New bike insurance system includes a track and trace transmitter

A new security system guaranteeing your stolen bike back within 48 hours, or you get a new one, is being launched on Thursday by motoring and tourism body ANWB.

The system, which is coupled to an insurance policy, involves glueing a tiny transmitter to a bike, which can be activated if the bike gets stolen and then used to trace the two-wheeler.

So far 1,000 bike dealerships have signed up to work with the new system, the ANWB said.

In 2017, 79,000 bikes were reported stolen in the Netherlands but the true total is likely to be far higher. The ANWB itself dealt with 2,200 claims for expensive e-bikes.

The transmitters will be attached to the bikes with industrial glue. ‘We’ve used a demolition hammer to try to remove them,’ spokesman Klaas Kregel told the AD. ‘The bike is so damaged you have to wonder if it is worth it.’

The insurance policy for an e-bike will cost between €85 and €100 a year.