Which Locks Does Your E-Bike Insurance Actually Require?
We read the policy pages and FAQs of the major US e-bike insurers so you don't find out what "properly secured" means from a claim denial. Here is what each one actually requires, with sources, and what we could not verify.
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Only one major US e-bike insurer publishes an approved lock list: Sundays Insurance, which requires a hardened steel lock less than two years old that meets minimum price tiers ($40 to $60 for U-locks, $80 to $100 for chain and folding locks, depending on your bike's insured value). The Markel-underwritten policies (Markel direct, Velosurance, Simple Bike Insurance) do not name a required brand or certification. What they do require is stricter than most riders realize: away from home, the bike must be secured to an immovable object with a real locking device, or the theft claim can be denied. A police report is required everywhere. The widely repeated claim that US insurers require a Sold Secure Gold or Diamond lock appears on third-party blogs, not on any US insurer page we checked.
Why this page exists
Standalone e-bike insurance is sold in one sentence: "covers theft, at home and away." The conditions live somewhere else, in policy wording and FAQ pages, and the condition that actually decides theft claims is not the lock brand. It is how and to what the bike was locked.
We went through the public policy pages and FAQs of the five insurers US e-bike buyers actually shop: Velosurance, Sundays, Markel, Simple Bike Insurance, and Oyster. This is verification journalism, not a test report. Our Security Lab has not run its first destructive round yet, and nothing on this page is a measurement. Every requirement below links to where the insurer says it, and where we could not confirm something, we say so instead of guessing.
First, the uncomfortable part: your homeowners policy probably is not covering this
Before the standalone insurers, the default answer most riders are relying on. Standard homeowners and renters policies treat bicycles as personal property, but many carriers classify anything with a motor as a motorized vehicle, which is commonly excluded from personal property coverage. Velosurance's own e-bike page states that many homeowners and renters policies "exclude coverage altogether if the bike has an electric motor."
Even when an e-bike does qualify as personal property, two more problems show up: theft away from home can be capped at a fraction of your personal property limit, and your deductible may eat most of a mid-priced e-bike claim. The exact treatment depends on your carrier's definition of motor vehicle, so the only real answer is your own policy's definitions page or a direct question to your agent, in writing.
That coverage gap is the entire reason the standalone e-bike insurance market exists. So what do the standalone insurers require in exchange?
The surprise: US insurers mostly regulate how you lock, not what you buy
If you have read UK cycling forums, you expect insurers to demand a Sold Secure rated lock by name. UK insurers commonly do. Among the US insurers we checked, only Sundays publishes anything like an approved lock standard, and nobody names Sold Secure tiers in the public policy material we could find.
What is nearly universal instead is the immovable object rule. Markel's policy wording, which also sits under Velosurance and Simple Bike Insurance policies, requires that a bike stolen away from home was "properly secured to an immovable object with an appropriate security locking device." Third-party documentation quoting the Markel policy defines an immovable object as a solid object fixed in or onto concrete or stone that cannot be undone, removed, or lifted over the bike, with properly fixed car roof racks and bike racks included. We could not find that definition reproduced on Markel's own public pages, so treat the exact wording as policy language to confirm on your own documents.
A sign post a thief can lift the bike over, a chain-link fence, a porch railing: under that definition, locking to any of these can turn a covered theft into a denied claim, with the same lock.
Insurer by insurer: the lock requirement, from their own pages
| Insurer | Lock requirement | Locked to what | Where it says so |
|---|---|---|---|
| Velosurance (Markel paper) | No required brand or certification. "We do not dictate what type or brand of lock must be used." Recommends a high quality U-lock or sleeved chain, and warns never to rely on cable locks. | Away from home: securely locked to an immovable object. | Velosurance lock FAQ, e-bike page |
| Markel (direct) | No published approved list. Policy requires an "appropriate security locking device," a keyed or combination device designed to fasten the bike to a stand or immovable object. | Away from home: an immovable object, defined in policy wording as fixed in or onto concrete or stone. Confirm the definition on your own policy documents. | Markel bicycle page |
| Sundays | Approved lock list, described as over 50 locks. Hardened steel, purchased within 2 years of policy start, minimum retail price tiers: U-locks $40 ($60 for bikes insured over $1,500), chain and folding locks $80 ($100 over $1,500). Unlisted locks can be submitted for review. | Through the frame and quick-release wheels to an immovable object, whenever the bike is unattended and more than five yards away. | Sundays approved locks, lock guide |
| Simple Bike Insurance (Markel paper) | No lock terms published in its FAQ. Recommends a police report and photos of theft evidence to expedite claims. | Not published on its site. Policies are underwritten by Markel, so expect Markel's immovable object wording. Confirm on your policy. | Simple Bike Insurance FAQ |
| Oyster | Not verified. We could not reach lock requirements on Oyster's own pages. Retail partner pages advertise that any lock you trust is acceptable; treat that as marketing until confirmed in policy wording. | Not verified. | Retail partner pages only; no primary source |
What actually voids a theft claim
Reading across the five insurers, the failure modes cluster into four, and none of them is "you bought the wrong brand":
- Locked to the wrong thing. Under Markel-underwritten policies (Markel, Velosurance, Simple), theft away from home is only covered when the bike was secured to an immovable object with an appropriate locking device. Riders have publicly reported denials for locking to movable objects such as a car bike rack that was not itself properly fixed.
- The wrong lock, if your insurer keeps a list. Sundays states plainly that if your bike is stolen while locked without an approved lock, the claim may be rejected. Its floor: hardened steel, under two years old, above the price tier for your bike's value.
- No police report. Every insurer we checked requires one for theft. Markel's claim documentation asks for the time, place, and manner of the theft and the security device used.
- No proof. Sundays says it may ask for the lock's purchase receipt, a photo of the cut lock, the lock key, or evidence of forcible entry. Markel asks for photos of the scene, the damaged lock if the thief left it, and receipts for the bike. Third-party summaries of Markel wording also describe a forcible entry requirement for theft from your home; we could not confirm that clause on Markel's own public pages, so check your policy documents.
The practical checklist that satisfies all of them at once: keep the receipts for the bike and the lock, photograph the serial number, register the bike, always lock frame plus wheels to something fixed in concrete, and file the police report the same day.
The lock brand almost never decides a US theft claim. What the bike was locked to, and what you can prove, decides it.
About that "insurers require Sold Secure Gold" claim
Several e-bike blog posts state that most US specialty insurers require a lock rated Sold Secure Gold or Diamond. We went looking for that requirement on the insurers' own pages and did not find it anywhere. Velosurance says the opposite in its FAQ. Markel's public pages name no certification. Sundays' published criteria are price, material, and age, not Sold Secure tiers.
That does not make certification irrelevant. Sold Secure's Powered Cycle tiers are the closest thing the industry has to a public, destructive-test benchmark for e-bike locks, Sundays' approved list has to come from somewhere, and if you ever insure a bike in the UK the certificate becomes a hard requirement. Buying a Powered Cycle Diamond lock future-proofs you against every list we have seen. Just know the difference: in the US today, that is a good idea, not a published policy requirement.
Locks that clear the strictest requirements we found
These picks satisfy the toughest published bar in the table above (Sundays: hardened steel U-lock over the price minimums) plus the immovable-object practicality test, and each one's certification status is taken from Sold Secure's public database, not from us. Honesty note: we have not destroyed these yet. The Security Lab's timed angle-grinder round is coming, and scored results will replace these research picks when it runs.
Hiplok D1000
Sold Secure's database lists the D1000 at Pedal Cycle and Powered Cycle Diamond, the anti-angle-grinder tier. Hardened steel body with a graphene-composite coating the certifier credits with an order-of-magnitude jump in grinder resistance. Heavy and expensive, and the only category of lock that addresses the tool thieves actually carry.
See it on AmazonLitelok X3
Also listed by Sold Secure at Powered Cycle Diamond, with an ART 4 certification on top. Its Barronium composite armor over a hardened steel shackle is designed specifically to shed angle grinder discs. Wider internal clearance than the D1000, which matters on fat-tube e-bike frames.
See it on AmazonKryptonite New York series
The long-running hardened steel U-lock line that clears Sundays' price and material floor at a third of the anti-grinder price. One flag we could not resolve: retailer listings show the New York models at different Sold Secure tiers depending on model and year, and we could not pin the current database entries down. We will verify tier by model before this line ever gets a score.
See it on AmazonE-bike insurance and locks: the questions people actually ask
Do any US e-bike insurers require a Sold Secure certified lock?
Not in any public policy material we could find. Velosurance states it does not dictate lock type or brand. Markel's pages name no certification. Sundays requires a lock from its approved list, with hardened steel construction and price minimums, but its published criteria do not mention Sold Secure. Claims that US insurers require Sold Secure Gold or Diamond come from third-party blogs, and none we checked cited policy text.
What does "immovable object" actually mean to an insurer?
Third-party documentation quoting Markel's policy wording defines it as a solid object fixed in or onto concrete or stone that cannot be undone, removed, or lifted under or over the bike, with properly fixed car roof and bike racks included. A sign post the bike lifts over, or a fence panel that unbolts, may not qualify. We could not confirm that exact definition on Markel's own public pages, so read the definition on your policy documents before you trust a rack.
Will my e-bike be covered inside my garage or apartment?
Standalone policies generally cover theft from home, but summaries of Markel wording describe a forcible entry condition: no payout for theft from the insured location without signs of forced entry. We could not verify that clause on Markel's own pages. If your bike lives in a shared hallway or an unlocked garage, ask your insurer in writing how at-home theft is covered.
Do I need to keep the receipt for my lock?
Sundays may ask for the lock's purchase receipt, a photo of the cut lock, the lock key, or evidence of forcible entry when you claim. Markel asks for the security device used, photos of the scene, and receipts for the bike. Cheapest habit in this article: photograph the bike receipt, the lock receipt, and the frame serial the day you buy them.
Is a chain or folding lock acceptable, or does it have to be a U-lock?
Every insurer we checked accepts multiple lock types. Sundays approves U-locks, chains, and folding locks with higher price floors for chains and folding locks ($80 to $100 versus $40 to $60 for U-locks). Velosurance recommends a quality U-lock or sleeved chain. The consistent warning is cable locks: Velosurance says never to rely on them, calling them easily defeated.
Does my e-bike even qualify for these policies?
Markel's published eligibility covers e-bikes with motors up to 750 watts and assisted speeds up to 28 mph for pedal-assist, 20 mph for throttle. Heavier or faster machines, and anything requiring registration or a license, generally fall outside standard bicycle policies. If you have modified or derestricted your bike, assume you are outside the policy until an insurer tells you otherwise in writing.
What we could not verify, and what happens next
Flagged plainly, because a page like this is only useful if you can trust its gaps: we could not reach Oyster's own policy or FAQ pages during research, so its lock terms rest on retail partner marketing and are unconfirmed. We could not retrieve Sundays' actual 50-lock approved list PDF, only its published criteria. We could not confirm Markel's immovable object definition or its at-home forcible entry clause on Markel's own public pages, only in third-party documents quoting policy wording. And we could not pin down the current Sold Secure tier for each Kryptonite New York model. Policy wording also changes; everything above was checked on July 22, 2026.
Next for the Security Lab: the locks above get bought at retail, weighed against their claimed specs, checked for fat-tube fit, and then timed against an angle grinder on camera. When those numbers exist, this page gets updated and the research picks become scored picks, or get replaced. If your insurer told you something that contradicts this page, send it to us with the policy language: that is exactly the correction this database needs.
Sources checked 2026-07-22: Velosurance lock FAQ, Velosurance e-bike insurance, Velosurance on Markel underwriting, Markel bicycle insurance, Sundays approved locks, Sundays lock guide, Simple Bike Insurance FAQ, Sold Secure: Hiplok D1000, Sold Secure: Litelok X3.