Why you should insure your bike(s)

[NbyNW]

Hi everyone,

If you've been following the story of my search for my little red Rodriguez, here is the end of the story:

Thanks to the original owners of my bike and R+E Cycles, we were able to track down the serial number for the bicycle, which was the Proof of Ownership I needed to file an insurance claim.

Now here's where I lucked out, since I had not bothered to make my bike a special line-item rider on my policy, like some people do with jewelry or artwork, etc. Some insurance policies will give you cash value for lost property. Others will give you replacement value for another item "of like kind." My policy was the latter.

The way it worked was as follows. About a week after I filed my claim, I received a check for what my insurance company considered to be the cash value of the bike I lost, i.e., cost minus depreciation, etc. It was a pretty good-sized check, but not enough to replace the bike that I lost.

To get replacement value, I had to first purchase my new bike, then provide the insurance company with receipts to show that I've purchased the same thing that I had before, and they will make up the difference up to a certain amount. i.e., I paid for custom paint and other upgrades/accessories.

The new bike was delivered on Thursday, and I took it out for getting-to-know-you ride around Green Lake. It was a pretty glorious afternoon. It feels different than the old bike, and I still hope someday its little red sister will find her way home . . . technically, I think my insurance company owns her now, but maybe if she turns up I can buy her back from the company? That would be interesting . .

I'm naming it the Terrible Tourer, in honor of the late Myron Cope, who provided hours upon hours of radio entertainment during my childhood: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08058/860750-13.stm

Here's a pic from this morning's photo shoot:

[Blueberry]

I actually can't list my bikes on my policy (allstate). Apparently, to specifically insure them, you have to have a separate policy that my company doesn't offer (inland marine, I think).

So glad things are working out, though - and that you have a new ride! I'd be lost without my bikes

[mimitabby]

congrats on the nice new bike! I have all the paperwork for my bike, but no serial number! it doesn't have one.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

congrats on the nice new bike! I have all the paperwork for my bike, but no serial number! it doesn't have one.

Neither does mine. I don't know if customs typically have them or not. Must be optional to the builder.

[Triskeliongirl]

If your bikes didn't come with a serial number, I think you can ask your local police to engrave them (if you do it under the bottom bracket it won't show) with a special ID. This can then go into a national database that would aid in revovery if they are stolen.

My husband's bike was stolen during shipping a few weeks ago. He was shipping it to Boston, to ride to a scientific meeting to upstate NY after visiting our kids (some of you helped me plan the route on the northeast thread). It made it into the Kansas depot (fedex ground) but never made it out. I got them to open a theft investigation. They had me send a photo, and someone in the Kansas plant recognized the bike as similar to one an employee recently started riding to work. So, next they asked for the serial number (which fortunatly I entered into my palm pilot after my last bike was stolen), which was enough for the police to confiscate the bike, and go to his home and confiscate all the other items that were gone (like the trico iron case, shoes, helmet, etc.).

Thank goodness, cuz fedex ground only gives depreciated value not replacement costs, and I didn't have receipts for a lot of the stuff so we were likely to have lost a lot of money of everything wasn't recovered. But, without the serial number I don't know how we could have proven it was ours.

[Red Rock]

I was just checking our paperwork. I have a copy of the serial number on my bike, but my DH does not.

Is it ok to take it to the LBS and have them get this number for us?
Also, the shop that sold us the bike is no longer the dealer for Look but another shop is. Should I go to the new shop that is the current dealer?

I hope I am not thread-jacking here. Please forgive me if I am.

Red Rock

[Blueberry]

RedRock-

Usually, if you flip the bike over, you can read the number. Assuming the management is still the same, I'd take it to the dealer you bought it from if you can't get the number yourself.

I do need to take one of mine to the LBS. There's a little plastic cable guide that covers up the numbers, and I'm afraid to take it off...

CA

[madscot13]

I just looked at those rodriguez bikes and they look pretty nice. I'm happy that everything came out even in the end.

[NbyNW]

I think that for bikes that don't have serial numbers, your insurance company will likely accept your original papers as proof of ownership. I've heard it helps to have pictures, too, although my company didn't ask for pictures. In my case the serial number was critical, since my only other documentation was my bank's record of the EFT when I bought the bike from its original owner. Without a store receipt, my claim would have seemed sketchy from the insurance company's perspective. The serial number proved to the insurance company that the bike existed in the first place, that it was of the make, quality and size that I said it was. If your bike doesn't have a serial number but you have a bill of sale and paperwork describing the bike, you're probably okay if you need to prove to your insurance company that you had a bike that you no longer have.

For the purposes of identifying a bike as yours, if it's recovered? That's a different question . . . serial numbers can be scratched off, so they're not foolproof. I think having pictures & detailed description helps a lot, especially if your bike is custom or unusual somehow. Even if it's been altered. I keep thinking maybe I'll see my old frame out there that's somehow been built up differently than it was when I last saw it. I would love to have that frame back.

I've been reading a lot of threads on other boards about different strategies people use. Some people will put some ID, like a business card inside the handlebars, or inside the tire, hoping that if an honest person unknowingly buys their stolen bike and finds it that maybe they'll return it. I saw that one guy had his framebuilder engrave his SS# inside the bottom bracket, where only he will know to look for it, and a thief hopefully won't think to go in there to scratch it off.

I'm also looking at different bike racks built for inside storage, something that I can bolt to my foundation or to studs and be able to lock my bikes to, so that even if someone gains access to my garage again it won't be so easy for them to take my stuff.

[NbyNW]

Trisk, your Fedex story is incredible . . . I'm glad they were able to track down your stuff!

[Kathi]

When I got my bike I had my shop give me an invoice for the cost of the frame and the components. It includes the serial #. I then gave it to my insurance agent to keep in his file.

We are gone a lot in the winter so my bike gets locked to a pole in my basement. My thinking is that if someone breaks in they will not bother to see what we have stored in our junky basement.

[Triskeliongirl]

Trisk, your Fedex story is incredible . . . I'm glad they were able to track down your stuff!

Thanks! It arrived yesterday with minimal damage. The mirror was broken from packing, the headset had been overtightened (but no harm done) and one skewer was stripped. But otherwise everthing was accounted for, but what an ordeal! I thought for sure it was gone forever. This is the first stolen bike I've ever had recovered.