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As a bike shop owner, you offer countless products and services to cycling enthusiasts. You either sell replacement parts or customize bicycles. You might even offer specialized services, particularly the repair and maintenance of customers’ bikes.
Regardless of your business model and the types of products and services you offer, you need to protect your business. This is where bike shop insurance comes in.
This is important because, like other small business owners, it’s your responsibility to protect your shop from unexpected events and third-party lawsuits. For example, a bike rental business you once catered to might come back and accuse you of selling defective bikes.
Also called bike repair shop, cycle shop, or bicycle shop insurance, bike shop insurance is an insurance product that consists of different business insurance policies that cover perils you might encounter while managing or starting a bike shop. With this guide, understand how the insurance works, how much it costs, and more.
There are many types of bicycle repair shop insurance that you can consider. The first is bike shop liability insurance. This specialty cycle shop insurance is a general liability insurance policy that protects your bike shop from incidents of accidental third-party property damage, advertising injury, and bodily harm.
Your cycle shop thrives on having a number of customers visiting your shop and possibly even trying out some of the bikes you have on display. Unfortunately, there’s a chance that one of these customers will get hurt. If they file a personal injury claim, the bike shop general liability insurance will help you pay for the medical expenses of the claimant. Additionally, it covers the legal expenses that will arise as a result of your business getting sued.
If a technician of your bike shop damaged the bicycle instead of fixing it and the owner decides to file a claim, you can use general liability insurance to refund the value of the damaged property. Coverage for legal expenses applies if the matter is taken to court.
Further, imagine a situation where you put up an advertisement campaign to promote your bicycle business. Suppose you unknowingly use the work of an artist who then claims copyright infringement and takes you to court. In that case, the general liability insurance will cover the legal expenses and possibly pay for the fines you’d incur.
Customers can also sue your bike shop with regards to how a service was delivered or completed. And to cover this exposure, you need to purchase professional liability insurance. This type of bike shop business insurance will cover administrative costs, attorney fees, settlements, and other legal expenses if a client files a claim because your bike shop’s employee or you yourself committed any of the following:
Professional liability insurance for bike shops is underwritten as a claims-made policy. Claims-made professional liability insurance only provides coverage if you report a covered peril within the time it happened. Any long delays in filing a claim will result in the denial of your professional liability insurance claim.
If it seems that claims-made professional liability insurance doesn’t work too well, then we recommend you look for a carrier that sells an occurrence professional liability insurance for bike shops.
An occurrence professional liability insurance, unlike its claims-made counterpart, provides coverage regardless if you decide to report a covered peril at the time it happened or long after it has happened. The only thing important is that the policy is in effect when the exposure occurred. Also, you need to know that you can even claim professional liability insurance after its terms have expired, provided that an extending reporting period has been endorsed.
For the best protection, consider having general liability insurance and professional liability insurance. These policies complement very well. By having both, you get comprehensive protection against common third-party claims.
Suppose you sell a part from your bike shop to a customer who ends up using the part in their bike only for him or her to have an accident and sustain injuries. Product liability insurance will pay for the legal fees for such lawsuits and cover the settlements on your behalf if this customer was to sue your business for selling a product with:
Note that while you can buy it as a stand-alone policy, product liability insurance is commonly sold as an optional coverage to general liability insurance.
To stay competitive in today’s business landscape, you’ve got to take your business online. Unfortunately, the online landscape is subject to data breaches, hacks, and other activities by threat actors that could lead to significant financial losses. Cyber liability insurance covers these financial losses ensuring that your business’s information and that of your customers are kept safe.
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To protect your hard work and business, you want to get commercial property insurance to cover your merchandise, equipment, and your business premises. Seeing as you are likely going to be using flammable substances for your maintenance and repair work, you will have significant peace of mind that you won’t incur losses for any unexpected damage to your commercial property.
So what does commercial property insurance specifically do for you? The primary
function of this type of business insurance is to recover your lost investments if any of the two happens:
Equipment and merchandise are also covered by commercial property insurance, provided that you include the following add-ons to its terms:
You must understand that commercial property insurance excludes the destruction or damage of your bike shop’s building, inventory, equipment, and tools as caused by earthquakes, floods, and mudslides.
Also, commercial property insurance is sold as a replacement cost policy or actual cash value policy. A replacement cost commercial property insurance will refund losses based on a covered property’s original value. On the other hand, its actual cash value counterpart will recover losses based on the depreciated value of a covered property.
Consider a scenario where your bicycle shop’s employees sustain injuries or diseases because of lifting heavy objects, continuous exposure to chemicals, or poor workplace environment.
In such a situation, your business needs to provide compensation. And to avoid using business funds, it’s smart to get workers’ compensation insurance. Workers’ compensation insurance takes care of the following:
Understand that workers’ compensation insurance is a requirement if your bike shop formally employs one or more people. Failure to get insurance will result in hefty penalties or fines, particularly:
You need to know that workers’ compensation insurance is one of the most expensive business insurance. Of course, we know you want to save on costs. One way to do so is to get workers comp insurance as a pay-as-you-go policy.
The standard workers’ compensation insurance calculates premiums based on your business’s annual projected payroll. The drawback with this is that rates are not very accurate and too expensive. Pay-as-you-go workers’ compensation insurance solves this problem. It calculates your rates based on the monthly average payroll of your bike shop.
A policy that’s sometimes confused with workers’ compensation insurance is personal accident insurance. But note that this business insurance only covers the medical expenses or funeral costs of an employee that sustained an injury due to an accident in your bike shop. It’s a good idea to get personal accident insurance even though you already have workers comp.
Bike shops are extremely susceptible to crime, seeing as bikes are often targeted by thieves as they often attract attractive resale values. Moreover, you might end up with employees who occasionally take a few bills from the cash register. Having commercial crime insurance protects your bike shop from said theft, burglary, and other crimes committed both by your employees and third parties.
Does your bike shop own a vehicle used for delivering repaired bikes to clients or other business purposes? In this case, consider getting commercial auto insurance. Commercial auto insurance is a policy comprising different coverages that caters to the perils associated with using a commercial vehicle. Your bike shop commercial auto insurance will have:
Does your bike shop admit bikes of clients that take a considerable amount of time to service? If this is the case, then think about how problematic things can get if such bikes become damaged or destroyed while in your custody due to theft, fire, or vandalism. To protect yourself against losses, consider buying garage keepers insurance.
Garage keepers insurance is a specialty insurance product made for bike shops, car repair businesses, boat repair businesses, and more. In practice, this insurance will refund aggrieved parties whose bikes got damaged under your custody.
Suppose there’s extreme weather and part of your property is damaged. You might be required to close up shop for some time to repair said damages. Having business interruption insurance will help in such a situation. In practice, what this insurance does is provide the money you can use to cover operational costs such as taxes, loans, bills, and mortgage while business revenue isn’t generated.
Suppose you want to combine your general liability, commercial property, and business interruption policies into a single cover. A convenient option is a business owner’s policy (BOP) which not only aggregates these but also ensures that your premiums are significantly cheaper.
But note that your business owner’s policy might work differently. While a BOP commonly combines business interruption insurance, general liability insurance, and commercial property insurance, it’s also possible for you to find a BOP that includes the other business insurance policies we discussed here.
Bike rental shop insurance is a specialty coverage useful if your shop is providing bike rental services. Common inclusions are general liability insurance and equipment insurance. General liability insurance will cover costs if renters sustain injuries or property damage due to a rented bike. On the other hand, equipment insurance will recoup lost investments if renters damage or destroy the bikes of your business.
The cost of your bike shop insurance policy will depend entirely on your needs. Fortunately, a lot of the insurance providers with this specialty policy are flexible enough to adapt their premiums to fit your bike business requirements as well as your budget.
On average, a $1 million general liability insurance for bicycle shops will cost $33.56 per month or $402.72 per year. But note that this is just an estimate. Your actual rate will be cheaper or more expensive depending on revenues, number of employees, claims history, business history, and location.
Here’s a breakdown of the bike shop insurance cost from the best insurance companies in the market today.
Company | Cost per Month | Cost per Year | Best for |
---|---|---|---|
Thimble | $17 | $204 | Short-term business insurance for bike shops |
NEXT | $25 | $300 | All-digital approach to bike shop insurance management |
CoverWallet | $27.41 | $328.92 | Bike shop insurance online quotes comparison |
Tivly | $30 | $360 | Highly tailored coverage for bike shops |
Chubb | Get in touch with Chubb for custom quotes | Get in touch with Chubb for custom quotes | Broad protection for commercial property and liability exposure |
Consider comparing quotes to get a better idea of your actual rates. Start here by clicking the “Get Quotes” button.
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If you are looking for a great bike shop insurance policy, then these best bike shop insurance companies will catch your eye. These companies offer excellent, comprehensive insurance policies for small, medium-sized, and large bike shops. Here’s a brief review of each, including their pros, cons, and pricing for a $1 million general liability insurance policy.
CoveWallet doesn’t sell bike shop insurance. However, it can help you find carriers that sell the coverage. All that you have to do is access the company’s online quotes comparison platform and provide some basic business information. After that, CoverWallet will then show you the offers and pricing of different carriers.
Also, you can get covered through CoverWallet’s equipment repair and maintenance insurance plan. This consists of the different business insurance policies sold by the partners of CoverWallet such as Hiscox, CNA, Liberty Mutual, etc.
Best for: Bike shop insurance quotes comparison online
Average cost: $27.41 per month
Our rating: 9/10
NEXT insurance offers bike shops general liability, commercial auto, workers’ compensation, and commercial property insurance. If you are a policyholder, the claims process works straightforwardly. All you have to do is log into your account on the insurer’s official website and click on the ‘File a Claim’ tab under the ‘About Us’ tab. Thereafter, you will receive a call from an agent to discuss the claim.
Suppose you do not have a policy with NEXT, and you are filing the claim against a policyholder. You will similarly need to visit the insurer’s official website and select ‘Help Center’ under the ‘Support’ tab. Under the ‘Quick Actions for Customers’ tab, click on ‘Not a policyholder and want to file a claim.’
Consider a situation where you cannot access the online customer portal, or you prefer talking to an agent. You can access their official contact number and call the insurer as the need arises.
If you want to get your certificate of insurance, the latter is available 24/7 from a computer or mobile device. NEXT ensures that a customer has unlimited certificates and that they can add as many insureds as they need to the bike shop policy for free. Bike shop insurance starts from $25 per month and $300 per year.
Best for: All-digital approach to bike shop insurance management
Average cost: $25 per month
Our rating: 9/10
Tivly’s (formerly CommercialInsurance.NET) bike shop insurance offers general liability, professional liability, and other business insurance products you’ll find very useful. The company tailors the coverage to your needs by allowing you to choose what policies to avail from your bike shop insurance plan.
Call Tivly now to compare quotes over the phone.
Best for: Highly tailored coverage for bike shops
Average cost: $30 per month
Our rating: 8/10
Thimble, established in 2016, started out as a drone insurance company. Since then, it’s expanded its business to include specialty products such as the bike business policy. Bike businesses get the option of general liability coverage, business equipment insurance, BOP coverage, workers’ compensation insurance, and commercial property insurance.
Thimble’s general liability insurance for bike shops starts at $17 per month and $204 per year. The business equipment protection insurance costs $6 per month and $72 per year. Getting a custom quote is relatively easy. You can request the quote online from their website or the official application.
Best for: Short-term business insurance for bike shops
Average cost: $17 per month
Our rating: 8/10
Chubb is one of the largest insurance companies in the United States. Due to its size, the insurer is able to absorb claim payouts of whatever size making it more than just a boutique agency. When you buy their business insurance policy, you will be buying the cover directly from the insurance company.
This means that you will be working with the same sales rep throughout your purchase process. The BOP offers an excellent foundation for your insurance portfolio upon which you can add on policies as the need arises.
If your business brings in less than $30 million, which means you fall under the small businesses category, Chubb is the insurer for you. Chubb doesn’t publish the average insurance costs for bike businesses. The only way you can get the cost estimates is by providing detailed information about your bike business, and they will get in touch with a quote.
Best for: Broad protection for commercial property and liability exposure
Average cost: Get in touch with Chubb for custom quotes
Our rating: 8/10
For me this company has proven to be the best to do business with and worth my hard earned money. Contractors this is your company look no further.
Decent experience with Hiscox business insurance
Good company. Good and knowledgable customer service. If they don't know something they will pass you on to a more experienced rep that is more knowledgable. So far so good.
Best insurance ever
Coolest concept, I wish this was applied to other insurance products too.
Fastest ever online insurance quote and purchase! Also, great rates and professional customer reps that helps with whatever you need, if you need. Nice company!
Embroker sells a product that it doesn't honor. We purchased a combination D&O and EPLI policy. However, when it came to renewal, it told us that we only had D&O coverage even through our ACCORD certificate clearly mentions we have both. Basically they refused to honor the EPLI coverage and will leave you hanging with the bag. At time of renewal, they more than doubled our quote to get similar coverage. Basically BAIT & SWITCH. Unacceptable tactics. Easy to buy and pay but you may not be... Read More
Great platform. Terrible policy. There is no teeth behind it. No coverage. It's a fake policy that they sell. Sold us an EPLI policy that later we came to find out had no EPLI coverage. Amazing that they can get away with outright fraud. Check the positive reviews. They are all 'Anonymous' posted by Emroker staff. Stay away and find a real policy that will actually provide you coverage. We've been bitten by them and hope to find restitution via a lawsuit.
Paul Burns Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
It has been 70 days since I made a claim on the roof of my building. No one from the company will return calls. We are in hurricane season and located in Louisiana. My building is tarped to secure it.
Felicia Broadus Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
They are the worst, my truck was hit in January 23 and the claim adjuster has not been out to this very day! They have every excuse in the book as to why. They have not been to the collision shop. PLEASE AVOID THESE SCAM ARTIST!
Felicia Broadus Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
Avoid these SCAM ARTISTS! They don’t pay claims!!! Save yourself the trouble and money!
Kasey Arey Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
This company gives you a price that was in place for a year and when you have to use it there is fine print were they can go back and charge you more. Would not recommend them to any one. Crooks
John Murphy Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
Worst insurance comapny I have ever dealt with. A commercial vehicle represented by GUARD t boned my wife and daughters family vehicle in the middle of the day. Driver was cited and insurance claim insued. Fast forward 4 months and refusal of full amount of claim is still happening. Driver was found guilty, repairs started on my vehicle and when it comes to the final bill and diminished value we cannot get any help. I am out a family car, have an injured and traumatized wife and children,... Read More
Harshadray Patel Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
Extremely bad service, when you call , will make you wait on the phone for ever (over an Hour) and still no one to answer , so you end up hanging up. To cancel the policy, bounce you from one department to the other. They are supposed to refund from the date other insurance started and after sending the proof of other insurance policy, still they did not refund based on that actual date instead they use the date i managed to get hold of them. They charged me $7000.00 for a year's insurance on... Read More
Aaron Wensel Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
Guard Insurance is terrible. They were so bad I cancelled them because them couldn't figure out why I would never get a paper copy of the bill . Verified my address with them and still intermittent billing. I cancelled them in March through my local broker. Today 6/27 I get a letter in the mail from a collections company saying I owe 87.97. This was the first myself or my broker heard of owing this money. Here is some advice for this failure of a company send me a god damn bill and I will pay.... Read More
Michael Swink Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
My employer had to have workers compensation by law. He obtained a policy through this Berkshire Hathaway GUARD and they failed me. I fell from a ladder and fractured my spine in 7 different places, my clavicle in 4 places, and the base of my skull. Going to my Dr visits I was prescribed medication for pain and the insurance company placed a pre-authorization hold on me picking up the medication from Walgreens. The hold lasted 5 days! My weekly benefits have never been on time, right now... Read More
Liberty Mutual is one of the more simple companies to deal with. I had to file a claim for my business owner policy after I caught one of my employees stealing a large amount of products from my business. Liberty mutual paid the claim fast and with no efforts. I wish the legal process was as easy…
For me this company has proven to be the best to do business with and worth my hard earned money. Contractors this is your company look no further.
Decent experience with Hiscox business insurance
Very pleased with Hiscox - their small business insurance rates are very good and they specialize in small business which gives me a peace of mind as a small business owner. So far so good!
Their customer service is absolutely fantastic. Very patient, knowledgable and provided excellent explanation of the purchased policy. I would highly recommend this insurance company to anyone that's looking to protect their business from unexpected expense. Thank you Hiscox for doing a great job for my business!
STAY AWAY! I wouldn't recommend hiscox small business liability insurance to anyone. Better not waste both your money and your time. Hiscox customer service is extremely unpleasant, not organized and not professional. It is the worst company we have dealt with in almost 25 years in business!
Good company. Good and knowledgable customer service. If they don't know something they will pass you on to a more experienced rep that is more knowledgable. So far so good.
Extremely fast and simple. Wasted a lot of time and money until I found these guys! I feel like my business is in good hands now.
Hiscox's the best! My business is insured with them for over 12 years and am not planning to switch!
Excellent experience with Hiscox BOP for my coffee shop. They provided all it needed.
My HI barbershop is well covered with their great BOP product for 5 years already! not planning to switch!
Best insurance ever
Coolest concept, I wish this was applied to other insurance products too.
Great experience
Didn't relate to the concept much, but it makes sense if you need insurance to go
It doesn't really feel sustainable to me and doesn't offer business interruption, product liability and commercial property insurance. They have no local agents and despite their technology first approach you cannot file claims online. Additionally, product manufacturers are not covered by Thimble and they don't provide enterprise solutions.
As a contractor that works 3 times a week for a few hours, Thimble gets really handy for me and saves me money. I have no use for these massive business insurance coverages offered by traditional insurance companies.
Excellent concept which is useful to many small businesses!
Been waiting for this type of solution for a long time!
Love their business insurance solutions for freelancers! Great app!
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