Stolen bike - should I claim on my insurance

noisla

I had my bike stolen from where I locked it up on the street near by work. They cut the lock, presumably with bolt cutters. I have the broken lock and have reported it to the police.

My insurance policy includes coverage for bikes outside of the home, an add-on I specifically selected and paid extra for. Bike is worth maybe £500 and policy excess is £200.

The query is: if I claim, will this affect my home insurance premiums for the rest of my life? Or is it like car insurance i.e. you only disclose if you've claimed in the last X years? Also, will it affect both my contents and buildings insurance? (At present I have a joint policy with Aviva, as they were the only ones that cover garages and sheds as well as the main house)

Thanks

InsideInsurance

Premiums would increase for 3-5 years due to (a) having to declare the incident for that period and (b) loss of NCD/ claim free period

The claim is against Home Contents and so in most insurers cases it would only impact the contents pricing

Do a couple of dummy quotes using slightly altered details one with as you are today and another with a claim added and see what the price difference is. You will expect the next renewal to have the biggest impact and it will reduce each year until it drops off.

The impact of claims on Home insurance is not as pronounced as on Motor but certainly worth doing your sums.

noisla

This is the first year I've had insurance, having only just bought a house, and I didn't bother with it before. I was just scared I would have to declare this (and be penalised) for life. I will check out the impact, thanks.

sithemadmonkey

As above, do the sums as to whether you want to claim. Having said that, if you decide against claiming, then remove this bit from your policy - there's no point paying extra for a product that you don't intend to claim off...

InsideInsurance

noisla wrote: »

I would have to declare this (and be penalised) for life

3-5 years, its varies by insurer but none are "life". That is limited to cancelled/voided insurance and certain criminal offences.

steviecwalker

hi, i would defo make a claim, my bike was stolen not long ago too, i claimed on me contents insurance, bike was worth £400 and my excess was £100, my insurance sent me a halfords voucher for the full amount no problems but i had to pay the £100 excess to then on me card. i also had a claim on me buildings insurance earlier on in the year for storm damage, just got me renewal through the post and it only went up by £4 a month to £42 a month, not much really but i changed insurance companys and got it even cheaper for the same cover, dont be affraid of making a claim, thats what its there for :-):j