Liability Insurance

[rmwesley]

I'm 100% sure I'm not alone on the forum in servicing bikes and building wheels for friends and family. I've never really given any thought to a "what if something goes wrong" scenario.... until last week.

A couple of months ago, a friend asked if I could fix a creaky bottom bracket on a bike he was using indoors on a turbo trainer. Which I did, in addition to a complete deep-clean on the drivetrain since the shifting was all over the place. Both problems completely resolved, I returned the bike & it went back on the turbo trainer for the intervening few months.

It came off the turbo last weekend and he used it out on the road. Got a call from him on Monday to say the brakes didn't work and he'd shot off the end of his drive into the road. I'll point out I've known him 20+ years and it was a completely non-aggressive, no-blame intended call. Due to the time gap & the fact I've worked on a lot of other stuff since then, I couldn't immediately remember exactly what I'd done on the bike. Luckily I do take notes & pictures though, so was able to figure out he didn't ask me to look at the brakes, neither did I touch them or do anything to them. He got confused, since I also did a full service on another of his bikes which did involve me bleeding and tuning the brakes, putting in new pads etc.

So, to cut a long story short, does anyone invest in liability insurance for this type of reason? You could justify it as a cost of doing a hobby I guess? e.g. if you play golf (god forbid) you probably spend a fortune on petrol driving to the course & back. It's nothing to do with golf, but just a necessary expense of playing.

If anyone does have insurance, can they recommend any companies? Thanks

P.S. I'm not going to stop doing these jobs for friends. Enjoy it too much

 

[novocaine]

No. I invest in mates who help work on their bikes, so there is no liability implied or sought in the event of something going wrong, they are as implicit in the work as me and take their beans as they get dealt. If some asks me to do something for them and they arent going to help, they can take it to the shop instead, even the lady who i service a bike for once a year will sit and watch and ask and try instead of leaving me to it. She's pretty good at gear setup these days, can swap a tyre and change a chain on her own and has swap pads but is still nervous about them. It's not a skill set she had, but it is now and she's awesome for it.

3rd party liability for this would have to be as a business and incur a whopping rate. If its needed then its time to give up playing with bikes for others, because we are doomed.

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

I stopped doing favours for exactly that reason.

 

[Russell]

Contact the CTC or whatever they call themselves these days. They can put you in touch with specialist insurers who can assist.

Personally, I only work with close friends and family and as others, I tend to show rather than do.

 

[greencat]

I think the OP's friend has embarrassed themselves by placing the phone call. I can't think of anytime I haven't given my brakes a quick squeeze between getting it out of the shed, and setting off (it would not be the first time I've found something has changed with the bike eg got knocked in the shed). Taking a bike of a turbo should lead to a checking over of all functionality gears, brakes, wheels secure/spinning freely etc. The conversation smacks of entitlement however the sentiment was expressed. You (presumably) didn't charge them, no contract implied, guarantee etc. Said friend would not get another (free or otherwise) service again.

 

[jonnyboy666]

i have a shop, i have liability insurance obviously, basically if you charge then you should have it. it's more about protecting yourself from someone suing you

 

[novocaine]

i have a shop, i have liability insurance obviously, basically if you charge then you should have it. it's more about protecting yourself from someone suing you

100% agreed, if you charge for it, you need to be protected, hell of you do it for free but its a complete stranger you should have it (I'm still going to stop and ask if you are OK at the side of the road though). Having it for doing a favour for a mate though is a worrying road to tread in my old age view.

 

[rmwesley]

100% agreed, if you charge for it, you need to be protected, hell of you do it for free but its a complete stranger you should have it (I'm still going to stop and ask if you are OK at the side of the road though). Having it for doing a favour for a mate though is a worrying road to tread in my old age view.

Completely agree with this sentiment also, however, depending on the cost it could be justifiable from a peace of mind perspective. I suspect it probably isn’t cheap though.

 

[fettler]

My public liability insurance is usually about £400 a year for up to I think £12,000,000 of cover. Bear in mind even if you took out a policy then enquiries would be made about your competence to complete the job, any qualifications or courses taken? Records kept of jobs detailing work carried out/ omitted. Any payments made into back pockets would be untraceable and IR would become interested.
I do some bike jobs for a very limited friends and family and never charge but I've told my nephew not to touch any ones bike. Tell them to buy their own tools/ learn online or take it to a bike shop.
Just another cost that makes shops charge what they do.

 

[rmwesley]

My public liability insurance is usually about £400 a year for up to I think £12,000,000 of cover. Bear in mind even if you took out a policy then enquiries would be made about your competence to complete the job, any qualifications or courses taken? Records kept of jobs detailing work carried out/ omitted. Any payments made into back pockets would be untraceable and IR would become interested.
I do some bike jobs for a very limited friends and family and never charge but I've told my nephew not to touch any ones bike. Tell them to buy their own tools/ learn online or take it to a bike shop.
Just another cost that makes shops charge what they do.

Great info thanks, just what I was looking for. Also a good point about actually getting the cover itself. Merely requesting cover might raise more problems than it solves. I think I have my answer