Insuring your bike and yourself while riding

I know that insurance is not exactly everyone’s favourite topic and it certainly isn’t mine and it’s also a ‘grudge’ purchase but if you’re going to spend a lot of money buying a beautiful bike, and spend lots of time riding it, then you need to think about insurance for both the bike and yourself. Thank you to Kate Bates for suggesting I write about this important subject.

I’m certainly not an expert on insurance so what you’re about to read is my opinion and not a recommendation, but I’m happy to share what I’ve learnt to benefit both female (my key audience) and male cyclists because the information applies equally.

Firstly, there’s insurance for your actual bike. For my first bike which cost me about $1,500 I just extended our home and contents insurance to include extra ‘portable’ cover as they called it. Thankfully I’ve never had to claim, and it would have only covered theft of the bike, but at the time it was a little peace of mind.

When I upped the ante and upgraded to my current bike I decided to insure the bike with a specialist insurer and went with Real Insurance which covers things like theft and damage to the bike. There are quite a few companies that offer this type of insurance so you should shop around and not take my mention of my own situation as a recommendation. I’ve never had to claim on my policy but my partner has and he’s always found them helpful to deal with and they’ve paid the two claims.

A few of my friends have also insured their bikes but many have not, so it’s really a personal choice as to whether you think it’s worth it for you.

The other area of insurance is usually covered by membership to cycling organisations. In my case I’m a member of Bicycle NSW and I’m also a member of a cycling club LACC and therefore automatically covered by Cycling Australia.

Both these memberships include different insurance cover.

Bicycle NSW (and I’m guessing other equivalent organisations in other states) includes public liability insurance and personal accident insurance which covers you in the event that you are injured in a cycling accident. It includes loss of income cover if you are unable to work, and provides a contribution towards non-Medicare medical expenses.

Read all the details here.

I never really focused on this insurance from Bicycle NSW until a woman who was riding with my Saturday group had an accident and couldn’t work. She received payments for loss of income which kept her afloat while she recovered.

If you’re also a member of a bike club like me you are by default a member of Cycling Australia. This membership includes insurance cover for personal accident, public liability & loss of income benefits. You can read more about it here.

With all insurance there are lots of conditions so make sure you read the fine print.

A lot of cyclists don’t even realise they have any level of insurance cover until they have an accident. My suggestion is that you look at it before you have an accident and make sure you have the cover you want.