Short of a serious injury, most of our bike friends think the worst-ever bike day they could imagine would involve the theft of their favorite ride. Few Bikeiowa.com followers would argue this viewpoint: Bike thieves are the real enemies of the people.

When did you last think about bike insurance? Can’t remember a time? Join the crowd.

Besides being lackadaisical about bike insurance, not all of us are forthright about the value of our bikes. I’m remembering the story about a cyclist saying to a friend: “When I die, I hope my wife sells my bikes for what they’re really worth and not what I told her I bought them for.”

Until he retired a year ago, Dan McKay, former owner of McKay Insurance Agency in Knoxville, constantly thought about bikes and insurance. Dan, RAGBRAI’s first safety director, expanded his family’s independent insurance agency into a niche insurance provider for bicycling events. Under Dan’s leadership, McKay Insurance wrote policies for RAGBRAI and similar state rides, plus policies for bike and triathlon races and other events for silent sports across the country.

Now retired, Dan hasn’t lost a gram of knowledge about insurance—especially when it relates to bicycles. We recently fired off a slew of insurance questions to Dan, who owns eight bikes, including two tandems.

Do I need a rider to my homeowner’s policy or a personal-articles policy to cover my bikes?
Today, most homeowner’s carry homeowner’s insurance (HOI in insurance lingo). This policy covers loss or damage to your home and your unscheduled personal belongings—including bicycles.

You can buy HOI coverage for your home that will pay the replacement cost of your home and the contents, including your bicycles.

Adding the replacement cost coverage to your policy—after you pay the policy deductible— will pay to replace your damaged or lost property for 17 named perils on the standard homeowner’s (Form 3 or HO-3 policy). Some of the 17 named perils you will recognize include theft, fire, vandalism, falling objects, windstorm, or hail. However, collision is not covered.

The Form 5 or HO-5 coverage (a step up in coverage) includes 17 named HO-3 perils, plus all other perils except those excluded perils for personal property: flood, earthquake, nuclear explosion, wear and tear, rust, termites, vermin, and animals. And here’s one of my favorite insurance terms: inherent vice—a hidden defect that contributes to deterioration—is also excluded. HO-5 coverage includes collision—a significant difference compared to HO-3. More about that later.

Pretty simple so far. My best advice: Discuss the coverage options with your agent. Your agent is your trusted advisor. He or she should make sure your exposures to losses are covered or that you are willing to assume the risk of loss by certain perils. Also, keep in mind the policy deductible. That’s what you will pay in the event of a loss. Agents call this your “skin in the game.” A higher deductible means a lower premium, but you will have more skin in the game. Choose what you can afford to insure for yourself.

If you love bikes, my advice is to find an agent that understands your needs and the value of a bicycle. Some people consider a bicycle as a toy. This assumption will not get your bicycles properly insured. Fortunately, many agents are bicycle riders. They understand the value of the bicycle for transportation and exercise. Shop for the agent who can speak your language and who understands bicycling.

What about renter’s insurance? Are my bikes covered?
Renters can purchase renter’s insurance and get the same coverage on their personal property as a homeowner. The cost of the renter’s insurance is based on the replacement cost of your personal property (how much are your bikes worth?) and the deductible selected.

What about negligence—like my collision with another cyclist or a pedestrian?
Although each of us would be devastated to lose our prized bike, losing everything you own because of your negligence—like running over a pedestrian—would be worse. Liability insurance to protect you from your negligence is included in the renter’s policy as well as the homeowner’s policy.

We also recommend that you consider an umbrella liability policy. This will increase the amount of coverage you can get from the homeowner’s policy and automobile policy by increments of $1 million.

So that takes care of the negligence portion of a loss. Let’s say that to avoid a collision with another cyclist, you run off the trail and plow into a tree. An HO-3 policy won’t cover that damage to your bike. However, a homeowner’s policy with HO-5 coverage will cover this loss.

At what point should I speak to my insurance agent about bike coverage? For example, if there are more than three bikes in the household or the value of one bike is more than $3,000?
Your unscheduled personal property coverage should include bikes—regardless of the number or value. Keep reading to learn more about bikes you race and collectible bikes.

If you, like me, own quite a few bicycles, you should have a record of the bicycles with the serial number (usually stamped on the bottom bracket of most bikes). Also, note any upgrades made to the bicycle or accessories on your bike.

Here’s an easy solution that shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes per bike: create a folder for each bike on your computer. In that folder, include several views of your bike. Don’t forget to include accessories! Then, scan your sales receipts, create a PDF, and add that to the folder.

I enter some bike races each year. Am I still covered?
If you enter races (an organized charity ride would not count), you may need a special endorsement to your personal property coverage. Several companies will write a bicycle floater—sometimes called a personal articles policy or PAP. These floaters or PAPs usually have low deductibles. ($5 is typical. This sounds crazy, but $5 was the cost of a new tire when I was a kid. Thus, the $5 deductible was used avoid paying claims for flat tires). The floaters or PAPs cover all risks of loss including floods, but typically not earthquakes and wear and tear. So if you crash your bike, you are covered.

You should also check into a liability policy if you race. Race insurance does not cover suits brought against you by fellow competitors.

But hold on: the floater or PAP premium is up there: think 10% of the value or $500 annual premium for a $5,000 bike.

Again, your trusted insurance agent can guide you as to the specifics of the floater or PAP. Be careful here: The most common bicycle floater only covers the actual cash value of the damaged property. Actual cash value (ACV) is the cost to repair or replace, less depreciation. A bicycle typically has a 20-year depreciable life. So the ACV of your bike would decrease 5% per year. I would avoid any floater written on an ACV valuation basis.

Some insurance carriers offer an agreed value policy: You and the insurance company agree to the bike’s value. Your premium is based on the value you and your agent set.In the event of a total loss, you will receive this amount plus any applicable sales taxes. No wiggle words.

If someone rear-ends my car and destroys my bikes, does the guilty party pay damages to bikes? What if no one is found at fault—does the auto policy cover bikes on racks, too?
If the negligent party (for convenience, let’s say the motorist who rear-ends your car) has up-to-date insurance coverage, their liability coverage should compensate you for your damaged bike(s) and bike rack. Of course, you'll need to provide proof of value—that folder of images and the PDF of the sales slip will come in handy.

If you were to be so unlucky as to be rear-ended by an uninsured motorist, you might be on the hook for recovering the value of the bikes and rack. If you have the open peril or HO-5 policy, your homeowner’s policy should cover this loss by an uninsured motorist. HO-3 coverage? You’d better inquire.

There typically is a small amount of coverage on your auto policy for your personal property on the vehicle. Yes, this is another good question for your agent. If it’s any relief, Iowa has one of the nation’s lowest rates of uninsured motorists (about 10% of all drivers).

You need to check this out: If you pay for only collision coverage on your car (no liability coverage), damage to your bikes and rack may not be covered.

Mark Courter, an Urbandale cyclist, weighed in with a couple more answers regarding bikes and insurance. Mark is a State Farm insurance agent and has many cycling friends among his insured.

If my bike was stolen but not locked, am I out of luck?
Not necessarily. If your bike is stolen from your house or garage, you are covered on most policies for replacement value, less your deductible, provided you have the replacement coverage option on your home or renter’s insurance policy. If not, your claim would be settled on an actual cash value (market value) basis.

If the bike is in the yard, your coverage may work differently. Most—and that's a key word—cover theft from your yard. Most include coverage regardless if the bike is locked or not. But these are good topics to review with your agent.

If you are a renter and store your unlocked bike on an outside deck, you will want to inquire with your agent about your exposure.

In the event of a loss, what information will my agent request?
That folder of photos, a serial number, and sales receipts that Dan recommends will be important.

I don’t know of an adjustor that will not ask to see a copy of your police report, too. So don’t overlook reporting the theft of your bike(s) to the local police department.

One of my bike friends is counting on his favorite bike shop to keep track of his bike purchases and serial numbers. Fact or fantasy?
Do you really think a bike shop can find your sales receipt from five years ago? Do yourself a favor—take 10 minutes and write down the serial numbers of all your bikes. Scan or photograph the serial numbers and add the information to your digital assets (folder on your computer). And you back up files on your home computer, right?

Let’s talk classic bikes: how is the value determined? For example, Jeff Bock repainted my 1984 Schwinn Voyager last winter, and we added a little bling here and there. Okay, some nice upgrades, too. What's the replacement value, and what would I realize for replacement if the bike was stolen or a total loss?
You’d better get busy with your documentation of the restoration costs and all your upgrades.

If you are a bicycle collector (perhaps bikes you admire but don’t ride) or own an irreplaceable handmade bike, make an appointment with your insurance agent to discuss coverage. You may need a personal articles policy for those bikes—think something similar to insuring a classic car, valuable engagement ring, or coin collection.

If you’re a bike collector, get fluent with three terms: actual cash value (ACV) and agreed value (see details above), plus stated value.

Stated value can be tricky. On the surface, it sounds similar to agreed value, but it includes an escape clause. You might find some wiggle words in your policy similar to these: “In the event of theft or a total loss, we will pay the Stated Value or the Actual Cash Value, whichever is less.”

Translation: You could receive less if the insurance company finds it can replace the totaled or stolen bike with an exact same duplicate of the item that was totaled.

On the plus side, the stated value helps you control your annual premium. In exchange for a lower premium, you agree to a reimbursement cap in case of a total loss of your bike.

Carl Voss is married to Susan Voss, a former Iowa insurance commissioner. When they married 32-plus years ago, Susan suggested that Carl make all major insurance decisions. So far, not one major decision has come his way.