.jpg)
Cargo bikes aren't expensive bikes, they're cheap cars
March 17, 2025
The urban car is about as well-suited to the modern metropolis as a hippopotamus to a studio flat. Summer streets sag under its weight, our air thickens with its exhalations of nitrogen oxides and soot, and all the while, the creature demands more - more space to move, more space to rest. The sheer spatial absurdity of it: Each steel-and-glass sarcophagus idling for hours, occupying far more square footage than the bodies it transports. And yet, bizarrely, we persist.
By contrast, the cargo bike is an evolutionary marvel of efficiency. Where the car hoards, the cargo bike liberates; the embodiment of human-scaled transport.
If you know, you know
Cargo bikes have long been the vehicle of choice for those seeking practicality without the punitive economics of car ownership. They bear children, sacks of spuds and IKEA flat-packs with equal poise. And with the addition of an electric motor, hills shrink to molehills, distances contract, and the concept of ‘too much to carry’ fades into obsolescence.
And yet, the city-dweller will worry about storage, about security, about how the cargo bike can possibly be accommodated. All the while overlooking the swathes of urban land squandered on the accommodation of cars. The acres of public space given over to a vast fleet of idle machines. The cargo bike, by comparison, asks for so little.
As the UK’s original provider of specialist cycle insurance, the ETA has long recognised the pragmatic realities of urban life – we provide cover to accommodate the dilemmas faced by the cargo-bike owner.
Front gardens
If you store your bicycle or cargo bike in a front garden that’s accessible to the public, we’ll cover it against theft and vandalism on condition you secure it through its frame to an immovable object using the appropriate standard of lock, and you’re able to check on the bike at least once every 18 hours. It’s important to note that when you store your bike in this way, a higher ‘overnight excess’ of 20% (min £100) applies because it’s been left in an area where access can be achieved without force.
Back gardens
If your garden is secured by a locked gate and isn’t overlooked, we simply ask that it’s secured through its frame to an immovable object using the appropriate standard of lock. If the garden is more easily accessible or overlooked, we’ll still cover it, but you’ll need to be able to check on it at least once every 18 hours (and the higher excess applies).
Sheds and garages
Your shed or garage will need to be locked, but unlike other cycle insurance providers, we don’t specify what type of lock you use. And once your bike is inside, we don’t require you to lock it to anything. However, if it’s visible through a window you will need to cover the bike with a blanket or similar. When you store your bike in this way, the standard excess of 5% applies.
On the street outside your house
If you ride a cargo bike, or are short on space, your only storage option may be the street where you live. ETA cycle insurance will cover you if you secure your bike through its frame to an immovable object in your street as long as you follow our lock requirements, are able to check on the bike at least once every 18 hours, and understand that a higher excess applies.
If you have any questions, please get in touch.
Insurance for e-bikes
We cover all road-legal electric bicycles as standard. If the output of your electric bicycle does not exceed 250 W/15.5 mph, we’ll cover it and also include Cycle Rescue as standard. If your e-bike develops a mechanical fault, puncture, or even a flat battery, you can call on our breakdown team 24/7.
Every ETA cycle insurance policy includes the following as standard:
• Theft, accidental damage & vandalism
• E-bike battery theft cover
• Cycle Rescue (breakdown cover for your electric bicycle and you)
• No devaluation of your bike over time
• £2m third party PLUS £20,000 personal accident cover
• Shed and garage storage
• Low standard excess of 5% (£50 minimum)
Read a full list of everything we include as standard.
The ethical choice
The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Over 30 years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance , breakdown cover and mobility scooter insurance while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.
The Good Shopping Guide judges us to be the UK's most ethical provider.
Information correct at time of publication.
Leave us a comment
