need riders on any bikes you want covered.

I asked for replacement cost coverage, which makes it easy. At that point, they pretty much have to replace with a new comparable bike. I had a Serotta Ti Legend stolen just after Serotta shut down, and Amica covered the loss with a Moots RSL and covered the cost of a new group, wheels, etc. on the bike.

Insurers can't figure out a pile of parts. Insure it as a complete bike with replacement cost coverage. Then you can sleep easy. And I'd strongly recommend both Chubb and Amica. I wasn't paying more than quoted by Progressive or Allstate but the customer orientation was much much better. They work with higher net worth and more valuable properties, so they are used to approving fairly expensive or technical losses. My Chubb loss was overseas while traveling, and they went far beyond what they were required to so I could get back in a bike quickly and get something that was frankly better than the bike I previously had. I lost clothing, shoes, etc. in the same theft (a bike box delivered to a hotel that then disappeared) and they immediately wrote a check for three thousand dollars of Assos and related soft goods. Chubb and Amica get my business and my recommendation any day.

[seanile]

bumping this
anyone have any preferred renters insurance providers in the boston area that they've had luck with for covering expensive bikes without expensive riders.
i was previously paying about $250/yr with a local brokerage that got acquired and upped the price.

[Peter P.]

Metropolitan renter's insurance covered my custom Bilenky when it was stolen (It was not stolen from my apartment but elsewhere). I had a Replacement Value clause in my policy which meant the bike was replaced without any depreciation. I only paid the deductible.