Sh*t happens: time to make sure, my bike is well secured!

Yesterday, it was exactly one year ago that, here in The Netherlands, we all went into lockdown. Consequence? We all stayed at home…AND we all bought bicycles. Can you imagine, the Dutchies buying even more bikes (17 million Dutch people already own 23 million bikes)?
Anyway, I bought my beautiful bike in 2019 and rode many magnificent miles on her in that year. But somehow, I never got around to insuring my bike. Why? Well, these are exactly the kinda thing I like to put off…and as I cycled many, many miles inside in 2020, I didn’t think it to be necessary. I already had a home contents insurance, right? Wrong. How I found out? Read further…

Daydreaming about my beautiful post-lockdown trips to come, reminded me I still had to investigate my bike insurance issue. If any time was a good time to start investigating, it would be now. I had to start by asking myself the following questions:

In what way is my bike actually insured within my current home contents insurance?
What would be my personal contribution and to what amount is my bike actually covered?
Could I extend this insurance to insure my bike outside and what would be the cost of that?
Or would a separate bicycle insurance be the better option?

All very serious questions that needed a very serious answer. And to my disappointment, the answers were quite disappointing.

My home contents policy covers bicycles parked in a shed or garage or hanging on my livingroom wall 😉 Check. But, it does not cover indefinitely (read: the full amount) and my personal coverage is pretty high. My home contents insurance does offer the option of adding an outdoor or out-of-the-door insurance, but this is relatively expensive.

After my little research, I can conclude a seperate bicycle insurance is what I need.

Where I thought I had it all covered, I was hardly covered at all.

And while investigating this possibility I stumbled upon a new insurance with a revolutionary vision. I think we can all relate to the fact that we pay insurance for year and years and hardly ever (and thankfully) claim anything? That doesn’t sound very fair now, does it? Well, there is a new insurance company, Laka, that hears us. They feel you should not pay the same monthly fee if hardly anybody claims losses or damages – cause quite frankly, they don’t have as much costs then! There is, of course, a minimum and maximum fee – so you won’t stumble upon any surprises. Their claims are handled by cycling experts (read: quickly, often within a day) and I can decide at any time if I want to leave or pause (freedom!!). I have made up my mind and decided to go for their bicycle insurance. My bike is now properly insured against theft, damage (indoor and outdoor) and vandalism as well as loss. It is also covered abroad and they pay for my transport costs (up to € 200) in the event of a breakdown. Very handy if I end up somewhere in the middle of nowhere , once I am allowed to go there!