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Am I being conned by my bike insurance company?


Saudiq

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Noob question - how would chain suck make a hole in a frame? I can understand scratching but it must be some vicious chain suck to break your frame? 

Was also thinking the same thing while reading the forum.

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Insurance is there to cover you for accidental damage and or theft, and not normal wear and tear.  But I would imagine an assessment should at least be done to determine the cause.

Assessment was done and comments were 'Damage May have been caused by chain suck' No definitive answer, no comments that this was as a result of wear and tear.

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Personally, I'd suggest people just stick to the truth.

Not exactly what I suggested. In light of the rest of my post, I questioned the bike shops' knowledge as to the exact cause of damage.

Chain suck seems very arbitrary - of course all this is speculation and we still haven't seen a photo of the damage. In which case I would take the bike to another shop/expert and have them assess it. If chain suck damage is a regular occurrence with similar patterns then by deduction it would seem legit. But one should not necessarily rule out other causes, like a rock strike or whatever if it can't be conclusively proved that it indeed was chain suck. I don't recall the OP either stating such a specific event.

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Noob question - how would chain suck make a hole in a frame? I can understand scratching but it must be some vicious chain suck to break your frame? 

Not entirely sure (I may be somewhat mechanically capable) however to give context, I'm 88kg and I was jump standing big gear intervals and I was doing around 800 - 900 watts, then switched to small blade when chain drop and basically got jammed in between frame and crank. Took substantial force to get the crank loose. This may have been what caused the damage

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Not exactly what I suggested. In light of the rest of my post, I questioned the bike shops' knowledge as to the exact cause of damage.

Chain suck seems very arbitrary - of course all this is speculation and we still haven't seen a photo of the damage. In which case I would take the bike to another shop/expert and have them assess it. If chain suck damage is a regular occurrence with similar patterns then by deduction it would seem legit. But one should not necessarily rule out other causes, like a rock strike or whatever if it can't be conclusively proved that it indeed was chain suck. I don't recall the OP either stating such a specific event.

The OP has made life difficult for him here by submitting a report to the insurance that is vague as to the cause of damage (and the bike shop should know better). Now the onus is on him to prove that it was not chain suck but a specific event, which is very difficult to prove.

 

As some have mentioned, the lack of photos showing the damage makes it very difficult to make a meaningful comment on this particular incident.

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Not entirely sure (I may be somewhat mechanically capable) however to give context, I'm 88kg and I was jump standing big gear intervals and I was doing around 800 - 900 watts, then switched to small blade when chain drop and basically got jammed in between frame and crank. Took substantial force to get the crank loose. This may have been what caused the damage

With no definitive cause as you've stated I think you will have a difficult time making a case for insurance. As many have pointed out, the cause is the key criteria the insurance use to evaluate the claim.
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On T'c & C's - for anyone using "Specific" CYCLEinSURancE have a look at the requirements for securing your bike to a rack (be it on a car or a trailer) ... a 12mm chain ..... yip- it will be heavier than your bike and capable of doing damage whilst placing and removing .... just make sure you remove it before travelling - vibration will destroy your frame/rims.  

There's an option of a 12mm cable but it must have an integrated lock.

Otherwise , only lock the bikes once you stop driving , then there won't be any damage due to rubbing of the chain on frames .

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I don't think anyone is trying to commit insurance fraud here, I hope. But if you have a fall which damages the frame, don't report it as, one day I looked down at my frame and it was cracked.

 

You need to say, when I was trying to mimic Chris Froome on the down tube I ploughed into a field, hence the issue.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

definitely not trying to commit insurance fraud, hence why I've left the insurer name out of the post and why I'm asking the question. If this is valid for them to dispute then fair enough, I'll leave it as is

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This whole chain suck thing is just dumb. If you were my client, the description of the claim would have been a stone or rock damaged frame as a result of a fall. Simple description and you would get paid immediately. 

 

Moral of the story. Always use a broker.

 

I must have posted that line 20 times already.

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This whole chain suck thing is just dumb. If you were my client, the description of the claim would have been a stone or rock damaged frame as a result of a fall. Simple description and you would get paid immediately. 

 

Moral of the story. Always use a broker.

 

I must have posted that line 20 times already.

 

definitely not trying to commit insurance fraud, hence why I've left the insurer name out of the post and why I'm asking the question. If this is valid for them to dispute then fair enough, I'll leave it as is

You have no case to stand on unfortunately. Your description of the incident is not good enough for a claim.

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Not entirely sure (I may be somewhat mechanically capable) however to give context, I'm 88kg and I was jump standing big gear intervals and I was doing around 800 - 900 watts, then switched to small blade when chain drop and basically got jammed in between frame and crank. Took substantial force to get the crank loose. This may have been what caused the damage

 

If I do a very wet Mtb race and all my components need replacing afterwards I would not think to claim from my insurance, similarly if I grind up a steep climb and my chain breaks and rips off my RD. My view is that this is wear and tear. I snapped a saddle in half a few weeks ago (landed very hard with my butt on the saddle and heard a "pop"). R2 200 later and I'm off again, but I may never have kids again if I keep on popping saddles like that. (Yes, it did hurt!).

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Not entirely sure (I may be somewhat mechanically capable) however to give context, I'm 88kg and I was jump standing big gear intervals and I was doing around 800 - 900 watts, then switched to small blade when chain drop and basically got jammed in between frame and crank. Took substantial force to get the crank loose. This may have been what caused the damage

Well if this is the scenario, then i.m.o. you have a valid claim. Perhaps a more detailed report from the LBS (or two) and perhaps the bike manufacturer that explains how the dropped chain can cause the hole/ damage, will help a lot in proving your claim. They can also explains that chains do drop irrespective of the condition of the bike and/or how often/ well it is maintained/ serviced.  In 2011 TDF Andy Schleck's chain didn't dropped due to wear & tear or poor maintenance.

 

As also mentioned in my previous post, if the insurer claims that the damage is due to wear & tear, the onus is on them to proof it. If they haven't assessed the bike as you state in the OP, then I'm curious how they can repudiate the claim.

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This whole chain suck thing is just dumb. If you were my client, the description of the claim would have been a stone or rock damaged frame as a result of a fall. Simple description and you would get paid immediately. 

 

Moral of the story. Always use a broker.

 

I must have posted that line 20 times already.

 

So lying is okay? 

 

Aye, some people... :thumbdown:

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Well if this is the scenario, then i.m.o. you have a valid claim. Perhaps a more detailed report from the LBS (or two) and perhaps the bike manufacturer that explains how the dropped chain can cause the hole/ damage, will help a lot in proving your claim. They can also explains that chains do drop irrespective of the condition of the bike and/or how often/ well it is maintained/ serviced. In 2011 TDF Andy Schleck's chain didn't dropped due to wear & tear or poor maintenance.

 

As also mentioned in my previous post, if the insurer claims that the damage is due to wear & tear, the onus is on them to proof it. If they haven't assessed the bike as you state in the OP, then I'm curious how they can repudiate the claim.

As the OP stated, it MAY have been chainsuck. In my experience, the first question the insurance asks is what happened to cause the damage. If the response is essentially "I'm not sure, but I think it may have been..." I don't know of any insurer that would process that claim.
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