When a student son or daughter leaves home for college, very often parents help subsidize their expenses to some extent by allowing them to include the contents of their student homes and things like bicycles in their own current home policy. . .

 

This was not the case for a student, who recently had her individually insured bicycle stolen while she was at university. She had locked her bike up with a good, secure lock and gone to conferences. When she returned an hour later, she had her bike stolen. Although upset and uncomfortable about the matter, she was comforted by the fact that she had had the foresight to take out insurance through a well-known company that marketed itself to the student population. The bicycle had been a special gift from her parents and she had taken great care of it, but there is a limit to the care that can be given to something as portable as a bicycle.

 

However, when it came time to file a claim, she found something surprising: the insurer didn’t cover her claim because she hadn’t removed her front wheel and seat! The mind boggles at the thought of dozens of students milling around a university, armed with front wheels and saddles, but actually the statement was quite correct. It appears the condition was actually stated in the fine print of her policy. Although she accepted that she should have read all the fine print, the student felt that this was beyond reason.

 

Upset that even though she had paid more than 10 percent of the value of the bikes when they were new for the annual premium and agreed to an excess of 10 percent, she was denied coverage for what she thought was a crazy reason , she took the matter further. She felt very strongly that her attention should have been drawn to the very strange condition at the time of taking out the insurance. The insurers’ underwriters were not sympathetic, although the insurers eventually changed their minds and agreed to pay the claim.

 

It seems that he had realized the impracticality of removing wheels and saddles every time cyclists needed to leave their bikes somewhere. As a result of this, they had actually upgraded all policies with this excluded condition. As a matter of goodwill, they had decided to apply this to the position of our sad student as well.

 

Cycling clubs often offer very good deals on bike insurance as well. An environmental group would offer insurance, with a bike salvage package and third party cover for just over thirty pounds.

 

Cycling is environmentally friendly, saves money, and is great exercise. In many large towns and cities, it is much more time efficient than traveling by public transport. Just a word of warning though: there are over a hundred fatalities each year in the world of cycling and over two thousand serious accidents. You wouldn’t drive a car without insurance, so why take a chance on a bike? You are not just talking about personal injury, if you are responsible for causing an accident or damage, you could be sued for that as well.

 

An online broker is the easiest way to find the right cycle insurance for you. They have details of all types of coverage at the best prices.

 

As explained in this article, bicycles require the right type of insurance, but this is not the only insurance needed. We should all consider other types of insurance, such as home insurance and life insurance. Life Insurance is especially necessary to protect our families in cases of sudden death.