Do or not to do bicycle insurance. It is one of the great debates that many cyclists have every time a new season begins or buy a new bike.
For some, the tranquility of being assured in case of an accident, a circumstance that does not depend on ourselves, is enough to stamp your signature in a contract with an insurance company.
Others, because they are less assiduous to the bicycle, or because they are already federated, discard it. You are already an opinion or the opposite, then we offer you a series of arguments to take into account to make a definitive decision.
Is it worth hiring insurance for your bicycle if you are federated?
This is a usual question among bicycle users who compete, both occasionally and more professionally.
Being federated, either with the competitive license or with the cyclist, automatically guarantees that we have two very important coverage; Civil Liability Insurance (SRC) and mandatory accident insurance (Royal Decree 849/1993).
What does this mean? First, that if we cause damage or injuries to third parties in an accident, the insurance guarantees the payment of the corresponding compensation to a maximum of 1.2 million euros.
The insurance provided by the federative license does not include bicycle theft.
The mandatory accident insurance has two effects. On the one hand, it will cover the expenses derived from the health care that we require, from emergency care to hospital admission, including displacement to it.
On the other, it will be responsible for the corresponding compensation if there have been injuries of diverse type in the incident. Another great advantage of federating from the point of view of insurance is that we will be covered not only during competitions, but also during exits and training.
To this we must add that
If you are federated you will get a legal defense without added cost and access to a damage claim service if a judicial procedure is opened.
Compensation for theft, a good reason to hire private insurance
A good reason to hire private insurance is that in it we can include robbery coverage, something that does not offer federative license insurance. This becomes especially important if we have a bicycle with a high price or if for us it is essential, for example as a means of daily transport to go to work.
[IRP Posts = "2671" Name = "Have you stolen your bicycle? Try this lock that makes thieves vomit"]]
Remember that companies demand the use of homologated locks for bicycle protection, and will not take care of the robbery compensation if the bike has not been properly tied with the lock.
The insurance company will request detailed information on the value of the bicycle and about what are the circumstances used, parking areas, etc.
If we have home insurance, and we usually keep the bicycle in a garage or storage room, to receive compensation for its subtraction we must have previously reflected its value, especially if it is high.
The price of insurance is much lower than the federative license
Some cycling fans who compete very occasionally usually assess the possibility of federating to take advantage of the advantages that a license offers.
However, if you do it only for insurance you must keep in mind that the price difference is very high. The prices of federative licenses are set in each autonomous community, but are above 100 euros per year, while it is possible to find safe with broad coverage from 20-25 euros a year.
[IRP posts = "3168" name = "How much does it cost to hire insurance for my bicycle?"]
To this lower price we must add discounts for special promotions that insurance companies start up, gift bonds for recommending the hiring of a policy to family and friends, or bonuses that apply to hire more than insurance with The same company.
In practice, all this reduces the price of private bicycle insurance even more, while the federative license has a higher price and that is usually increased a little every year.
For cyclists who use the bicycle frequently to go out with friends, but who participate in some test during the season, the most advisable thing is to opt for a temporary license for the specific day of the test, and at the same time hire a bicycle insurance
Another interesting alternative is to acquire the cycling card, which with coverage throughout Spain includes civil liability insurance, sports accident insurance and the payment of costs derived from healthcare, as well as those of evacuation and rescue.
Insurance can be customized even in the slightest detail
There are as many bicycle insurance as cyclists. This means that, in practice, each company adapts its coverage to the defendant's demands. Are we going to make the Camino de Santiago and, therefore, will we step on French and Spanish soil? As it is another country, with our private insurance we can ensure that we will also be covered there.
Is our bike electric and are we only going to make a recreational use of it? Insurance will cover us in the case of theft even if it is a good price.
The bicycle insurance offer has been perfected so much in recent years, that some companies offer complementary services that more than one user may seem very interesting.
A good example of this is the supply of the Mapfre company, which allows, at a lower than usual price, a biomechanical study of the pedaling, a complete osteoarticular analysis on the stretcher or a physiology test of the effort, with ergometry included.
