Damaged Bike, Claimed For, but Now Stolen..

[jcwacky]

In January this year my mountain bike got severely damaged, there was a large dent in the frame and my local bike shop said it was no longer safe to ride off road. So I claimed on my contents insurance, and the insurer sent me a cheque for the full value of the bike, I used this to purchase a new bike.

The insurance company did not ask for the damaged bike back, so I was going to break it up and sell some of the parts, as it had some pretty decent disc brakes which had nothing wrong with them.

However, the old, damaged bike has just been stolen.

I've reported it to the police, but I was just wondering whether it's worth reporting this to my insurance company? As presumably it's not possible to claim on the same bike twice!? What are they likely to say/do?

 

[Josh]

If they've already paid you for the bike, they're not going to pay for it again. The exception to that would be if they repaired the bike, but if they gave you the full value of the bike, then they shouldn't pay the claim again. Might they? Sure, but if they know they already paid for the bike they're not going to pay for it twice. It's the same thing with car insurance, if you get your car damaged, don't get it repaired, and then it's damaged again in the same spot, they're not liable for the original damage if they've already paid to have it repaired.

 

[jcwacky]

Thanks, that's what I presumed. Is there any risk in them asking for money or anything from me though? As are they not the legal owners of the damaged bike now?

 

[NCAgent]

Thanks, that's what I presumed. Is there any risk in them asking for money or anything from me though? As are they not the legal owners of the damaged bike now?

They are legal owners if you signed a document giving them possession of the bike. You can settle a claim two ways for auto: give them the car and junk it out and get more money in the claim, or keep the junk and get paid less since they cannot junk out the car. The fact that they let you keep it leads me to believe that it belongs to you.

 

[jcwacky]

Yep, they didn't mention anything at all about returning or destroying my old bike when they paid me it's full value so I could replace it.

So, I suppose I just want to check, is there any harm in me reporting it stolen to the insurance company and not telling them I've already claimed for that bike (unless they ask)?

 

[Insurance-Guy]

No way I would think about filing a 2nd claim like that. First off how much is the damaged bike even worth- minus deductible? (How big is this claim) sounds like a small, small claim that wouldn't even be worth reporting. Secondly by you saying (unless they ask) sounds like you may try to get the full value of the bike again which makes you greedy! Insurance is to put you back where you were before the claim not in a better position.

 

[djs]

When you report it again, it will take them maybe 15 seconds to know they already paid for the bike and deny the claim and then set your policy up for cancellation.

Don't do it.

Why would someone steal a bike that was worthless and unsafe to ride?

Dan

 

[Josh]

Why would someone steal a bike that was worthless and unsafe to ride?

Scrap metal prices are pretty high these days.

Or, maybe they were going to fix it up and give it to someone disadvantaged.

 

[NCAgent]

Or, maybe they were going to fix it up and give it to someone disadvantaged.

I know when I try and do nice things for people, I steal from the fortunate to give to the disadvantaged.

Isn't that what we're doing with insurance???