Securing your bike at home

It’s important to keep your bike in a safe place, even when it’s at home. Failing to secure your bike properly could invalidate your insurance cover, so getting it right is vital.

Our cycle insurance partner Bikmo has written some handy guidelines to ensure you’re always protected.

Home vs ‘away from home’

What you call ‘home’ we call ‘a lockable house, garage, outbuilding or shed within the boundaries of your private dwelling’. Insurance needs to be super specific, it’s the lockable bit that’s important. If you can lock it, and you have a policy with Bikmo, you’re protected.

Not all insurers have the same requirements, so double check your policy if your bikes are covered under your home insurance, or you have a bike-specific policy with another insurer. 

If you’re storing your bike(s) in a location that your insurer does not class as ‘home’ then there are additional locking requirements that would need to be met in order for your policy to cover a theft.

1. How to secure your bike inside your home

When locking your bike at home, Bikmo advises to lock it to an ‘immovable object’… but what exactly is that? Examples include:

• concrete or cement floors
• metal structures
• fixed walls (not including wooden walls of outbuildings such as sheds)
• ground anchors (which, in turn, must be appropriately installed to an immovable object or structure)
• large concrete blocks.

Most cycle insurance providers don’t have any further security requirements. But there are some nifty storage solutions on the market which can add extra security for your peace of mind.

From a purely practical sense, wall-mounted systems free up floor space and often feature locking points. Plus, it’s a great way to get yourself an instant piece of wall art!. A super simple and great example of this is Hornit’s CLUG, which claims to be the world’s smallest bike storage rack. It allows you to wall-mount your bike either vertically or horizontally.

For extra security, the Cycloc Solo is a wall mount which is designed to enable you to thread a lock through the mount itself, thereby doubly securing your bike.

2. How to secure your bike in your garage

Garages are great storage spaces for many things other than cars, and bikes are no exception. Securing your bike within your lockable garage is a good way to save space in the house. In many ways, the practical methods of storing bikes in a garage are similar to those of storing them inside the house.

Wall-mounted systems and bike racks can help free up space and offer added security too.

A garage also offers the opportunity to add further security measures such as ground anchors. Any ground anchors that have a Sold Secure rating are perfect for additional protection against theft.

Check out Bikmo’s top lock recommendations from an insurer's point of view here.

3. How to secure your bike in your shed

If it’s not possible to keep your bike(s) inside your house or a garage, a lockable shed made of wood, metal or plastic is a great option for secure storage. A shed made of any other material would not meet the Bikmo definition of ‘home’, so additional locking requirements would need to be met. Again, if you don’t hold a Bikmo policy, you should check with your current provider. 

Whilst storing bike(s) in a lockable shed is covered under a Bikmo policy, they’re generally at higher risk compared to storing them inside a house or garage.

Sheds are often relatively cheap to build, easy to maintain and using one to store your bike will free up space within your other areas of the house. Similar to storing bikes within a garage, wall-mount systems and ground anchors (on a concrete floor) are perfect ways to increase security within a shed.

Check out our Best Sheds guide for a take on the best sheds, from an insurer's perspective, here.