Which Lock Does My Bike Insurer Actually Require? UK Insurer Lock Requirements Compared
Your bike insurer requires a lock that meets a minimum Sold Secure rating, usually Bronze, Silver, Gold or Diamond, and the rating it requires usually rises with your bike’s insured value. There is no single UK-wide standard: the exact rating and the value at which it applies is set independently by each insurer in its own policy wording, and the two do not agree. Meeting the wrong threshold can mean a theft claim is refused, so the only way to know your requirement is to check your own insurer’s wording directly.
There is no industry standard, and the gap is large
We verified published lock requirements for 10 UK cycle insurers. Among those that tier the requirement by bike value, the value at which a Sold Secure Gold-rated lock becomes mandatory ranges from £1,000 at Pedalsure Pedalsure lock list checked 12 Jul 2026 to £5,000 at cycleGuard cycleGuard lock requirements checked 12 Jul 2026 , a fivefold spread on the same lock rating. Below £1,500, cycleGuard requires no Sold Secure rating at all cycleGuard lock requirements checked 12 Jul 2026 , accepting any purpose-made bike, scooter or motorcycle lock. At the other extreme, Laka Laka policy wording checked 12 Jul 2026 and Bikmo Bikmo locking requirements checked 12 Jul 2026 require Gold or Diamond flat, regardless of bike value, even on a £300 bike. Protect Your Bubble no longer sells bicycle insurance Protect Your Bubble, bicycle insurance page checked 12 Jul 2026 and should not appear in current comparison content. No insurer we checked ties its lock clause to bike registration with BikeRegister or any similar scheme.
View the underlying data table
| Insurer | Gold required from | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bikmo | Any value (flat requirement) | Policy source → |
| Laka | Any value (flat requirement) | Policy source → |
| Cycleplan | £1,000 | Policy source → |
| Pedalsure | £1,000 | Policy source → |
| Yellow Jersey | £1,500 | Policy source → |
| Sundays Insurance | £1,500 | Policy source → |
| ETA | £1,500 | Policy source → |
| Pedal Cover | £1,500 | Policy source → |
| Assetsure | £2,500 | Policy source → |
| cycleGuard | £5,000 | Policy source → |
Check your own policy
The requirement, by insurer
Minimum Sold Secure rating and the bike-value band it applies to, for every insurer with a verifiable source. Full detail, including immovable-object conditions and verbatim quotes, follows the table.
| Insurer | Minimum lock rating | Bike-value threshold | Source | Date checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laka | Sold Secure Gold | Sold Secure Gold (flat — does not vary by bike value) (flat, all values) | Laka policy wording → | 2026-07-12 |
| Bikmo | Sold Secure Gold or Diamond | Sold Secure Gold or Diamond (flat, for policies from 01/07/2025) (flat, all values) | Bikmo (secondary source) → | 2026-07-12 |
| Cycleplan | Sold Secure Bronze / Silver / Gold or Diamond | Insured Value under £500; Insured Value under £1,000; Insured Value £1,000 or over | Cycleplan policy wording → | 2026-07-12 |
| Yellow Jersey | Sold Secure Silver / Gold or Diamond | Up to £1,500; Exceeding £1,500 | Yellow Jersey policy wording → | 2026-07-12 |
| Sundays Insurance | Sold Secure Silver | £1,499 or less (£250 policy minimum value); More than £1,500 | Sundays Insurance (secondary source) → | 2026-07-12 |
| Pedalsure | Sold Secure Silver / Gold | Up to and including £1,000; Above £1,000 | Pedalsure policy wording → | 2026-07-12 |
| Assetsure | Sold Secure Bronze / Silver / Gold | Less than £1,500; £1,501–£2,500; Exceeding £2,500 | Assetsure policy wording → | 2026-07-12 |
| ETA | Sold Secure Silver / Gold | Less than £1,500; £1,500 or more | ETA policy wording → | 2026-07-12 |
| cycleGuard | Unrated lock up to £1,499; Sold Secure Bronze/Silver/Gold above that | Up to and including £1,499; £1,500–£2,999; £3,000–£4,999; £5,000 or above | cycleGuard policy wording → | 2026-07-12 |
| Pedal Cover | Sold Secure Silver / Gold | Up to Pedal Cycle Value of £1,500; Exceeding £1,500 | Pedal Cover policy wording → | 2026-07-12 |
Per-insurer detail
Laka
Flat Sold Secure Gold requirement, unaffected by bike value. Required when the bike is unattended away from home in a public or communal storage location; not required for theft from inside the home.
“In order to be able to make a claim for theft when your bicycle is left unattended away from your home in either a communal storage location, a public storage location or in any other location accessible by the public, your bicycle must be locked to an immovable object using a Sold Secure Gold Lock and you must provide us with photographic evidence of the Sold Secure Gold Lock.”
Source: Laka Bicycle Insurance Policy Wording (PDF), §7.2. Checked 12 Jul 2026.
Bikmo
Flat Sold Secure Gold or Diamond requirement for policies purchased on or after 1 July 2025, regardless of bike value. Policies bought before that date used a tiered Bronze/Silver/Gold structure. Sourced from Bikmo’s own support article; the full policy wording PDF could not be parsed as readable text, so this is treated as an insurer-published secondary source rather than confirmed primary wording.
“You must use a Sold Secure Gold or Diamond rated lock, regardless of the value of your bike.”
Source: Bikmo locking requirements (support article). Checked 12 Jul 2026.
Cycleplan (Ripe / Aviva)
Tiered by insured value: Bronze under £500, Silver under £1,000, Gold or Diamond at £1,000 or over.
“A nominated lock which is specified in the ‘Sold Secure’ list of cycle locks which is appropriate to the Insured Value of the Bicycle. Insured Value under £500 require a Sold Secure Bronze rated lock; Insured Value under £1000 require a Sold Secure Silver rated lock; Insured Value £1000 or over require a Sold Secure Gold or Diamond rated lock.”
Source: Cycleplan Insurance Booklet (PDF), Definitions. Checked 12 Jul 2026.
Yellow Jersey
Tiered at £1,500: Silver up to £1,500, Gold or Diamond above it.
“Pedal cycle(s) up to the value of £1,500 require a Sold Secure Silver lock; Pedal cycle(s) exceeding a value of £1,500 require a Sold Secure Gold or Diamond lock.”
Source: Yellow Jersey Ultimate Bicycle Insurance Policy Wording (PDF), May 2026 edition. Checked 12 Jul 2026.
Sundays Insurance
Gold required above £1,500; Silver-or-better for £1,499 or less. Sourced from Sundays’ own guide page, which references fuller detail on page 9 of the policy wording that we did not independently fetch.
“your bike be locked through the frame to an immovable object with a Sold Secure Gold rated lock” (for bikes insured over £1,500)
Source: Sundays Insurance, approved bike locks guide. Checked 12 Jul 2026.
Pedalsure
Tiered at £1,000: Silver up to £1,000, Gold above it. The only insurer in this dataset confirmed to accept a non-Sold-Secure alternative, a Thatcham-approved motorcycle lock, at any bike value.
“Bicycles up to and including the value of: £1,000 — We will accept ANY specifically designed bicycle, motor scooter or motorcycle lock which has been tested and approved to: Sold Secure Silver rating or a Thatcham approved motorcycle lock.”
Source: Pedalsure Approved Lock List (PDF, v6). Checked 12 Jul 2026.
Assetsure
The most lenient tiering we found among insurers that require a Sold Secure rating at all: Bronze under £1,500, Silver £1,501 to £2,500, Gold above £2,500.
“Bicycles, inclusive of any fixed accessories, that have an insured value of less than £1,500 [Bronze] / between £1,501 - £2,500 [Silver] / exceeding £2,500 [Gold]”
Source: Assetsure Cycle Lock Guide (PDF), January 2025. Checked 12 Jul 2026.
ETA
Tiered at £1,500: Silver below it, Gold at £1,500 or more.
“a minimum of Sold Secure Silver rating for a Bicycle insured for less than £1,500, or a minimum of Sold Secure Gold rating for a Bicycle insured for £1,500 or more.”
Source: ETA Cycle Insurance Policy Wording (PDF), March 2026 edition. Checked 12 Jul 2026.
cycleGuard
Four value bands, the most in this dataset, and the only insurer with an unrated bottom tier: no Sold Secure rating required up to £1,499, then Bronze £1,500 to £2,999, Silver £3,000 to £4,999, Gold at £5,000 or above.
“Bicycles up to and including the value of £1,499 — We will accept ANY specifically designed bicycle, motor scooter or motorcycle lock for bicycles up to and including the value of £1,499.”
Source: cycleGuard lock requirements (PDF). Checked 12 Jul 2026.
Pedal Cover
Tiered at £1,500: Silver up to that value, Gold above it, the same threshold as Yellow Jersey.
“Pedal Cycle(s) up to the Pedal Cycle Value of £1,500 require a Sold Secure Silver lock. Pedal Cycle(s) exceeding a Pedal Cycle Value of £1,500 require a Sold Secure Gold lock.”
Source: Pedal Cover Policy Wording (PDF), June 2026 edition. Checked 12 Jul 2026.
Frequently asked
- Is Sold Secure Gold enough for any UK cycle insurer?
- Sold Secure Gold satisfies every insurer in this dataset at every bike value we found a published threshold for. It is the safest single choice if you insure more than one bike or expect to upgrade. It is not always required: several insurers accept Silver or Bronze below a certain bike value, so Gold can be more lock than your policy demands.
- Does my insurer accept a Sold Secure Silver-rated lock?
- Usually yes, but only up to a value threshold that varies widely by insurer. Pedalsure accepts Silver up to £1,000. Yellow Jersey, ETA, Pedal Cover and Sundays Insurance accept it up to £1,500. Assetsure accepts Silver up to £2,500, and cycleGuard up to £4,999. Above its own threshold each insurer requires Gold. Laka and Bikmo do not accept Silver at any value. Check the table on this page against your bike’s insured value, then confirm against your own policy wording.
- What happens if my lock is not Sold Secure approved?
- If your policy names a minimum Sold Secure rating and your lock does not meet it, the insurer can refuse a theft claim on the grounds that the security condition was not met. This is a condition of the contract, not a formality. We are not able to say how any individual insurer would handle a borderline case; ask them directly or check your policy wording’s claims-handling section.
- Do I need to lock my bike to an immovable object to be covered?
- Every insurer in this dataset with a confirmed lock clause requires the bike to be secured to an immovable object away from home, with conditional exemptions in some cases for locked sheds, garages, or communal areas. None of the insurers we verified cover an unattended bike that is simply locked to itself.
- Do UK cycle insurers require BikeRegister or another registration scheme?
- No insurer’s lock or theft clause that we checked required registration with BikeRegister or any similar scheme as a condition of cover. This covers the 8 insurers whose primary policy wording we read in full; it is not proof that no UK cycle insurer anywhere has a registration condition.
What we could not verify
Three UK cycle insurers appear regularly in comparison content but we could not access their lock-requirement wording well enough to publish a figure. We are stating that plainly rather than guessing or repeating unverified secondary claims as fact.
- Velosure: URLs tried: velosure.co.uk/security-requirements, velosure.co.uk/FullBlog/our-bike-lock-requirements — both inaccessible to automated fetch. A related Velosurance (US) specimen policy with USD/RRP-based lock minimums was found but is a different product and was discarded as not applicable to UK Velosure.
- Bicycle Insurance (bicycle-insurance.co.uk): Domain returned DNS failure (ENOTFOUND) on direct fetch. Web searches for this exact domain surfaced no distinct policy content — may be defunct, parked, or a misremembered trading name.
- Butterworth Spengler / CycleSure: cyclesure.co.uk timed out on DNS resolution; cyclesure.uk returned a TLS certificate mismatch (generic hosting cert, not CycleSure's). Butterworth Spengler (Cyclesure) Limited is a real registered company (Companies House no. 01593973) but its site could not be reached to verify current lock requirements.
If you hold a policy with one of these insurers, the only reliable source is your own policy documents or a call to the insurer directly.