Bicycle Insurance Rehashed

I've decided to revisit the bicycle insurance topic (previously covered in Bicycle Insurance + Other Goodies) because I have found a number of businesses that do offer bicycle insurance, and I've also come up with an innovative way that bicycle shops could offer insurance.

First my innovation...

What if bicycle shops (large retail chains) offered Bicycle Insurance when people bought new bicycles or came in for a tune-up? To make it easier they might team up with an insurance company to handle some of the financial aspects of such a deal. The insurance would be two fold:

Theft Insurance

Vandalism Insurance (this happens more often than you'd think)

Some market research would have to be done to determine what rate to charge customers, but presumably the rate would be equal to that being charged by some of the companies below or other major insurers.

Canadian Banks have been offering insurance for years now, part of their effort to control more of Canada's financial industry. I can't speak for other countries, but I imagine there's other industries trying to get into the insurance industry there as well.

My idea draws inspiration from the above idea, except that it has one major benefit for bicycle shops: It guarantees return business. If someone's bicycle is stolen or vandalized (which can only be proven by submitting a police report), then the customer comes back to the bicycle shop where they purchased the insurance to have the vandalism repaired or the bicycle replaced (thus allowing the bike shop more profits).

Teaming up with a larger insurance company to handle claims would make this process easier. The bicycle shop would get a commission for every customer who signs up for insurance.

In the meantime here is a list of companies which offer bicycle insurance:

Cycleguard (UK)

Cyclecover (Australia)

Velosure (Australia)

And there is also a number of general insurance companies offering bicycle insurance in addition to home insurance, car insurance, life insurance, etc. I recommend searching for local companies when comparing rates.