Fine print, big impact: make sure your lease bicycle is well locked
Locking your lease bicycle so you're in order with the terms and conditions and fine print? We figured out what you need to do. And the result? Correctly locking your lease bicycle is essential if you want it to be protected by your Bicycle Care Theft.
So, high time to find out what exactly you need to do. And maybe even why you need to. Because it's always easier to do something when you know what might happen if you don't do it. Right?
What is Bicycle Care Theft?
With Bicycle Care Theft, your lease bicycle is protected if it gets stolen. That means you don't have to pay for the cost of your lease bicycle yourself if someone makes off with it. Of course, you have to meet several conditions to benefit from the Bicycle Care Theft cover. Which conditions? Well, we'll tell you that right away.
The conditions for anchoring
There are several conditions you should keep in mind when locking your lease bicycle. At least, if you don't want to pay for the cost yourself if your lease bicycle is stolen. And we assume you'd rather not.
Condition 1: choose the right lock
Lease a lock with one of these security classes along with your lease bicycle:
- ART-2 type U
- Sold Secure Diamond (sounds fancy, right?)
- Security level 10
Feel free to ask your bicycle dealer for tips. And don't worry, our experts always double check that the right lock is on your quote.
Here are some of the locks our cyclists often choose:
- Folding lock: Abus Bordo 6500
- Chain lock: AXA Absolute 9
- Ring lock + plug-in chain: AXA Victory + AXA ULC
- U-shape lock: Kryptonite Evolution
Condition 2: use your lock
You have the right lock on your quote? Great! Now don't let it gather dust in a drawer at home, but actually use it. Everywhere. Unless you put your lease bicycle in a locked room that only you (and your roommates, of course) have access to. Then it's enough to lock your lease bicycle (with your external lock), and you don't need to anchor it.
Condition 3: Secure your lease bicycle to a fixed object
Has someone stolen your lease bicycle? Then our case manager will ask what your lease bicycle was secured to. So: secure your lease bicycle to something that is firmly in the ground. Like a tree, a bicycle shed or a ring in the wall (i.e.: not on a bush or a bollard ;)).
Expert tip: always put your lock through your wheel and through the frame. That way, you make it extra difficult for thieves, which is also mandatory according to the terms and conditions. If someone still steals your lease bicycle, at least you'll know it was a master thief who took it.
Condition 4: Make sure you can present two bicycle keys
Your lock comes with two keys as standard. And it's a good idea not to lose them. Because if disaster strikes and someone steals your lease bicycle, you'll have to present two keys as proof that you locked your lease bicycle.
Because you are required to have two keys, an electronic lock without 2 keys is a no-go. Perhaps now you're thinking: ‘Help, I've only got one bicycle key left’? Read our Theft service sheet and find out what you can do.
All conditions you should be in order with. Because if your Bicycle Care Theft doesn't intervene ... well, then what?
What if the Bicycle Care Theft doesn't intervene?
Good question. The easiest way to explain that is to outline what happens if your Bicycle Care Theft does intervene. If that's the case, you don't have to pay anything yourself. What's more, you get a discount voucher with a portion of the amount you already paid for your lease bicycle.
Have you not locked your lease bicycle correctly and Bicycle Care Theft doesn't intervene? Then you have to pay the invoice for the stolen bicycle. The amount on this invoice corresponds to the value of the bicycle at that time. So what you would pay for the bicycle if you were to buy it at that moment.
A lot of people think, 'It's my bicycle, right? Then why do I have to pay if it's stolen?' Well, that's not quite true. We bought your lease bicycle and we paid a considerable amount of money for it. You pay that off through the lease period and you pay the last bit when you take it over. So until you buy your lease bicycle, it's the property of o2o.
Why so many rules?
By now you might be thinking 'wow, that's very strict'. And to be honest, it is, but that's mainly to make sure your lease bicycle is safe. Because bicycles are valuable and therefore interesting for thieves.
And those thieves already go out of their way to steal such valuable bicycles. If people didn't anchor their bicycles correctly, a lot more bicycles would be stolen.
By imposing a lot of conditions as regards anchoring, together we ensure that fewer bicycles are stolen, and therefore service fees do not rise. That way, together we avoid that you have to pay ridiculously high fees for your Bicycle Care Theft.
