It's a sobering truth, but one Stephen Schechter has accepted.
"At some point, if you ride, you're going to go down," Schechter said. "You can't avoid it. Hopefully, it's not going to be a major accident. But you might break your collarbone, you might get a concussion, and you might damage your bike."
Making a 100 percent recovery from an accident is the ideal scenario, but what about your ride? If nobody else is liable, is your damaged bike a lost cause?
More: How to Handle a Bike Accident With a Vehicle
Schechter doesn't think it should be. He's the president of Clipp, Inc., which offers club memberships that include basic bike insurance. While many cyclists may be covered through homeowner's or renter's insurance for bike theft, it doesn't always cover bike damage. Furthermore, not every cyclist owns a home or has renter's insurance. That's where Schechter feels Clipp can fill a void.
A $99 annual membership fee for Clipp includes:
- Safety training by LAB-certified instructors.
- Club membership in Adventure Cycling Association.
- Registration with the National Bike Registry.
- $1,000 of accident medical insurance per occurrence (after all other medical insurance has been paid).
- $1,000 of property damage insurance per occurrence (after a $500 deductible).
- $1,000 of theft insurance (after a $500 deductible).
- $25,000 accidental death coverage.
More: Your Bike Was Mangled by a Car...Now What?
If your bike is worth more than $1,000, you can up the coverage for an additional cost of $15 per extra $1,000 of coverage. A $3,000 bike, for example, would cost $129 a year.
Currently, Clipp is only offered in Texas, Oregon, California, Washington and Virginia. But it plans on aggressively growing into most of the United States soon.
The question is, what kind of cyclist would benefit most from bike-specific insurance like this?
