Bike recovery ( for if you breakdown / puncture)

[flecc]

One of my petrol motorised bikes is a Dutch "Spartamet", with a 30cc two stroke engine that has a maximum speed of 14mph, and yet requires £16 a year road tax, £30 a year MOT, and £50 a year insurance.

And a driving licence of course, which in the earlier days of petrol cycle motors had to be a full motorcycle licence.

E-bikes are remarkably free of bureaucracy.

 

[jackhandy]

A couple of years ago I checked specifically with the AA what my relay membership covered me for.

They gave me the very firm answer that my car, the moped, and the two petrol engined bikes were covered, but none of the push bikes or electric bikes were.

View attachment 7598

Just had a reply to my email & as you say, they won't recover the ebike in the case of a breakdown.

My home insurance with Churchill covers the bike for theft & damage for about £30/ year.

 

[tillson]

I can't see the point of this bike recovery insurance. Stick the £5 per month in a bank account and use the money to pay for a taxi home if you break down. After five years, you will have enough left over for a good deposit on a new bike or a fair chunk towards a new battery. You will probably receive better service doing it this way too, because how long does the breakdown service take to respond? I can't see them having a fleet of vans patrolling like the RAC or AA. You will be left standing for goodness knows how long until they get someone to you.

 

[eHomer]

.......how long does the breakdown service take to respond? I can't see them having a fleet of vans patrolling like the RAC or AA. You will be left standing for goodness knows how long until they get someone to you.

That's the crucial point really.

It's very much a chicken and egg situation I think. Surely the service can't fund a large nationwide force of recovery units until it has a very large customer base, which won't join until quick response times can be promised.

Specific local city-based operations may be just about feasible (like London), but what about rural areas ?

 

[robert44]

I can't see the point of this bike recovery insurance. Stick the £5 per month in a bank account and use the money to pay for a taxi home if you break down. After five years, you will have enough left over for a good deposit on a new bike or a fair chunk towards a new battery. You will probably receive better service doing it this way too, because how long does the breakdown service take to respond? I can't see them having a fleet of vans patrolling like the RAC or AA. You will be left standing for goodness knows how long until they get someone to you.

£5/month equates to £60/yr.
The cycle breakdown service costs £30.
If you value your bike at £150, then the cycle insurance (which includes cycle recovery) costs £21.31.


The average response time is quoted as 40mins. If the time exceeds 1hr then the insured is paid £10.
This seems a reasonable service for those who do not wish to carry out their own repairs (or who do not have a taxi service at home .

 

[eHomer]

Don't get me wrong with my replies on this, I'm not trying to shoot it down just for the sake of it, the idea sounds very good, and a big national setup like an AA for bikes would be very useful.


I'm reading the small print on their website though, the £30 is with discount for DD renewals, and it looks as though puncture cover is an extra.

The core promise is given as:

"In the event of a breakdown, our 24-hour recovery call centre sends a recovery van to take the rider and bike to the nearest repair shop, railway station, car rental agency, overnight accommodation or home if within 25 miles."

Does the "within 25 miles" part mean just home or overnight accommodation, or all the other destinations too ?

Also, (still not wishing to sound cynical), but the only promise on call out time is a £10 refund if they don't get to you within an hour, so they still keep £20 of your subs.

I could turn out to be a great service, but only personal experience and/or known feedback will tell...

 

[flecc]

The core promise is given as:

"In the event of a breakdown, our 24-hour recovery call centre sends a recovery van to take the rider and bike to the nearest repair shop, railway station, car rental agency, overnight accommodation or home if within 25 miles."

Does the "within 25 miles" part mean just home or overnight accommodation, or all the other destinations too ?

I think they will mean home. In fact given e-bike ranges almost all incidents will be within 25 miles of home, part of a 50 mile total two way trip.

 

[los monty]

£5/month equates to £60/yr.
The cycle breakdown service costs £30.
If you value your bike at £150, then the cycle insurance (which includes cycle recovery) costs £21.31.


The average response time is quoted as 40mins. If the time exceeds 1hr then the insured is paid £10.
This seems a reasonable service for those who do not wish to carry out their own repairs (or who do not have a taxi service at home .

If you want insurance and breakdown cover and ride a budget bike this appears a value product. Also a claim would not affect your house no claims.

 

[robert44]

Also, (still not wishing to sound cynical), but the only promise on call out time is a £10 refund if they don't get to you within an hour, so they still keep £20 of your subs.

So, you think that for £30, if they don't get to you within an hour, they should recover you and your bike and refund the whole of your premium? I don't think that's going to happen

 

[eHomer]

So, you think that for £30, if they don't get to you within an hour, they should recover you and your bike and refund the whole of your premium? I don't think that's going to happen

That wasn't the point I was trying to make Robert.

Having no experience of their level of service (even via hearsay), I was just thinking that a less than reputable firm could easily make such a promise as that, and not worry too much about their 40 minute turnout failures, because they still get £20.

A more meaningful pledge would be say, the £10 refund after 40 minutes, £20 after an hour, and £30 after 2 hours. That would show a greater belief on their part of being able to offer a rapid response.

Like I said, I'm not trying to shoot them down, just trying to weigh up the unknown risk of whether the level of service would be as advertised.

 

[los monty]

www.eta.co.uk

Just been on their website and then spoke on the phone to them.

As it states in their web pages they use local garages and mechanics and it does appear to be a well organized ethical company. They do not draw a distinction between ebikes and ordinary bikes and conditions regarding security are much the same as other insurances. I have cover on our family car and am aware that I could have purchased assistance cheaper than the sum of all my premiums. unfortunately you can not put a price on the confidence that there is someone on the end of a phone who can sort the problem for you. This is probably the biggest reason that most people have breakdown cover.
They appear to be a cycle friendly company too