What should I do if my bike is stolen in Germany?

Figures around bike theft in Germany: caps, payouts and what prevention costs.

The order matters: first the police report, then the notification to your insurer. The report is your proof that the bike is really gone, and almost every set of policy terms requires it. Report the theft the same day, within 48 hours at the latest.

Every police station takes the report, and in many federal states you can file it online through the Internetwache. Write down the case number (Aktenzeichen). Without that number no insurer will process your claim.

Nothing works without the frame number (Rahmennummer). It is usually stamped under the bottom bracket, on the seat tube or behind the saddle. Photograph it while you still have the bike and keep the receipt or invoice with it.

The lock and its keys matter just as much. Insurers ask for every original key and often for the receipt for the lock, because that is how they check whether the bike was locked to something fixed and whether the lock met the requirements. A coding (Codierung), a bike passport (Fahrradpass) or the last position of a GPS tracker help on top of that, but they do not replace the receipt.

Without the bike add-on (Fahrradbaustein) your bike is only insured against burglary from your flat, a locked cellar or a garage, and usually only up to 1 to 2 percent of the sum insured. On a sum insured of EUR 52,000 that is roughly EUR 520 to 1,040, no matter what the bike cost.

With the bike add-on, contents insurance (Hausratversicherung) also pays for simple theft outdoors, but only under conditions. The bike has to be locked with a normal, sound lock to a fixed object, not merely locked in itself. Older and cheap tariffs also contain a night-time clause (Nachtzeitklausel): between 22:00 and 06:00 there is no cover outdoors unless the bike was in use.

Contents insurance in Germany normally pays the cost of buying a bike of the same kind and quality new (Neuwert). Standalone bike policies often work differently: after three to five years many of them pay only a share of the original price or the market value of a used bike.

Your deductible (Selbstbeteiligung) is taken off the payout, usually EUR 150 to 300 in contents insurance and EUR 0 to 150 in bike policies. Above all of that sits the agreed cap. That is the figure you want to know before anything happens, not after.

Most refusals are not bad faith, they are missing evidence: no police report or one filed too late, no receipt, an unknown frame number, a lock and keys that were thrown away. In all of these cases the burden of proof is on you, not on the insurer.

Then come the hard requirements in the terms: the bike locked in itself instead of locked to something fixed, a theft at night despite a night-time clause, a key left in the lock, a bike left in the same spot for weeks. If you make the story look better than it was on the claim form, you risk more than a cut: false statements can cost you the whole payout.

Expect three weeks of waiting, because only after that is it treated as settled that the bike will not turn up. Processing afterwards usually takes two to six weeks. Follow-up questions about documents drag it out, so send everything in one go.

Not every claim is worth filing. On a bike worth EUR 300 with a deductible of EUR 150 you are left with EUR 150, and your policy carries a claim: after a loss both sides are allowed to cancel the contract, and the next insurer will ask about previous claims. The police report is always worth it though. It costs nothing and it is your proof of ownership if the bike is found.