Insurance: definition of garage vs public road

Londoner2015 · Spanner Monkey Joined: 09 Nov 2015 Karma :

I live in a block of flats with a shared garage with a rolling door/shutter. Only the residents (15 flats) have access. The garage has car bays, bays for pushbikes, and a little room for my motorcycle.

Every insurer I have ever contacted over the phone has always told me that they view a bike parked there as "parked on the public road". I appreciate it's not as safe as a garage that's only mine and which only I can access, but it's also self-evident it's not quite the same as parking the bike on the road!

Anyway, I have never been able to find a definition of 'garage' in any of the insurance contracts I have had or inquired about. My question is: what is the definition in these cases? Does the insurer have to provide one in writing? Is there an industry-accepted definition of garage? Is there any legal precedent on what constitutes a garage and what not?
Thanks.

P. · Red Rocket Joined: 14 Feb 2008 Karma :

Say garage. It's a garage. Fuck their silly rules. It's a fucking garage.

Dave V4 · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 08 Jan 2016 Karma :

if the little room for your bike is lockable, I would declare it as garaged. your call though because the slimy fuckers will try and wriggle out of any claim if they can

Londoner2015 · Spanner Monkey Joined: 09 Nov 2015 Karma :

waffles · World Chat Champion Joined: 04 Oct 2009 Karma :

I thought that a garage was defined as a brick or concrete building that is either next to the property or part of the property, it can be locked and only the homeowner/person renting has access to it. So what you have described pretty much fits the bill.

Surely if they won't accept your garage as a garage, the bike is still secured on the property. Its not on the road at all.
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Ste · Not Work Safe Joined: 01 Sep 2002 Karma :

Lots of insurers talk about private garages. Clauses about the garage being locked don't work if the garage is communal and used by 14 other addresses.

MCE says:

You have agreed that You will keep Your Motorcycle in a locked garage or building either at your home
address or an address declared and specifically agreed by Us when your motorcycle is not being used.
We will not pay any theft claim under Section 1, ‘Loss or Damage’ If a theft or attempted theft of your
motorcycle happens within the proximity of your home address or the garaging address when your
motorcycle is not in a locked garage or building.

Londoner2015 · Spanner Monkey Joined: 09 Nov 2015 Karma :

Every insurance call centre minion I ever spoke to has always said that, if the garage is shared with other people, they view it as 'public road'.
Words are cheap, and I don't care much about words which are not backed up by anything in writing - hence my question.

Does anyone have a similar situation?

To be clear, one of my neighbours could access the garage and cut the 20 kg Pragmasis chain which ties my motorcycle to the pushbike rack...

Dave V4 · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 08 Jan 2016 Karma :

Ste · Not Work Safe Joined: 01 Sep 2002 Karma :

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Nobby the Bastard · Harley Gaydar Joined: 16 Aug 2013 Karma :

Rogue_Shadow · World Chat Champion Joined: 10 May 2012 Karma :

Had the same trouble with my "shed" which is better protected than most block garages. However alot of insurers define a garage as a block or brick structure.

Yet
Some insurers allow you to select the option "other" from which you can select "private property".

From dummy quotes I did with Carole Nash and Bike insurer (I think), the difference between Garage / private property was huge compared to "parked on public road" or similar.

Select Otherpal Thumbs Up

The quote ahead is cheaper

Commuter_Tim · World Chat Champion Joined: 08 May 2013 Karma :

andyscooter · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 May 2009 Karma :

Question asked
Is it garaged

Fuck what they class as a garage

Its in a garage as far as you know

If question iis is it in a communal garage the yes you have to say

What they don't know won't hurt them
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Azoth · Brolly Dolly Joined: 07 Jul 2016 Karma :

When you fill out those online forms, it asks you if the bike is kept in a locked garage. It doesn't ask whether it's in a brick- or block-enclosed, private garage to which only you have access. It just uses the word 'garage'.

The OED says:

"1. (noun) A building for housing a motor vehicle or vehicles.
‘a detached house with an integral garage’
‘a bus garage’

1.1 An establishment which sells fuel or which repairs and sells motor vehicles.

2. (mass noun) A style of unpolished, energetic rock music associated with suburban amateur bands.
as modifier ‘a garage band’

3. (mass noun) A form of dance music incorporating elements of drum and bass, house music, and soul, characterized by a rhythm in which the second and fourth beats of the bar are omitted."

Common sense, really. The OED is an authority on what words mean. All sorts of qualifiers can be added to "garage", e.g. "bus" or "integral". But did the insurance company use them in their form? No.

What they really want is an easy way to argue the toss if a claim were made. The ideal "garage" for them is in rural Oxfordshire, in an obscure village, on a forgotten smallholding. Or any sort of garage that's impenetrable to thieves, unknown to thieves, etc. Or in some non-place of a suburb like the stockbroker belt, or leafy Orpington. Not OP's garage. The sort of garage OP describes paints a picture of a nasty new 'housing development' somewhere in Luton or Feltham, where your bike is most definitely going to be targeted by thieves at some point. There are probably heroin addicts living rough in and around the communal bins there. But that's not OP's problem. A shared garage is still a garage, and is it locked? Yes.
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trevoriv · World Chat Champion Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Karma :

Insurance Act 101.

Just watch for the phrase "your private garage" or similar in the policy wording as I've seen it here and there and that might have you on slightly trickier ground.
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Pete. · Super Spammer Joined: 22 Aug 2006 Karma :

matto · Crazy Courier Joined: 18 Apr 2012 Karma :

As a slight aside, I have a garage attached to my house which is locked and very secure, it is where I keep my bikes pretty much all the time they are at my home.

However I insure them as being parked on the driveway as if I was to insure them as being locked in the garage and one was stolen when I was cleaning it, or had parked up on the driveway for 2mins to grab something from inside then my insurance wouldn't pay out if it was supposed to be in the garage.