Laka unveils 'Recovery' insurance providing physical and mental support for cyclists

Laka, the cyclist's insurance company which foregoes fixed sums in favour of a collective monthly contribution, has introduced a new 'Recovery' insurance option.

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The company operates as a collective - so cyclists pay more if there are lots of payouts, and less if there are very few. The payment amount is capped to prevent nasty surprises.

Up until now, Laka has provided bike insurance only, but now it's offering 'Recovery' insurance designed to support cyclists on and off the bike. Partnering with the likes of Rowe and King Coaching, Wattbike, Chimp Management and Performance Chef, Laka aims to offer cyclists all they need to get back to full fitness if they're injured.

The policy covers cyclists even if they weren't cycling at the time of the incident. Asked if this might encourage a new audience of non-cyclists to sign up, in lieu of dedicated medical insurance, a representative said: "the Recovery product does provide 24hr cover for other activities [including skiing, surfing and hiking], the recovery benefits and providers (e.g Wattbike, Rowe and King etc) we partnered with are targeted at the needs of a cyclist, and so someone who wasn't a cyclist could take this product but they wouldn't benefit from all its features."

Laka added: "Even if cyclists have existing private health cover, Laka, at around one tenth the monthly cost, provides a really cost-effective specialist addition that covers the limitations of most traditional medical insurance policies that are more geared towards major injuries rather than bumps and scrapes."

Coming in at "around £11 per month", the new policy is backed by insurance company Zurich. When Cycling Weekly requested a quote online, we were told we'd be paying around £11 and never more than £15. Cover is worldwide.

The policy covers 'Health' - which offers £1500 for medical treatments, from Physio to dental and mental health help, as well as access to virtual GPs, and 'Fitness and Wellbeing' which offers coaching from the likes of Rowe and King, and support from Wattbike plus cycling nutrition experts at Performance Chef.

Tobias Taupitz, CEO and co-founder at Laka said: "As an insurer for cyclists, our biggest concern is to help people to spend as little time off their bikes as possible. Whether someone’s bike has been stolen or they have an injury that’s stopping them from riding, the effect is the same - they’re not on their bike.

“That’s why we built a Recovery insurance product designed to limit time out of the saddle and minimise the impact of an injury on our customers’ lives. We found that different types of cyclists were impacted by injuries in different ways so we created a comprehensive, best-in-class policy that puts the cyclist first.”

A Rowe and King spokesperson said: “Rowe and King are proud to be working with Laka to offer a coaching service - helping riders get back to fitness and enjoying riding their bike. We know how challenging it can be, not knowing how much of what type of training you should be doing. This is especially the case after coming back after forced time off.”