Personal Contents Insurance Advice Needed.

james_nich

Hello there. Sadly last night my rather expensive and well loved road bike was stolen from my flat corridor and now I'm left wondering whether my insurance covers me or not also whether to mention it without advice now and risk no pay-out.

I have 'personal contents' insurance taken out through a large UK based company which luckily up until now I've never had to touch.
My question basically is this - where does personal contents insurance start? There is very little explaining this in the paper work.

The flats I live in are 6 per front door (magnetised and key controlled safety door). We all pay a service charge for the communal stair well which is an area for residents only and trades men if necessary. My bike was left for one night locked here and was gone in the morning.

Is it likely that my policy would cover this area under my personal contents addressed to the flat?

Many thanks in advance,

James.

dacouch

Who is the Insurer ?

Did you select cycle cover?

Was the bike locked to an immovable object (I'm guessing not)

james_nich

The insurer was Endsleigh and the policy covered individual items up to £2000 with no direct clause saying cycles weren't a part of that. The bike was locked to another bike and a large garden chair. The lock was cut, taken with it and only the bike worth taking was taken. What makes this different to just leaving it on the street was the fact that my neighbour found the security door tampered with to gain access into the building. It was a locked area.

*Scarlett

Some policies cover bikes as standard, others require them to be specified particularly if you want them covered outside the home.

I don't know if a communal stairwell would be considered to be away from home or not.

If you have cover away from home, many policies will require the bike to be secured to an immovable object - whether the large chair qualifies as this, again I don't know.

It might be that the insurer just requires the bike to be kept in a locked building, which yours was, in which case you would be covered.

I understand that you don't want to make an enquiry against your own policy as it will be recorded as a loss whether you claim or not. However you could ring them as a "potential" customer and ask about the specific cover that they offer for bikes. You would not be required to reveal any personal details as DPA would not apply if you are only enquiring about the type of cover that they provide.