Bicycle Liability Insurance

Aug 28, 2018

Bicycle Liability Insurance

There are two major cities in Japan that require bicycle riders to maintain liability insurance as a condition for riding in the city.  These are:

1. Osaka City
2. Nagoya City

Clients and readers living or visiting these areas must be aware of this responsibility before hitting the road, but everyone should consider getting some level of protection as judgement against the unexpected and unfortunate.

What is bicycle liability insurance?

Bicycle liability insurance is a form of personal liability insurance that covers costs if you injure someone or damage their property while riding your bicycle.  Liability doesn’t cover any damage to yourself or your bike, regardless of who is found responsible for the accident.

Do you have personal liability insurance?

If you have another form of insurance, it may (or may not) come with, or offer access to add on provisions, that provide “personal liability insurance” that may satisfy the requirement for bicycle liability insurance coverage.  Personal liability insurance compensates liability incurred in many everyday situations, including while riding a bicycle.

(Please note that anyone who purchased housing insurance from this blog’s parent company, The H&R Group [ Japan Home Search, Relo Japan, etc] has personal liability insurance included, standard).

Some examples of relevant policies:

1. Car insurance with an additional personal liability insurance policy
2. Fire Insurance with an additional personal liability insurance policy
3. Accident Insurance with an additional personal liability insurance policy
4. Mutual Insurance such as Zenrosai or Shimin Kyosai
5. Group Insurance such as Company Insurance, PTA Insurance, or School Insurance
6. Credit Insurance with additional personal liability insurance protections
7. Expansive Insurance for General Student Life (Futaigakuso)
8. Personal Liability Insurance for Students (Gakubai)

(List from www.generalunion.com)

Do you have TS Mark incidental insurance?

The “TS Mark” have been placed on your bicycle at a bicycle shop when you purchase a bicycle or have an inspection and maintenance carried out on your bicycle. The TS Mark includes accident insurance and liability insurance and is valid for one year from the date the bicycle is inspected.    The “TS” in “TS mark” is an acronym for “Traffic Safety.”

(From Nagoya International Center)

Don’t have any of the above?

If you do not have “personal liability insurance” or A “TS Mark”  you will need to get bicycle liability insurance.  You can get this from most insurance companies, but here are two options to look at immediately.

7/11 Bicycle Insurance (Mitsui Sumitomo)

You can sign up for this insurance online, but you will need to visit a 7/11 convenience store and use its “Multi Copy” multi-purpose photocopier to complete the signup. It generates a pay slip that you take to the cash register. After paying you get a slip with an “insatsu bango” (printing number) that you then enter into the machine again to print out a contract for your records. You will also receive the contract in the mail from the insurance company (Mitsui Sumitomo) a few weeks later.

http://jitensya.ehokenstore.com

(From www.tokyointernationalcyclists.com)

AU Sonpo Bicycle Insurance

You can sign up for this online. www.au-sonpo.co.jp/pc/byclebest/index.html

Reference to any business or organization is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute an official endorsement by the H&R Group