UK Bike Insurance [Laka perspective]

Tobi_Laka

Member
Apr 25, 2018
37
12
London
Thanks @mark1a and others. This very welcome insight I have passed on to my team as we're working through our modularisation exercise. I'll report back when done :)
 

jimbob

Active member
Aug 3, 2020
520
432
East UK
It is very rare that I experience customer service which is so good it deserves a written comment, but having just made a claim with Laka this week, in this case I feel it is deserved.

I'm not sure how to link a member, but Tobi, I very much hope you read this. Both Nick and Ollie who I have been dealing with have been fantastic.

Came off the bike at the weekend and damaged a mudguard, pedals, handlebar grips and derailleur. Submitted a claim late in the weekend. No quibble they've identified the parts, including seeing if there are any similar parts which might be better to replace them with and ordered them to be delivered to my house. In 4 days. And would have covered a bike shop to fit them if I'd wanted.

They are more expensive than others, but o have been exceptionally pleased with the service. I got it mainly for theft, but is nice to have the accident damage too.

@Tobi_Laka ETA: managed to work out how to tag Tobi
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
9,008
9,436
Lincolnshire, UK
Twelve years ago, I decided to change my house insurance (buildings & contents). I spent ages on an inventory of contents and calculating the house rebuild cost and I was shocked at the amounts. Then there were the bikes! The market comparison websites I used at the time couldn't find anyone willing to quote. One of them referred me to several brokers. After a few unproductive chats I came across one guy who seemed a decent sort and we spent quite a while chatting about my attitude to risk, I didn't realise at the time that he was probably forming a risk assessment on me as a client! I ended up being very happy to pay twice what I had been paying before for better cover. Twelve years later, I can now get similar cover (minus bikes) for half what I am paying now (the market has changed), but the no-quibble policy has me sold. My current insurance also has as-new replacement policy in case of theft and that includes my bikes. If I was to remove my bike from the buildings and contents policy and downgrade all my contents from "as new" replacement to say 50% and add in a free-standing bike policy, then I may be able to save some money. But will it be worth the effort and will I be able to sleep at night?

I need to re-examine the whole thing again. I like the "no-quibble" policy, but my broker has carefully selected me. As a consequence, he has had no claims in just over twelve years. If I was a customer of @Tobi_Laka and my payments were subject to his loss experience, I may prefer him to screen his clients to reduce risk.
 

Tobi_Laka

Member
Apr 25, 2018
37
12
London
It is very rare that I experience customer service which is so good it deserves a written comment, but having just made a claim with Laka this week, in this case I feel it is deserved.

I'm not sure how to link a member, but Tobi, I very much hope you read this. Both Nick and Ollie who I have been dealing with have been fantastic.

Came off the bike at the weekend and damaged a mudguard, pedals, handlebar grips and derailleur. Submitted a claim late in the weekend. No quibble they've identified the parts, including seeing if there are any similar parts which might be better to replace them with and ordered them to be delivered to my house. In 4 days. And would have covered a bike shop to fit them if I'd wanted.

They are more expensive than others, but o have been exceptionally pleased with the service. I got it mainly for theft, but is nice to have the accident damage too.

@Tobi_Laka ETA: managed to work out how to tag Tobi


Thanks a ton, @jimbob for the kind feedback! I've passed it on to Nick & Olle. Taking care of our customers' claims is the moment where we can shine and really enjoy getting customers back on the saddle. As to the price, we're in the midst of a big pricing review exercise and will, among other things, modularise our cover so it fits like a glove (e.g. theft only, damage only, travel, etc etc).

Thanks again for posting this :)
 

Tobi_Laka

Member
Apr 25, 2018
37
12
London
Twelve years ago, I decided to change my house insurance (buildings & contents). I spent ages on an inventory of contents and calculating the house rebuild cost and I was shocked at the amounts. Then there were the bikes! The market comparison websites I used at the time couldn't find anyone willing to quote. One of them referred me to several brokers. After a few unproductive chats I came across one guy who seemed a decent sort and we spent quite a while chatting about my attitude to risk, I didn't realise at the time that he was probably forming a risk assessment on me as a client! I ended up being very happy to pay twice what I had been paying before for better cover. Twelve years later, I can now get similar cover (minus bikes) for half what I am paying now (the market has changed), but the no-quibble policy has me sold. My current insurance also has as-new replacement policy in case of theft and that includes my bikes. If I was to remove my bike from the buildings and contents policy and downgrade all my contents from "as new" replacement to say 50% and add in a free-standing bike policy, then I may be able to save some money. But will it be worth the effort and will I be able to sleep at night?

I need to re-examine the whole thing again. I like the "no-quibble" policy, but my broker has carefully selected me. As a consequence, he has had no claims in just over twelve years. If I was a customer of @Tobi_Laka and my payments were subject to his loss experience, I may prefer him to screen his clients to reduce risk.

We pride ourselves on having formed a Collective of like-minded people - cyclists who take care of their bikes @steve_sordy. Price is certainly important but unfortunately, most will only find out at the point of claim, when in need, if the money was well spent. I also encourage look at the online reviews that go beyond light comments on the on-boarding process but rather talk about the claims experience: like this for example :)
 

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