BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Four weeks free insurance is being offered to customers through retailers working with bike insurer cycleplan.
The free of charge promo can be offered to customers who purchase a bike or accessories, so long as the retailer is a cycleplan Retail Partner. Shops earn commission for the lifetime of the policy and POS backup, including leaflets, window stickers, bike swing tags, etc all come supplied.
Find out more detail on the Retail Partner Programme at www.cycleplan.co.uk/partner
In the meantime, here’s an interview with cycleplan managing director John Woosey, explaining the cycleplan offering in more detail, as well as the cycle insurance world in general…
How has cycleplan’s first year in business been?
As a company, we’ve worked in sport insurance for 17 years and the take up of cycling insurance is unprecedented. We’ve certainly exceeded expectations and I think there are three main reasons for this: One, we spent a lot of time and effort researching the market and we think our insurance product hits the nail on the head. Secondly, due to the rise in popularity of cycling and, three, the increased amount cyclists are spending on their bikes and accessories. But we know we’ve just scratched the surface as the majority of cyclists still don’t have specialist cycling insurance.
Are most new bike purchases accompanied by bike insurance policies?
No, most cyclists aren’t taking out specialist insurance. That’s because there’s an assumption they are covered by their home insurance and that’s often not the case. Yet, with one bike a minute being stolen in the UK it makes sense to take out a policy. It’s not just the bikes themselves that need cover, but also accessories. Cyclists are investing more and more into equipment, which can be costly to replace if they are damaged or broken in an incident or stolen. In addition to protecting the bike and accessories, cyclists can insure themselves. Sadly, in 2013 serious bike related casualties had risen to nearly 19,500 per year. By taking out cover cyclists who unfortunately get injured or cause an accident can get assistance at this difficult time. It’s often only when the worst happens, people realise they should have been insured.
What are the benefits of signing up to Cycleplan for consumers?
For first time customers, there’s a 20 per cent year one introductory discount. We also offer the same premium for different types of bikes, road, mountain, electric and so on – we don’t discriminate. Plus we can put more than one bike on a policy and accessories as well. Feedback from customers tells us that a key feature they like about cycleplan is that they can personalise their cycle insurance by building a tailor-made policy online that meets their needs exactly.
How does cycleplan work with bike shops?
We work with bike shops by listening to what they want. One of our key messages is that ‘we sell the insurance’ ‘leaving you to sell the bikes’. It is our marketing strategy that helps the bike shop win the business, especially with promotions such as four weeks free insurance, which can be offered to customers who purchase a bike or accessory. We think we offer unprecedented marketing support for our retail partners and of course we also offer an attractive commission rate. This runs from the first year and right through the duration of the policy. So each year the customer renews the retailer receives commission providing the partner agreement is still in place.
If a claim is made, can customers use their local bike shop?
With each new retail partner of Cycleplan we continue to grow our preferred suppliers list for repair and of course replacement. We like to give the policy holder the option of replacing the bike from where they originally purchased the bike from. The average turnaround is just 3-5 days.
How can retail get in touch?
Best to speak to Steve Lewis, our business development manager, on 0161 902 2696, or email steve.lewis@thejrwgroup.co.uk . We’ll both be at the BikeBiz Awards on September 24th and we’d be more than happy to chat on the night or the following day at the Trade Day of the Cycle Show event at the NEC.
