E-Bike Insurance

[Zekeer]

Actually, when researching this, and talking with my insurance carrier they do not insure E-bikes for the simple reason that it has a motor. I would suggest, that if you check with your carrier, on home insurance, they do not cover E-bikes either for the same reason. My carrier is USAA for homeowners. In short - no motor, they cover. Has a motor, look elsewhere.

I already stated I am in the Insurance Business . They don't separately insure E-Bike -Just like they don't separately insure golf clubs or lawn mowers or anything else not considered structural in your home . It has nothing to do with the motor . Think for a minute as a homeowner how many things around your home have motors . Garbage disposals. Dishwasher , refrig, TV , Radio etc etc tec . These things are taken care of under assets in the home owners policy . Under a separate clause . After whatever deductible you have . If someone steals your E-bike whether at home or away . It is paid for under your Homeowners policy minus your deductible . Which could be $100-$1000 . Depending on what you chose .
while there are likely companies that sell a policy for E-bikes . The fine print would reveal they do not pay in addition to Home Owners but After . Hardly worth buying . I've done this for 40 years and know what I am speaking about . Thank you
There's always a Gimmick company that will tell you they have insurance. These policies normally only cover what regular insurance didn't . You can't profit .

You should see a schedule page on your policy that shows how many assets in $$$$ you are covered up to. It should read something like : Replace cost contents .

 

[High Desert]

Maybe the insurance you sell does, but mine specifically stated they do not. Ergo, using Velosurance. Not arguing the point, just stating my specific case.

 

[Zekeer]

Maybe the insurance you sell does, but mine specifically stated they do not. Ergo, using Velosurance. Not arguing the point, just stating my specific case.

LOL Now you are being stupid . You asked for professional advice and then question it ? They just told you that because you asked . Call up and ask if you can separately insure your vacuum and they will tell you the same thing . INSURANCE IS ALL THE SAME . What differs from 1 state to the next is caps on coverage of assets and or deductibles . Same for Health insurance . It's just Math . Otherwise if you had a company like progressive or Auto Owners and you were out of State and got in an accident . Or had your bikes and had them stolen. Your policy wouldn't pay if each state had different coverage . Insurance isn't complicated . You pay and we cover XYZ based on what deductible and total benefit limits you choose . Because you don't understand how it works you assume because they told you it's because it has a motor it can't be covered . If that's really the case. You'd better get a different agency . Because they don't have a clue . Your ebike is covered as part of your assets under homeowners . The same way a regular Bike is . End of discussion

 

[scrambler]

Actually, I have AAA, and when I asked them if my E-bike was covered under my home / auto insurance, after checking with headquarters, they came back with a resounding NO and no idea if / when they would.

I ended up having to take a separate one with a company called Safeco.
e-bikes are still an unknow beast for insurance companies, and many of them do not want to cover them until they understand it better.

My advice, dont assume it is covered by your homeowner or car insurance, ask them to confirm IN WRITING that it is.
Then you will find out the real truth on whether or not it is

 

[m@Robertson]

I'm a licensed agent myself and my experience matches what @High Desert is saying. It is very common for HO policies to exclude ebikes by pointing to the motor and claiming it is a motorized vehicle and thus ineligible for coverage. It is also possible some carriers have entirely different takes on the matter. I have seen examples where a carrier has denied coverage for a set of reasons, but those reasons are directly contradicted by the policy language (If I remember right, the point of contention was that the policy said it denied a claim on an ebike because it excluded coverage on vehicles solely powered by a motor. But an ebike can clearly also be muscle powered so it doesn't fit that definition).

Insurance is not all the same. Manuscript policies come to mind. Because they are so difficult to get past a Department of Insurance (personal insurance is regulated by each state, and before you can introduce a new policy, or change a rate, the State must give its written approval after analysis), they tend to be used by only the bigger players who have a lot of resources to get entirely custom wording past a state filing analyst. I've done more than a little work with insurance rate (pricing, underwriting) and form (policy language) filings over the years all over the US in what the industry calls 'personal lines'. Its a couple of steps up the food chain from just being an agent as its generally only done within the insurance company itself.

@scrambler's advice just above is what you should take to heart. I'll add to that you NEVER listen to what an agent says in writing or otherwise when it comes to a coverage interpretation. Agents sell insurance but they have nothing to do with the claims payment process, and often their experience is extensive with what they work with themselves, but woefully inadequate if it is in any way outside of their narrow lane. So, when you get that written advice, get it from an underwriter from the insurance company. An underwriter IS on the hook to give advice binding to the carrier.

If I had a dollar for every time an underwriter contradicted some smug agent on a coverage question... I'd have my bar tab paid off.

 

[2fortheRoad]

LOL Now you are being stupid . You asked for professional advice and then question it ? They just told you that because you asked . Call up and ask if you can separately insure your vacuum and they will tell you the same thing . INSURANCE IS ALL THE SAME . What differs from 1 state to the next is caps on coverage of assets and or deductibles . Same for Health insurance . It's just Math . Otherwise if you had a company like progressive or Auto Owners and you were out of State and got in an accident . Or had your bikes and had them stolen. Your policy wouldn't pay if each state had different coverage . Insurance isn't complicated . You pay and we cover XYZ based on what deductible and total benefit limits you choose . Because you don't understand how it works you assume because they told you it's because it has a motor it can't be covered . If that's really the case. You'd better get a different agency . Because they don't have a clue . Your ebike is covered as part of your assets under homeowners . The same way a regular Bike is . End of discussion

No - our insurance carrier is American Family Insurance & they DO NOT cover Class 1 e-bikes under homeowners policy OR car policy - but they WILL under a separate policy (like a car policy with liability, medical, collision) it is my understanding SOME insurance company will & some won’t under cover under homeowners or car policy.

 

[High Desert]

I’m going to assume Zeeker doesn’t keeps clients long as he calls potential ones “stupid” and then doesn’t really know all the ins outs of insurance himself being as he says he is an agent? Doesn’t look good on paper - and I just insured another bike with Markel, too.

 

[*me*]

We recently purchased two E-bikes (Trek Verve +3) and when checking with our auto / home and RV insurance carriers, found that none of them covered E-Bikes. One did cover motorized "vehicle" but clipped coverage at top speed of 15 mph. So, who seems to be the best carrier, with best rates and are responsive when something goes south on a claim? I see that Markel and Velosurance are basically one and then same as Markel seems to underwrite Velosurance. Hoping for some inout from those who do use insurance and what the level of satisfa

 

[m@Robertson]

Markel is the insurance company that is the policy behind almost every agent-sold policy in the USA. Markel also sells directly.

There are two other players in the USA market at present: Oyster and Sundays. Sundays Insurance is a recent transplant from the UK, and that policy is an absolute nightmare for the consumer. Oyster portrays itself as a simple-language, consumer-friendly policy but that is just advertising. Their actual insurance contract (i.e. policy) is just as wordy and jargon-filled as any other.

I was part of a detailed reading (and, it turns out, a take-down) of all three players' policy types on a different forum. Conclusion was the Markel policy was the most straightforward with the fewest gotchas and was the most likely to give you what you expect. The Oyster policy was not as good and the Sundays policy was an utter nightmare that nobody should buy (one of many issues: Sundays is a secondary insurance cover so you have to go claim against your other policies first and then you can go talk to them).

EDIT: Oh and also Sundays is an Actual Cash Value policy that can be expected to depreciate your bike value.

The above was the result of reading all three sample policies. They are available on each of the three carriers' web sites.