Home security: Securing your bike

When it comes to securing your bike in the home, getting it right is vital to ensure your insurance is valid. To help, we’ve written some handy guidelines on how to best go about it. This is to make sure that you’re always protected, even off the bike.

Where should I keep my bikes?

Depending on the number of bikes you own, you may choose to store them in a room within the house, in the garage, or in a shed. All of these are valid options with Bikmo, provided they’re all lockable. There are requirements around securing your bike with us and any cycle insurance company, so it’s important to read your policy thoroughly.

Security requirements

When keeping your bike(s) within the house, garage, outbuilding or shed, providing these are lockable and “within the boundaries of you private dwelling”, the location would be classed as “Home”. And therefore, no further locking requirements for your bike to be covered under a Bikmo policy. If you’re with another insurance provider, make sure you check the requirements with them.

If you’re storing your bike(s) in a location that is not classed as “home” then there are additional locking requirements that would need to be met, in order for your policy to cover a theft.

For the purpose of this blog, we assume that you’re storing your bike(s) within a location that is classed as “Home” under our policy. If you’re unsure about whether the location you’re storing your bike(s) is classed as this, you can check through your policy documents within your account, or contact us. Our customer service team will be happy to answer any questions on the matter.

Do I need to lock my bikes up?

Extra security never hurts and can help prevent the frustration of having your property stolen. Although it is not a requirement with ourselves to use further bike locking when bikes are stored within your locked house, garage or outbuilding/shed within your property boundaries. It’s a good idea to lock the bikes to an immovable object. Or, at the very least through the frame and wheels to prevent a thief from riding away.

For more tips on bike locking, check out our blog – The Ultimate Bike Lock Guide.

Immovable objects

When locking your bike at home, it’s advised to lock it to an immovable object… but what is an immovable object?

Examples of Immovable objects

Concrete or cement floors
Paved floors
Metal structures
Fixed walls – does not include wooden walls of outbuildings such as sheds
Ground anchors – must be appropriately installed to an immovable object or structure
Large concrete blocks

1. Securing your bike in your home

When securing your bike at home, for most cycle insurance providers there are no requirements for further security. This is certainly the case with ourselves. There are however some nifty storage solutions, which will add extra security for your peace of mind.

There are numerous home storage solutions for bikes on the market. Depending on space limitations, some homeowners choose to wall-mount their bikes to keep the floor-space free. Others keep their bikes in a hallway or even in a spare room dedicated to bikes.

There is no right or wrong way to store your bike within your home from an insurance perspective. From a purely practical sense however, wall-mounted systems free up floor space and often feature locking points. Plus displaying your bike like a piece of art is always a good thing in our opinion. A super simple and great example of this is Hornit’s CLUG.

For extra security, products such as a Cycloc Solo allow for a lock to be threaded through wall mounts to secure your bike to it. Giving it that extra bit of protection. There are numerous other options available, so be sure to have a good look to see what suits you.

2. Securing your bike in your garage

Garages are great storage spaces for many things other than cars, and bikes are no exception. Securing your bike within your lockable garage is a good way to save space in the house. In many ways, practical methods of storing bikes in a garage are similar to within the house. Wall-mounted systems and bike racks can help free up space and offer a point to add extra security.

A garage also offers the opportunity to add further security measures such as ground anchors. Any ground anchors that have a Sold Secure rating are perfect for additional protection against theft.

3. Securing your bike in your shed

If storing bikes is not possible within your house or a garage, a lockable wooden or metal shed is a great option for securing your bike. Whilst storing bike(s) in a lockable wooden/metal shed is covered under a Bikmo policy, they’re generally at a higher risk compared to within a house or garage. Therefore, we recommend you take extra steps to secure your bikes within a shed.

In addition to this, your shed must be made out of wood or metal materials. A shed made of plastic or other materials would not meet our definition of “home” under a Bikmo policy, so additional locking requirements would need to be met.

A shed is a great storage spaces for bikes. They’re often relatively cheap to build, easy to maintain and will free up space within your other areas of the house. Similar to storing bikes within a garage, wall-mount systems and ground anchors (on a concrete floor) are perfect ways to increase the security within a shed.