Insurance to cover your bicycle while cycling or traveling anywhere in the world
Theft
Protects your bicycle against theft while traveling internationally.
Crash
Covers crash and accidental damage while riding internationally.
Transit
Covers damage or loss during airline, vehicle, or shipping transport.
What Is International Bike Insurance?
Bicycle insurance does a great job protecting your ride at home. But if you decide to take it abroad, adding the optional International Bike Insurance makes sure that protection goes with you. It extends the existing physical damage coverage to any country in the world. It can be added based on your travel plans and applies when your bike is ridden, shipped, or transported internationally.
Unlike standard travel insurance or airline liability, International Bike Insurance is designed specifically for cyclists and high-value bicycles. It focuses on cycling-specific risks, such as damage during transport and theft while riding and storing a bike abroad. For cyclists who train, tour, or compete outside the US, this provides continuity of protection when domestic coverage no longer applies.
Why International Bike Insurance Matters (And Who It’s For)
Cycling abroad adds risks that do not exist domestically. Once you introduce the variables associated with travel, the risk goes up: bicycles are handled by airlines, shipped between countries, transported on vehicle racks, and ridden in unfamiliar environments. Bikes are frequently damaged in transit, while both the airlines and shipping companies heavily limit liability. In countries with higher crime rates, theft by force or confrontational theft is also a concern.
International Bike Insurance is designed for cyclists whose cycling adventures extend beyond domestic trips. It supports riders participating in international cycling tours, bikepacking trips, long-distance adventures, races, and training camps. Families traveling with multiple bicycles can save by bundling them on one policy. For cyclists who view travel as part of their cycling lifestyle, this protection provides confidence wherever the road leads.
What’s Covered Internationally
Optional worldwide coverage extends your bicycle insurance to cover your bike while traveling outside the United States.
Worldwide coverage includes protection for:
- Theft, including theft by force while abroad
- Crash and accidental damage while riding internationally
- Damage during transport, such as airline handling or vehicle rack transport
- Loss or damage in transit while shipping a bicycle internationally
Whether your bicycle is damaged during a flight, stolen, or lost in transit, this coverage is designed to respond to real-world cycling risks encountered abroad.
Real-World International Cycling Claim
One of our clients traveled to France to ride Alpe d’Huez and several other iconic cycling routes. While waiting to board his flight, he called us from the airport to add International Bike Insurance coverage.
After arriving, he rented a car equipped with a roof-mounted rack and, following a long day of riding, accidentally drove into a low underground hotel garage with the bicycle still on the roof of the car. The impact destroyed it.
With most of the planned trip still ahead, he chose to purchase a replacement bike locally in France rather than miss the remainder of the experience. His shop in Illinois emailed a copy of the original purchase receipt, which he submitted along with photos of the damaged bicycle as part of his claim. When he returned home from his trip, a check was already waiting for him.
How Claims Work When You’re Traveling
When something goes wrong while traveling, the claims process should be clear, accessible, and manageable. Having processed thousands of claims, we’ve encountered nearly every scenario cyclists face at home and abroad. Claims are filed digitally, and most are assigned to an auditor on the same business day, allowing the review process to begin quickly. Submitting required documentation promptly helps keep things moving and reduces delays during an already stressful situation.
If the bicycle is stolen, a police report is required and should be filed as soon as reasonably possible after the incident. For shipping-related loss, supporting documentation is required to show how the bicycle was transported, such as airline baggage receipts or shipping records from a carrier. Photos of the damage and details of the incident help support the claim and allow it to be reviewed efficiently, whether the loss occurs domestically or abroad.
Worldwide Coverage vs. Homeowners Insurance
Unlike standard insurance, we understand that bicycles are an essential part of our clients’ lifestyle, and do not treat them as generic “sporting equipment.” Whether you’re climbing roads or mountains, adventure touring, or racing, crossing country borders or entire continents, this coverage follows your bike if it’s damaged or stolen abroad.
| Coverage Consideration | Optional Worldwide Coverage | Homeowners Insurance |
|---|---|---|
| Designed specifically for bicycles | Yes | No |
| Applies outside the US | Yes | No |
| Theft while traveling abroad | Covered | No |
| Theft by force while abroad | Covered | No |
| Damage during airline transport | Covered | Limited |
| Damage while transporting on a vehicle rack | Covered | No |
| Full declared value | Yes | No |
| Separate from home policy claim history | Yes | No - claims impact home insurance rates |
| Intended for high-value bikes | Yes | Limited - subject to depreciation |
| FREE INSTANT QUOTE |
Not all insurance policies provide the same level of protection, and many people only discover gaps in their coverage after filing a claim. We’ve done the hard work of reviewing the fine print. To see how plans compare, check out our insurance comparison.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is International Bike Insurance?
- International Bike Insurance is an optional coverage that extends your policy's theft and accidental damage protection to any country in the world. The standard policy already covers you everywhere in the US and Canada, so this extension picks up where domestic coverage ends, applying whenever your bike is ridden, shipped, or transported internationally. Unlike standard travel insurance or airline liability, it is designed specifically for cyclists and high-value bicycles, focusing on the risks that actually threaten a bike abroad: damage in transport and theft while riding or storing it.
- Does it cover flying with a bicycle internationally?
- Yes. It covers damage, loss, or theft while your bicycle is in the hands of an airline, from check-in to the baggage carousel. That protection matters because bikes are frequently damaged in transit and airlines heavily limit their liability, so a claim against the carrier rarely makes you whole. With this coverage, you file with your own policy instead of arguing with the airline.
- How do I add International Bike Insurance?
- Add it when you buy the policy or at any point after, to match your travel plans, even if that's from the cab on your way to the airport. It can also be added after you've arrived at your destination, provided the bike is undamaged and in your possession. Worldwide coverage can't be purchased on its own; it's an add-on to an active Velosurance policy.
- Does it cover racing and organized events abroad?
- Yes, when competitive use is specified on your policy. An organized event is generally any ride, race, or competition that is timed, requires an entry fee, or involves formal registration: races, gran fondos, triathlons, and similar events. The bike is even covered overnight in a transition area at an event like an Ironman, as long as the event provides overnight security.
- Does it cover e-bikes worldwide?
- Yes. Road, mountain, or hybrid, an e-bike is covered abroad the same way a conventional bike is, for theft and accidental damage wherever you ride. Given e-bikes' higher values, the protection matters even more when the bike travels.
- Can the coverage be applied to individual bicycles on a multi-bike policy?
- Yes, it can be applied to any or all insured bicycles, so you only pay to extend coverage on the bikes that are actually making the trip. Families traveling with multiple bicycles can save by bundling them on one policy and adding the international extension to each traveling bike.
- How long can my bike stay abroad?
- Nearly the entire policy term: the insured bicycle may spend as many as 364 days abroad and 1 day in the US during the term, which comfortably covers long tours, training blocks, and seasons spent overseas. One requirement to know: the policy must be purchased while you are physically present in the United States, with a US address as the bike's primary location, so the coverage suits traveling US-based riders rather than bikes permanently kept abroad.
- Does it extend optional coverages like medical gap, liability and uninsured motorist worldwide?
- No. The worldwide extension applies to the physical coverages: theft and accidental damage protection follow your bike to any country. Medical gap, liability, and uninsured motorist stay limited to the United States and Canada, so line up travel insurance with medical and liability protection before an international trip. Your bike is covered worldwide; make sure you are too.
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International Bike Insurance
No matter where your adventures take you, protect your bike and yourself from the unexpected damage in transit with America's best bicycle insurance.