Insuring a older rare DH bike

[Headshot]

My insurance covers the replacement value of the bike - i.e what you'd have to pay to replace it with a similar quality new bike. I had an old but lekker Raleigh RC 6000 road bike stolen from my house shortly after the CTCT - my chip and number were still on the bike. It had Mavic wheels, 105 groupset and Ritchie post and stem. They used an independent cycle assessor and I supplied photographs, geo tagged no doubt, a SAPS case number and evidence of the theft  in the form of a broken and cut lock. The replacement value was around R32k and I got that as a payout less the excess. 

[LazyTrailRider]

4 hours ago, Dusty said:

I am not a great believer in 'self insurance', but this may be one scenario where it would work.

I was going to suggest exactly this.

[Irvin85]

3 hours ago, Skubarra said:

Not a sleight against you personally but this doesn't make sense to me from an insurance perspective.

If you paid R10K for a secondhand bike then surely its replacement value is also R10K (ie the value of a similar second hand bike?). Otherwise its an instant R20K profit for you if your bike gets stolen the day after you bought it.

Unless the R10K was a "steal" and not what the bike was actually worth

(Not that I would pretend to understand all aspects of bike insurance)

IT was a "steal" Specialized stumpjumper hardtail carbon with XT components, bought it from a friend of mine that upgraded to a dual suspension. So I insured it for replacement value and not retail value. 

Got a quote from specialized at the time for the bike for insurance purposes. and that was the amount that it was insured for. That is why I think the OP might have an issue as there is no equal replacement for the bike in question, 26er Raleigh etc. Replacement value will probably be that of a Raleigh that you buy at macro or something. 

[Help.Me.]

On 7/24/2024 at 12:25 PM, Irvin85 said:

Good luck with this, from my experience with insurance. You will have a very tough time. 

I bought a second hand bike (10k) a couple of years ago, had it insured for replacement value R30k the day before I went for a ride. Went to groenkloof and did a ride with a friend. Got back home and stored the bike in the garage. The garage was not connected to the house and only my bikes were stored there. The next weekend I wanted to go for a ride again, got dressed and when I opened the garage the bike was gone. 

The accusations from the insurance companies investigating officer was that I insured the bike after it had been stolen etc etc. was one of the worse experiences I ever had, they even threatened to do a polygraph test to determine if I was lying.  They contacted my friend and grilled him as well regarding when we rode and what I was wearing and how did the bike look etc. etc. Luckily I had the ride recorded on my watch and also managed to find the slip when paying at Groenkloof. They also refused to pay the cash out directly to me and instead paid it to a bike shop that stocked the same kind of bike. 

Seeing as it is such a old bike I highly doubt that any insurance company will agree to such a high insurance value.  

Who was the insurance  company if I may ask? 

[Irvin85]

4 hours ago, Help.Me. said:

Who was the insurance  company if I may ask? 

Santam.