The New Jersey bike insurance market, laid out honestly.
Before you pick, it helps to see the whole board. Here’s every insurer a NJ rider can actually buy from, how they differ, and — the part that trips people up — which ones can and can’t satisfy the July 2026 S4834 e-bike liability mandate.
What’s the cheapest, most basic e-bike policy?
Property only — theft and damage, no liability.
What does it cost to add S4834 liability?
And — critically — can the insurer even sell it?
The market splits on one line: does the policy carry liability? Only some do. The two cheapest bike-only insurers (Sundays, BikeInsure) sell no liability at all, so no matter how low their price, they can’t make a throttle e-bike road-legal on their own. And several “different” brands (Velosurance, Oyster, Spoke) actually ride on the same Markel rate table.
A $2,500 Class-2 e-bike, commuter use, new, insured by a 33-year-old in Newark, NJ (07102). Every price below is quoted against this same rider so the columns are comparable.
| Insurer | Cheapest basic e-bike Q1 · property only | Add liability Q2 · S4834 | Geography | Underwriter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Velosurance Liability available | Varies by ZIP Prices vary within NJ: the quote takes full address/ZIP, and the Markel engine also pulls credit and driving history. | Markel American Insurance Co. A (Excellent) | ||
| Progressive Liability available | Varies by ZIP Prices vary within NJ: Progressive uses ZIP-level territory rating like its auto book. Class-3 eligibility in NJ still needs confirming. | Progressive A+ (Superior) | ||
| Sundays No liability | Flat across NJ Treats all of NJ the same: rating keys off state, not ZIP (intra-NJ variance still worth a confirming test). | U.S. Specialty Ins. Co. (Tokio Marine HCC) A+ (Superior) | ||
| BikeInsure No liability | Flat across NJ Treats all of NJ the same: NJ falls on BikeInsure's DEFAULT rate table, keyed by state with no intra-NJ ZIP variation (confirmed in the client bundle). | Great American Insurance Co. A+ (Superior) | ||
| Markel (direct) Liability available | Varies by ZIP Prices vary within NJ: ZIP entry plus a credit-score and driving-history pull. | Markel American Insurance Co. A (Excellent) |
Who we looked at but left out of v1
We surveyed the whole NJ-reachable market. These didn’t earn a column in the first version — either because they’re really the same policy as one already listed, aren’t live yet, or can’t satisfy the mandate.
- Oyster — Consumer bike product discontinued — its book was migrated to Velosurance on the same Markel paper and the quote portal is decommissioned. Effectively identical to the Velosurance column.
- Spoke — Also Markel-underwritten and quoted through Markel's engine, so its price mirrors Velosurance/Markel. Folded into the Markel rate rather than listed as a separate quote.
- VOOM — Pay-per-mile e-bike product for NJ is announced but not live (waitlist only). A watch-item to add once it launches — potentially the first pay-per-mile NJ option.
- Lemonade (scheduled item) — Instant and online, but schedules only Class 1/3 pedal-assist e-bikes — it excludes the Class 2 throttle bikes S4834 targets — and carries no liability. Useful as adjacent property coverage, not a mandate solution.
- Homeowners / renters riders (State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide, Liberty Mutual) — Property-only, frequently exclude e-bikes as 'motor vehicles', agent-gated with no instant online quote, and none satisfy the S4834 liability mandate. Out of scope for an online aggregator.
- Bikmo, Laka — UK/EU only — not sold in the United States.
- Simple Bike Insurance, Multisport / eBikeInsurance — Niche or agency-brokered; NJ availability and instant-quote capability unverified. Candidates for a later version pending confirmation.