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 your bikes always protected, even on an indoor trainer!

Home vs “away from home”

As you can imagine, insurance always needs to be super specific. What you call ‘Home’ we call “a lockable house, garage, outbuilding or shed within the boundaries of your private dwelling.” It’s the lockable bit which is important. If you can lock it within your “Home”, Bikmo will protect it.

Not all insurers have the same requirements, so double check if your bike your policy wording if your bike is insured with your home insurance or another provider.

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.

Few also cover your bike when it’s outside of the UK – does yours? Bikmo covers away from home as standard, worldwide, 24/7 – providing it’s locked securely in line with our locking requirements.

Check out our handy locking requirements video below and our full locking requirements here

1. How to secure your bike in your home

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
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

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

From a purely practical sense, 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.

2. How to secure your 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. How to secure your bike in your shed

If storing bikes is not possible within your house or a garage, a lockable shed made of wood, metal or plastic is a great option for securing your bike. A shed made of other materials would not meet our definition of “Home” under a Bikmo policy, so additional locking requirements would need to be met.

Whilst storing bike(s) in a lockable shed is covered under a Bikmo policy, they’re generally at a higher risk compared to within a house or garage.

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.

Why cycle insurance for my bike?

It’s worth checking your home insurance policy, as it may not provide the cover you require, such as:

Maximum value – the maximum insured bike value can be as low as £500
Away from home – there’s also often an ‘abandonment clause’ that classes bikes as ‘abandoned’ after only a few hours cycling away from home
Premiums increasing – your premium will usually increase when making a claim
Excess costs – home insurance excesses can mean it’s not worth claiming for your losses
Personal accident cover – is usually not included
Indoor trainer – not all will cover your bike if you damage it while using an indoor trainer (optional with Bikmo)

Save on Bikmo’s award-winning cycle insurance

All Gralloch participants, and most competitive cycling events, require third-party liability insurance to participate.

That’s why we are offering all Gralloch participants and Red On Sports customers a 5%* discount on our award-winning cycle insurance policies.

Our PLUS policy is for riders wanting personal cover, as well as for their bikes, clothing and accessories. PLUS includes £2 million public liability. Other benefits include:

✅ Accidental damage and theft
✅ Event fee cover
✅ Personal Accident options
✅ Bike box cover, emergency hire and much more
✅ 50% saving when insuring multiple bikes, with the lowest value benefitting from the discount

We also offer a theft only policy; CLIK, that has a £2 million public liability too.

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Why Bikmo?

🚴 Tens of thousands of riders insure with Bikmo

⭐ Bikmo holds the prestigious Feefo Platinum Service Award for great service

🌎 Bikmo is a B Corp and 1% for the Planet certified, meaning we give 1% of our annual revenue back to good causes focussed on the environment.

Find out more

Hassle-free travel insurance

You can also benefit from a 10%* discount on our travel insurance policies, which cover everything you would expect from travel insurance, as well as cover options for those on escorted cycling trips and cycling above 2,500m. Benefits include:

Travel delays & cancellations
Lost baggage, passport & money
Medical treatment & hospital stays

Let us have your back, get a quote in seconds below.

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