Put bikes on home insurance owners urged

Posted : 12-04-2006

Bike thieves are costing British owners some £113 million worth of bicycles a year, according to new research, underlining how crucial it is to have a comprehensive home insurance policy to cover such items.

Figures from Halifax General Insurance have revealed that bike thefts have increased by 9.5 per cent since 2001, with nearly 500,000 bikes stolen every year in the UK.

More than half of all thefts occur outside the victim's home, usually from garages or garden sheds, while 14 per cent of thefts took place inside the home.

However, owners can do more to protect themselves from becoming victims of theft by following a few simple security measures. Owners are encouraged to fit a U-type anti-theft lock, to identify their bike using ultraviolet pen, always keep the bike secured when not in use and try to store it in well populated areas.

Halifax said that by following these simple rules owners can dramatically cut down on the number of bikes stolen, particularly as 14 per cent of all bike claims it received in 2005 were for unsecured bikes.

But owners are also urged to check their home insurance covers bicycle theft outside the home, or it could be expensive to keep on replacing them.

Vicky Emmott, Halifax General Insurance, comments: 'Pressure to take up greener methods of transport and to get fit, combined with the terrorist attacks on public transport in July 2005, has probably led to a resurgence in the number of people taking to their bicycles. All of which provides even greater opportunities for thieves."

And if owners live in Kingston upon Thames then there is an even greater need to take out adequate home insurance as the town has been revealed as the UK's bike crime capital in 2005, closely followed by Greater London. Cambridge, Bristol and Oxford ranked third, fourth and fifth in the UK's top five bike theft hot spots.


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