Never has there been so much excitement and buzz in the bike sector as there is around the potential e-bikes have in getting more people on two wheels.

Whether you want to explore your local roads or trails further, arrive on your daily commute without a sweat, or keep up with your partner who trains like a whippet, an e-bike can be a solution to many of these challenges.

likes data to make decisions and to enable us to build the best policy for e-bike riders, we knew we needed to ask some questions to the right people. 3,000 respondents later, across Germany, Austria, United Kingdom and Ireland, here are some insights that enabled us to give British Cycling members an incredible 25% reduction on our pricing for e-bike insurance.

1. E-bike owners are 38% lower risk than a non-electric bike owner

Before starting this research we had some hunches as to what the data may tell us and this statistic was the most satisfying to guess right. This data relates to the number of incidents reported by respondents compared to sample claims data on over 15,000 of our existing customers.

Why? We believe this is down to a number of factors including the type of use of an e-bike and the demographic being more risk averse.

Using our findings, we’ve managed to secure a 25% lower premium for e-bikes over regular non-electric bikes. British Cycling bike insurance by Bikmo, still covers all of your bikes under one policy but you’ll save 25% on those that are electric (subject to the minimum premium). Get a quote here.

2. You are over 5x more likely to claim for accidental damage than theft

It’s not surprising that riders are most worried about their bike(s) getting stolen, after all, you can’t ride if you don’t have a bike. However, as an e-bike rider, you are over 5 times more likely to make a claim for accidental damage than theft - and the cost of damage can extend to almost the full price of a new bike. Over 20% of respondents who had an incident also reported an injury.

3. 40% of e-bike owners are not insured

This one surprised us given the average price of an e-bike in the UK exceeds £2,000.

45% of respondents also reported they cover their e-bikes on their home insurance policy but we recommend checking your policy to see if accidental damage, being the biggest cause of an incident as per the statistic above, is actually covered under your home policy as many don’t. There are also often other restrictions, such as a limit on the values insured or no cover away from home.

4. 90% of e-bike owners own another bike

Which means for the vast majority of e-bikers, it ain’t their first rodeo. Although e-bikes are bringing more people from cars to bikes, and some who have never previously owned a bike, for most of us it’s an evolution of our riding, enabling us to go further with less effort, and arguably have more fun.

5. 33% of e-bikes are used for commuting and we think this is going to increase.

It’s perhaps no surprise that a key use for electric bikes is the ability to get from your home to the office without breaking a sweat, avoiding traffic and improving health at the same time. Our prediction is that this will increase significantly post-lockdown as commuters move away from congested public transport and choose greener means of transport.

We also have no idea what the 2% ‘Other’ use is for!

6. 55% of e-bikes are less than a year old

Which means the rate at which riders are switching to, or adding an e-bike to their collection, is happening faster than ever and there’s no sign of it stopping. The European Cyclists Federation (ECF) predicted in 2019 that over 100 million extra e-bikes would be sold in Europe before 2030 and we think they’re right. Have you bought yours yet?

Award-winning bike insurance by Bikmo, covers your bikes and kit against theft, accidental damage and more. As a British Cycling member, you receive exclusive pricing on your bike insurance, and now 25% reduction on e-bikes too.