FAQ: Coverage

While the Velosurance issued policy covers the insured bicycle(s) anywhere in the USA and Canada the policy is only available to persons who are USA residents. All policy coverage remains in effect while the insured bicycle is in transit and in use while in the USA and Canada.

Residents of Canada, please check out Ontario Cycling Association and Pedal Power Insurance.

Racing, even as a pro, is accepted as normal use of your bicycle and is covered by this policy, as long as the optional racing coverage is selected.

One of the optional coverages is Medical Payments coverages. If you elect to purchase this coverage your policy will pay up to the policy limit for your bike crash related medical costs.

Everyone's situation is unique, and your insurance coverage should reflect that. It’s important for you to evaluate your individual needs and personal risk tolerance.

When it comes to bicycle insurance, it's important to consider your specific use case: how often and where do you ride. Bicycle commuters who share the road with cars and sidewalks with pedestrians expose themselves to significantly more risk than weekend warriors who ride rarely and away from traffic.

If you have limited or sub-par medical coverage, you might be a crash away from financial hardship. It's highly recommended that you review your healthcare coverage, including annual and emergency room (ER) deductibles and co-pays, and purchase enough medical coverage to offset these bills.

If you share the road with cars or pedestrians, or ride with a group, the likelihood of causing property damage or bodily injury to another party goes up significantly. Liability coverage, which is available as an optional coverage, should be considered.

Getting hit by a car is one of the top fears of any cyclist. Vehicle Contact Protection is an optional coverage available on a policy from Velosurance that covers the insured rider for medical and other related expenses, such as physical therapy, lost wages, and mental health services.

Each policy has a minimum earned premium of $100. This means that the minimum cost for a policy is $100. If the annual premium is $300 ($25/month) then the $100 minimum earned premium is met after four months and the policy can be cancelled on a prorate basis. If the policy is cancelled before the four month mark, say after two months, then $50 is due upon cancellation. This is the balance of the minimum earned premium.

Cyclist liability insurance is an insurance policy coverage that protects a cyclist from the risk of being sued or held legally liable for causing bodily harm or damage to another's property. This can include hitting a pedestrian, jogger, animal, car, or another rider.

Due to the physical nature of cycling, there’s a possibility that you'll be involved in a cycling accident. Unless there are witnesses to describe the accident to law enforcement, the officers will make an on-the-scene determination and assign traffic citations to who they believe to be the offenders. It is unfortunate, but cyclists tend to get an overwhelming amount of blame when involved in a pedestrian versus bicycle accident, or even when a car is involved.

If an accident results in injuries or property damage, and in the absence of witnesses or video footage of the accident, it is likely that the insurance companies will initiate an investigation to determine who is at fault and which insurance company should accept their client’s responsibility for the loss. Unfortunately, you don’t have to be wrong to get sued.

Once a case against you is filed, you will need legal representation. This is where the Liability section of a Cyclist Insurance Policy comes into play. When you purchase liability coverage, you are buying a legal representation to defend your actions. Without liability coverage, you would have to bear that cost yourself. With attorneys costing up to $500.00 per hour on a $20,000 retainer, it makes sense to consider adding liability coverage to your cyclist insurance policy. We offer liability limits from $25,000 to $300,000 and these limits are not affected by the cost to defend you: the defense team gets paid outside of the liability limits. Your liability limit remain intact until the outcome of your case is determined.

This optional coverage protects the insured bicycle rider from medical and other related expenses incurred from a physical contact with a hit-and-run, an uninsured or underinsured motorist. This optional coverage is recommended to bike commuters and roadies who often train on public roads.

In many states, uninsured/underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage on your personal auto insurance covers you while riding your bicycle. You should confirm this coverage with your auto insurance provider.

Scenario: You do not own a car so your bike is your only vehicle. On a commute to work, a car runs a red light and hits you. The at-fault driver stops, and you are taken to the emergency room. It is later discovered that the driver has a low liability limit on his insurance, which is not sufficient to cover your medical expenses. Uninsured Motorist Contact Protection covers the gap in coverage, up to the selected limit.

Scenario: While riding down a country road you are passed by a pickup truck towing a trailer which sideswipes and knocks you to the ground, the truck drives on. While the truck driver may not have seen the accident, this would be termed a hit-and-run accident and you might be able to recover hospital and other medical costs for your injuries from your own car insurance PIP and/or UIM. For these coverages to apply there must be contact with the automobile (in this case the trailer) and you will need a police report. If you do not have UIM coverage under your auto insurance, Uninsured Motorist Contact Protection would provide this coverage instead.

Scenario: While riding on a city street you are hit by a motorist who turned in front of you and the motorist is cited by the police for causing an accident. You are injured and transported to the emergency room. Your injuries require you to be admitted to the hospital and when released, you are unable to return to work for a month. The accident and hospital medical bills along with loss of income has caused you financial difficulties. Despite driving a very expensive car, the motorist has no liability insurance. As a result, medical costs along with your personal compensation can most likely be recovered from your personal auto insurance Uninsured Motorist (UIM) coverage.

If a covered loss occurs to the insured bicycle and you are more than 50 miles from the insured location for an organized cycling event, trip or race, we will reimburse you for the reasonable expenses you incur to rent a temporary substitute.

We will reimburse the cost of renting a temporary substitute for use during the organized cycling event, trip or race, up to a maximum of $250 per occurrence. No deductible will be applied against this coverage. Should a loss occur involving your temporary/substitute cycle, it’ll have the broadest coverage you’ve purchased for your insured cycle for which it serves as a substitute.

- Are my bikes covered if the bikes are locked to the bike rack but stolen?
- Yes

- Is securing the bike to a tree considered an "immovable object?"
- Yes

- Are my bikes covered if the bikes are locked to the car bike rack but stolen?
- Yes

- If the bikes are locked to the office bike rack but stolen?
- Yes

If the optional Worldwide coverage is selected, the policy theft and accidental damage coverages extend to any country in the world. The bike will also be covered while traveling internationally, the policy also covers bikes if they are lost or damaged by an airline, postal courier or a speciality logistics provider such as TriBike Transport or Bike Flights. Bikes stored inside a locked motorhome or a car while traveling internationally are also covered.

All theft claims require a police report detailing how and where the bike was locked at the time of the theft. If the insured bike is stolen from inside a locked vehicle there must be visible evidence of how the thief gained access to the vehicle. Mysterious disappearance is not covered. A cut lock or forced door/window triggers coverage.

Premium is 10% of annual premium prorated from date you add via client portal at https://velosurance.com/client/

If your insured bike is being transported on a vehicle bike rack and is damaged when rear-ended by another car,, then the bike would be covered by the Velosurance policy.

If you end up in this unfortunate situation, always call 911 and ask for the police to attend the accident. Take pictures of the scene immediately, in case the offending driver decides to flee the scene. Even if your car is not damaged, do not accept any settlement offers from the offending driver, these almost always backfire. It is common practice for the offending driver’s insurance company to depreciate the value of your bike because that’s what they do with cars. The Velosurance insurance policy is a declared value, which means that we never depreciate your bike.

Once you have the police report in-hand, follow the instructions here to submit the claim. We’ll dispatch a check to you as quickly as we can, and let our attorneys deal with the other insurance company.

Unfortunately dings on your bike are inevitable and equally as unfortunate is that, just like your car insurance company doesn't cover door dings on your car, a Velosurance issued policy does not cover cosmetic damage unless there is structural damage associated with the damage that would make the bicycle unsafe to ride. Cosmetic damage such as dings, scuffs and scratches is not covered. If your bike has annoying cosmetic damage we recommend contacting a bicycle restoration/repair company like Kane Bikes @ https://www.kanebikes.com/carbonrepair/ A bicycle restoration company can refurbish a cosmetically damaged bicycle to "as new" condition.

This is a permissive use policy, so anyone riding your insured bicycle for recreation purpose and with your permission, and the bike use is in no way associated with any commercial activity, is subject to the same policy conditions and exclusions as you. If you are in doubt about who you allow to ride your bike please contact Velosurance for clarification.

Your bicycle most likely will have some coverage under your homeowners or renters policy, however, there are usually limits or restrictions on the value of the bike and the types of losses that would be covered. Also, should you have to file a bicycle claim against your homeowner’s policy, you risk having your homeowner insurance rates being increased. With a Markel cyclist policy through Velosurance, you will have the peace of mind and satisfaction in knowing that your policy is built specifically for you and your bike.

Unfortunately we do not cover any form of commercial use of your bicycle and this includes document delivery, food delivery, and any other delivery service that involves the use of a bicycle. Commercial use of the bicycle is determined by whether the rider is receiving payment or other forms of compensation for the use of the bike. Professional racing, even though the rider receives compensation, is not considered commercial use and qualifies for insurance coverage.

Yes. If you purchase Bicycle Physical Damage coverage, you will automatically also receive coverage for spare parts (items that are normally part of the insured cycle but were not on the cycle when the loss occurred) and apparel (clothing or gear worn exclusively when riding the insured cycle). Spare Parts and Cycle Apparel coverages will each have a separate limit of $500 per loss and a $1,000 limit for the policy term. These coverages are triggered when there is a loss to the bike that exceeds the policy deductible.

Yes, professionally repaired bikes qualify for insurance coverage.

No, while these devices may help in stolen bike recovery, they are not anti-theft devices.

You will automatically be covered in all 50 states, and Canada. Also, as part of our Physical Damage coverage, your cycle is covered when you are traveling (by land or air) to and from any location in the United States and Canada. You have the option to extend your Bicycle Physical Damage coverage worldwide by purchasing our optional Worldwide Physical Damage Coverage Extension.

When a bike is stored inside a locked car we strongly recommend that the bike be locked to a seat anchor point within the car. Evidence of forcible entry to the car will be required in the police report and without such evidence it is difficult to prove to the police that the car wasn't left unattended and unlocked.

There are several devices available from most auto part stores and even from Amazon that can open a car door in seconds without leaving visible evidence of forcible entry and for this reason we proffer our strong recommendation to lock the bike to any available point inside the car and always be sure to lock the doors and windows. Bicycle theft happens every minute of every day - please don't become a victim.

Although we hope it never happens theft by force, or threat of force or violence is a covered loss, and as with all theft claims a police report detailing the time, place, and circumstances of the theft by force or violence will be required when submitting the claim.