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Velosurance Protects Your Bike, Your Race & the Kit on Your Back

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velosurance-premium-high-end-bicycle-insuranceVelosurance is a relatively new company, having gone live in January 2013, but it’s been a project for founder Dave Williams since 2009.

The idea is to provide the type of coverage that cyclists, particularly those that race, really need but probably aren’t getting through their homeowner’s policy. Assuming they even have a homeowners policy.

Policies start at $100 per year, and that’ll buy you theft/damage coverage on a bike in the $1,200 to $1,500 range. You can put more than one bike on a policy, which provides a per-bike price break. With a few options and a $12,000 race bike, a premium can run about $600. If you’re regularly jumping into a domestic crit wreck race (their coverage mainly applies to claims from incidents in the US and Canada, but worldwide incident coverage is available), it could very well be worth it. It’ll even cover your entry fee and the Spandex that’s now smeared across the asphalt.

Click through to check out some of the options and see why it took so long to get this thing off the ground…

Velosurance premium high end bicycle insurance for racing road and mountain bikes

One of the challenges to getting it off the ground was convincing the states that their premiums were fair and reasonable for the risk they were insuring. Some states were fine with the concept, but others took a little convincing. Williams said some states had a hard time wrapping their heads around the fact that bikes actually can cost up to $15,000 or more, but once they did their own research, they came around. Now, they’re authorized to sell insurance in all 50 states.

The biggest question Williams gets asked is “isn’t my bike covered by my homeowners insurance?”. His answer is “possibly, but depending on your policy, sometimes you don’t always know exactly what’s covered until you file and claim. And, in states where it’s difficult to get a HO policy, you may not want to test it with a claim that could end up jacking your rates or cause a policy cancellation.”

As long as you’re using your bike within the parameters of the bicycle manufacturer’s intended uses for the bike, it’s covered. The only exception is if it’s being used for commercial purposes. And the exception to that is if you’re paid to race…that’s still a commercial purpose, but it’s allowable.

And if something does happen, they’ve partnered with shops throughout the US to handle repairs and process claims for you…and you can choose which of the shops you want to use.

“The medical payments option is a good way to cover the gap between what your health insurance covers and what your out of pocket might be for the year. Say your total annual out of pocket deductible is $2,500, a policy to put that back into your pocket is less than $50 per year. We also options for up to $10,000 of medical expenses reimbursement, which would cover something like a broken arm or collarbone if you don’t have any other insurance.”

They even partnered with a well known automotive roadside assistance program that’ll pick you up and drive you up to 35 miles (hopefully home), and that roadside policy adds only $10 per year. Or, if your tire, um, accidentally had a flat after a few too many at a pub, that roadside assistance could pay for itself in no time.

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Psi Squared
Psi Squared
10 years ago

Excellent. We need more of this.

vectorvelo
10 years ago

This is a great start and hopefully will cover internationally in the future.

Homeowner
Homeowner
10 years ago

The other thing riders might want to look into on their homeowner’s policy…

A lot of these policies have maximums that they will cover. I recently looked into mine and found it has a maximum of $5000, so if I had a $12K-$15K bike (as mentioned in the article) and it was stolen (for example) the most I’d get through insurance would be $5K.

Not that I have a $5K bike, but it was something I hadn’t known prior to looking into it.

hawskill
hawskill
10 years ago

will this cover DH bikes? for crashes specifically?

Ajax
Ajax
10 years ago

Insurance companies just deny coverage when you report stuff stolen or damaged. I wouldn’t want to be the guinea pig for a fly by nite company.

richNYC
richNYC
10 years ago

what Ajax said;)

DAVE WILLIAMS
10 years ago

Velosurance cyclist policies are underwritten by Markel American Insurance Company established in 1972. I have a 20 year history with the company. We chose this company to underwrite the Velosurance policy because of their dedication to customers and fast claim payments. The policy covers all types of losses including loss by crash.
Dave – Velosurance CEO & Co founder
***
Here are their Financial stats
Rating: A (Excellent)
Financial Size Category:
XIII ($1.25 Billion to $1.5 Billion)
Outlook: Stable
Action: Affirmed
Effective Date: November 13, 2012

James
James
10 years ago

They won’t quote any bike valued under $1K. I have half a dozen commuters that would have a market value under $100 but I still want the medical coverage and Vehicle contact protection. It doesn’t seem like they will cover me on those, only the “valuable” bike even though I spend a majority of my time on the others. If that’s the case this would be useless to me.

Glen A
Glen A
10 years ago

As a trike owner & traveller I would like to see better medical coverage as well. If hospitalized from an accident that $10,000 coverage could disappear very quickly.

Liam Porter
Liam Porter
8 years ago

I can tell you from experience velosurance will cover your stuff, but a duck tape patch may be considered sufficient. I’m exaggerating of course, but that’s how I felt throughout a claim. By the time my claim was said and done, between the premium and deductible I pretty much purchased the bike again and it was not in the pristine condition it was before the accident. I would not recommend bike insurance. It’s just too new of a thing. It’s only great in theory.

Jay
Jay
6 years ago
Reply to  Liam Porter

Wondering what you mean did they force you to get carbon repair?

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