How do I correctly calculate the correct value of my bicycle and accessories?

When taking out a bicycle insurance policy, you must tell the insurance company the correct value of your bike.

If your accessories or bicycle have been discontinued, Insurers tend to replace or repair your bike to a similar type or equivalent valuation based on the cost of your bicycle confirmed by you when you purchased the policy.

Insurers tend not to pay-out for more than you have told them your bike is worth (the value that you've insured it for), therefore, you must ensure you're insuring it at the right value.

Undervaluing your bike

Undervaluing your bike means you’ve told your Insurer that your bike is worth less than it is. This could result in you being out of pocket.

If in doubt about how much your bike is worth, insure your bike for the value of the receipts held, contact the retailer you purchased it from, take a look at the value on-line and speak to your Insurer.

Changes to your bike

People like to modify their bikes and at Cycler, if you have cover with us that’s great, modify away. If you’ve modified your bike you need to let us know what the modifications are - the same will stand for every Insurer. Make sure to keep your receipts, inform us/your Insurer and we/they can adjust your cover, so you are covered for the correct up to date value.

Say you had home contents insurance worth £100,000. As time goes on you buy more contents and valuable goods and the total value of your contents goes up to £120,000. If you don’t let your home insurance know the value of your contents has changed, you won’t be covered for the full value if you need to make a claim.

This is the same for your bike. If your bike value has increased since your policy start date due to modifications you have made, and you don’t let us/your Insurer know, you won’t be covered for your bike's correct value. This could leave you out of pocket when making a claim.

Again, if in doubt about how much your modifications are worth, add up the total cost of the modifications based on the receipts and let us know the value and speak to your Insurer.

If you buy a bike discounted

Everyone loves a discount, and if you buy your bike in the sale you need to let us know the true value of your bike (not the sale price).

For example, if you buy your bike in the winter sale for £1500, saving 25% on its original price you will need to let the insurer know the value of your new bike's pre-sale price, which in this example would be £2000. Therefore, if you need to claim you will be covered for the correct value of your bike (pre-sale value)

Older and vintage bikes

At Cycler, you can insure any bike no matter when you bought the bicycle. If the bike was more than three years old or was not new at the time of purchase, then we will make a deduction for depreciation as per our terms and conditions - this makes sense right, because the bike was purchased second hand, not brand new and of course has depreciated.

For example, if you bought your bike in 2010 for £1500, it is unlikely that the bike will be worth the same now as it was at the time of purchase. Therefore, you are covered for what the bike is currently worth. We do however make allowances for vintage bikes and accessories.

For Vintage or antique bicycles or accessories (minus headgear and clothes), we will pay out the valuation of your bike when you insured it with us as long as the valuation itself can be evidenced and is less than three years old, and it has been provided by the vintage retailer or another suitably qualified valuer, you will be covered for the full amount.

Accessories

Accessories for most Insurers tend to fit the same bracket and are classed as equipment fixed to the cycle in addition to the manufacturers' original specification, articles of specialist cycling clothing, including protective headgear, cycle luggage, cycle tools, cycle locks and lights, GPS units, cycling computers and heart rate monitors. Mobile phones are likely excluded.