A sudden spate in the theft of children’s bicycles has led parents to consider the option of not just insuring their own expensive models, but their children’s bikes as well.

Previously, many parents had not considered it necessary to insure their children’s bicycles on the premise that they would not be riding very far from the house and that the bicycles are not worth as much as adult bikes.

But despite costing less than adult bikes, a brand new children’s bike can still cost up to £100 and is very attractive to thieves.

Police suspect that many of the thieves are actually children themselves, whose parents cannot afford to buy them a top of the range bike.

Despite their young age these thieves are always looking for an opportunity and if they see an attractive bike unattended they will seize the opportunity.

One problem of course, with taking out bike insurance for your child’s bike, is the fact that children are often much more careless than their adult counterparts and will think nothing of leaving their bike unlocked and unattended as they pop into a shop to buy some sweets.

Unfortunately, most insurance companies will not pay out if the bike was unlocked, regardless of the amount of time it was left and who it belongs to.

Devastating theft

One young boy in Bracknell found this out the hard way when his bike was stolen in broad daylight from outside a Tesco metro near his house.

Eight year old Brad and his friend rode their bikes a short way down the road one weekend to spend their pocket money on some sweets in the local Tesco metro.

They propped their bikes up outside the shop without thinking and ran inside to buy their favourite sweets.

When they returned, after spending just a few minutes inside the shop, they were shocked to realise that their bikes had gone.

Police investigated the crime and were able to find the moment on the CCTV when the thieves struck, but they could not identify the culprits from the blurry CCTV footage.

Despite the fact that his parents did have insurance, Brad will not be able to get his bike replaced on the insurance as he left it unlocked. Particularly devastating for Brad is the fact that scores of other children throughout the day had done exactly the same thing with their bikes, but it was only Brad who was unlucky enough to leave his bike at the precise moment a young opportune thief was passing.

“We watched the CCTV and saw 50 children before them do the same thing,” said mum Heidi, who says that she is not angry with Brad for neglecting to lock his bike.

“They should have locked their bikes but we didn’t tell Brad off because he’s been punished enough by losing his bike,” she said.

She added that she will be buying Brad a new bike, but as she cannot claim on the insurance, Brad will have to wait for Christmas until he can have a replacement for his beloved bike.

“We’re going to have to get him a new one because he’s immobile without it, but  he might have to wait until Christmas,” she said. >Heidi then added sadly that her son was “devastated.” And that “he used to ride that bike a lot.”