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Helmet and leathers cover

Find out how to get cover for your riding leathers, helmet, boots, gloves and other accessories with your motorbike insurance.

Amy Smith
Amy Smith
Updated 12 February 2021  | 4 min read

Is helmet and leathers cover standard on bike policies?

Motorbike insurance doesn’t always offer cover for protective riding gear, even though helmets and leathers can be very expensive to replace if damaged.

Key points

  • Not all motorbike policies offer helmet and leathers cover. It's usually an optional extra on the majority of those that do
  • It’ll cover helmets, boots, gloves and other protective riding gear - whether or not they’re made of leather
  • You should expect cover for damage but not for theft. But you might be covered for theft if you have a home insurance policy with cover for items away from home

Helmet and leathers cover is sometimes included on your motorbike insurance as standard, but more often it’s an optional extra can be added on for an additional fee.

Out of 48 policies listed on Defaqto, 25% of comprehensive motorbike insurance policies include helmet and leather cover as standard. 50% can add it for an extra cost.[1]

What does helmet and leathers cover include?

Helmet and leathers insurance covers damage to:

  • Leather clothing
  • Non-leather motorcycle clothing, such as Kevlar
  • Riding boots
  • Protective gloves
  • Helmet

Most policies offer levels of cover starting at £750, all the way up to over £1,500.

This can vary though, with some policies offering less than this amount. Add up how much your gear is worth and make sure you’ve got enough cover for all of it.

The amount of cover you need for your riding gear will depend on how expensive your equipment is. As most policies offer helmet and clothing protection as an added extra, it's important to weigh up whether you're getting your money's worth
Lee Griffin - Motoring expert and founder of GoCompare

What’s not covered?

Most motorbike protective clothing and accessories policies won’t cover you for:

  • Wear and tear
  • Damage to passenger’s clothing or helmet
  • Theft
  • Accidental damage other than that caused by a motorcycle accident
  • Damage due to competitive off-road or track day driving

Damaged and stolen clothing

If your biking gear is damaged in an accident, helmet and leathers cover should cover the costs of repair or replacement.

This is especially useful when it comes to helmets, as these normally need to be replaced after an accident - even if you can't see any signs of damage, the strength of your helmet could be weakened.

However if your protective clothing is stolen, you likely won’t be covered.

Claiming on your helmet and leathers cover on your motorbike insurance normally won't affect your no claims bonus, but this can vary by provider, so it’s best to check your policy documents to be sure
Lee Griffin - Motoring expert and founder of GoCompare

Covering helmet and leathers theft

If your bike insurance doesn’t cover your helmet and leathers, your home insurance might have protection for items away from home.

This could extend to your protective clothing and helmet if they’re damaged or stolen, but check your policy wording for any exclusions.

Also consider that there’s usually an excess to pay and making a claim could affect any no claims bonus you have on your home insurance.

By Amy Smith

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[1]Last checked 13 August 2021