We are now in our 5th year of providing insight into Bikmo’s cycling claim data with our Open Project! In 2022, the Bicycle Association reported that bicycle sales fell to their lowest level in two decades, with a total decrease of 22%. Despite this fall in bicycle sales, likely due to the cost of living crisis, the need for bike insurance continues to grow. Our claim numbers continued to grow in 2022, increasing by 25% compared to the year previous. We protected even more of the world’s riders last year, continuing our purpose to deliver exceptional insurance and experiences to you.
Take a look at our claims breakdown below, and if you’re still on the fence about how our cycle insurance can help, you can look at our policy benefits.
Home and Away Claims
We saw a rising trend in claims being made for bikes at home, with claims representing 10% of the total in 2019 and rising to 24% in 2021. The number of claims from the home decreased slightly to 23% in 2022.
Bikes are still more at risk when away from home according to our data and based on previous years we aren’t surprised to see the small change to at home claims, especially with home burglary statistics continuing to decrease.
Types of Claim
Theft claims made up 57% of all claims in 2022, an increase from the year previous. Accidental damage claims remained high still and is a significant reason why cycle insurance remains important to riders.
Whilst we strive to approve every claim we still find some riders not meeting locking requirements expected from most insurers. This includes bikes not being locked at all, incorrect locking such as locking through a quick-release wheel instead of the frame and incorrectly Sold Secure rated locks used.
Locking requirements not being met remains a challenge so that’s why last year we formed an internal task force to address how we can improve the way we communicate these with you. The below video is one of many outcomes from this group.
If you’re unsure of our policy locking requirements, please find more info about them in our support documents or feel free to contact the Bikmo team – support@bikmo.com
Payouts
As was the case in 2021, over 50% of our claim payouts continue to be for bikes and gear under £500 in 2022. Over 30% of our claims were also for bikes and gear over £1,000, meaning we continue to protect vastly different categories of cyclists. Whether that is riders, who want to stay covered to and from work or riders who have their eyes set on a local KOM. We’re here to protect all riders, whichever way they wish to ride.
Did you know? You can insure a bike worth £500 for just £4.60/mo with Bikmo. That’s cheaper than Tesco’s new ‘premium’ meal deal…
Items replaced during claims
What are riders claiming for? It’s not just bikes covered by Bikmo insurance. Almost 40% of claimants in 2022 claimed for components, clothing, and accessories rather than the full bike. We don’t often consider the value of our components, clothing, and accessories.
This split of claim items continues to follow the trend of previous years, almost tracking identically to 2020 and 2021 Open Project data.
Claims split between cycling disciplines
For the first time since we started collecting Open Project data, most claims did not come from road cycling. Road cycling made up 34% of claims (50% in 2021), with Commuting now making up nearly half of claims with 48% (33% in 2021).
Also, when we factor in the increase in claims for E-bikes, increasing from 10% to 16% of total claims, and that 74% of those were for E-commuter bikes, it explains the change in the majority discipline.
The consumer interest in eBikes continues to grow along with the market and our ongoing offer of a 25% price reduction on e-bike policies; it’s no surprise that they now represent 16% of all our total claims.
Month-by-month claims
As with previous years, we generally saw fewer claims at the beginning of the year. As we progressed into spring and then summer, as the weather improved and the cycling season started, we had a steady increase in claims through to October 2022, which was noticeably mild. This could also explain why the 18th of October was the date with the most claims in 2022.
Our Open Project 2023 claim expectations
The continued growth of e-bikes likely means the ratio between them and standard bikes will narrow this year.
Despite bike sales falling to their lowest in a long time, the Bicycle Association reported that Gravel bike sales grew by 8% compared to 2021 and 59% since 2019. We expect to see more claims for the adventure bike category as people opt for off-road paths.
Our claim data may evolve over time, just like the cycling landscape, but Bikmo’s unwavering commitment to protect the world’s riders and assisting them in getting back on the road following a mishap remains a constant mission.
