How quickly does the recovery team respond?

Once you call our 24/7 hotline, we begin live-tracking immediately and a recovery agent is typically deployed within the hour. Most successful recoveries happen within 48 hours of the theft being reported. Real-time tracker data plus our agents' experience with London theft patterns mean we often have a fix on the bike before it reaches its first handover point.

What if you can't recover my bike?

If recovery isn't possible, our backup theft insurance (underwritten by Sundays Insurance, FCA regulated) handles a claim for replacement, accessories, and theft damage — subject to standard policy terms and a £50 excess. Recovery itself has no exclusions — even if you forgot to lock up — so most subscribers never need to claim under the insurance side at all.

Do I need to report the theft to police first?

No — please call BackPedal first. We handle the police report on your behalf as part of the recovery process, which logs BackPedal as the party acting on your behalf and streamlines all subsequent coordination with police. If you've already reported the theft yourself, it can create a parallel record that complicates the handover. Time matters in the first few hours; call our 24/7 hotline and we'll start tracking immediately.

Where does the recovery service operate?

UK-wide. We already protect thousands of ebikes for nationwide fleet partners and recover their bikes from across the country — Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, rural villages. The covert tracker reports position wherever the bike ends up, our 24/7 ops team monitors, and recovery agents go and get it back. The one thing currently regional is the consumer install network: a BackPedal mechanic visits to fit the tracker, and that mobile visit is currently available in London zones 1–4 (expanding in 2026). Fleet bikes are bulk-installed at depots, which is how fleet cover already runs nationwide.

How does recovery actually work?

The covert tracker reports position via GSM, GPS, and BLE — three technologies that cover each other's blind spots. As soon as you report a theft, our ops team monitors the live feed. Recovery agents are deployed to follow the bike's location. We coordinate the handover non-violently where possible, call in police where needed, document everything, and return the bike to your door.

Bike insurance

Bike theft recovery that gets your stolen bike back.

Traditional insurance pays you a sum of money weeks after your bike is stolen. BackPedal sends a recovery team to actually find it and bring it home. The covert tracking kit, the agents, and the backup insurance are all bundled into one subscription — annual in year 1, monthly or annual from year 2.

+80%Recovery rate
~48hTypical recovery time
24/7In-house ops team

Get protected Find my bike's fit

Recovery with no exclusions
Even if you forgot to lock up — we still recover your bike.
Full insurance backup included
Underwritten by Sundays Insurance, FCA regulated.
Tracking kit & professional installation
Covert GSM, GPS & BLE tracking kit — expertly installed, all part of your subscription.

Watch one of our recoveries

Streatham recovery

Trusted by thousands of families, commuters, racers and delivery riders because we do more than just insure… we recover.

What happens when you report a theft

Call our 24/7 hotline. A dedicated ops handler takes over immediately, opens a case file, and begins tracking the bike in real time using the covert GSM, GPS, and BLE kit we installed. There's no claim form, no phone-tree, no 'we'll get back to you in 5 working days'.

We deploy a recovery agent based on where the bike is heading and what's happening to it. Most thefts in London are opportunistic and follow predictable patterns — we know the handover points, the chop shops, the parking spots. That experience plus live position data is how we recover over 80% of bikes we're tracking.

We handle the police report on your behalf, document everything for your records, and return the bike to your door. If the bike's damaged in transit we coordinate the repair under the insurance side.

How we recover bikes

Three things in parallel from the moment you report a theft. The bike usually comes home within 48 hours.

1
Live tracking
Ops team monitors the bike's position in real time using the three on-bike trackers. Coverage holds across cellular dead-zones, indoor storage, and underground spaces.
2
Agents deployed
Recovery agents move to intercept based on the bike's current trajectory. We don't wait for the bike to 'settle' — most successful recoveries happen during the first 24 hours.
3
Return and handover
Bike checked for damage, police report filed if applicable, bike returned to your door. Insurance side handles any repair costs.

Why recovery beats a payout

A payout replaces the bike but does nothing about the underlying problem — the thief profits, the bike enters the second-hand market, and your premium goes up next year to price in the rising theft rate. Traditional insurance manages bike theft; it doesn't reduce it.

Recovery flips that. The thief gets nothing. You get your actual bike back, with the kit on it you've already adjusted to your fit. There's no excess on a recovery claim. And every successful recovery makes bike theft less rewarding for the people doing it.

How BackPedal works

Three steps. Covert trackers go on your bike, you call us when it's stolen, and our agents go and get it back. We've recovered over 80% of bikes reported to us.

TREK / E-MTBIN THE FRAMEUNDER STEMSEATPOST

Install trackers

Our mechanics fit covert GSM, GPS & BLE trackers to your bike anywhere in London — at the time and place you choose, 8am to 8pm, every day.

UP TO £149 OF KIT8AM–8PM, DAILY

BackPedal recovery operations team in the office

24/7 Recovery Ops

Report a theft

When your bike goes, you call our 24/7 hotline. We deploy recovery agents the same hour and keep you updated until it's back.

24/7 HOTLINESAME-HOUR DEPLOY

RecoveredOn its way home

Bike recovered

We track it down, check it for damage, return it to your door, and handle the police report and any insurance claim on your behalf.

+80% RECOVEREDCLAIM HANDLED

+80%

Recovery rate

~48h

Typical recovery time

24/7

In-house ops team

Real recovery footage · updated weekly

Watch us
get them back.

Every clip is real footage from a BackPedal recovery, filmed by our agents on the ground. New recoveries land every week.

Streatham6 hours to recover1:19

Stratford22 hours to recover1:12

Brighton2 days to recover1:15

Twickenham13 hours to recover1:11

London9 days to recover1:06

Hounslow23 hours to recover1:11

Kensington10 days to recover1:03

+70more on
the wall

Watch the recoveries

Traditional bike
insurance vs
BackPedal

A bike is stolen every 2 minutes in the UK. Fewer than 2% of thieves are ever caught. Traditional insurers don't care — they just price it into your premium. The thief profits. You start again. Nothing changes.

BackPedal is different. We track your bike, recover it, and return it to you — so the thief gets nothing. Insurance is our backup, not our business model.

What you get

BackPedal

Other Bike Insurance

01Recovery & Protection

Get your actual bike back

Covert GPS tracking included

24/7 recovery team deployed

Bike stolen? One call and we take over

02No exclusions on recovery

Forgot to lock up? Still covered

Left outside your house? Still covered

Stolen whilst riding? Still covered

03Insurance

If we can't recover your bike, our backup insurance by Sundays kicks in — the same kind of cover you'd get from any other bike insurer. Standard terms apply and claims are subject to approval.

Financial cover for a replacement bike

Accessory cover

Theft damage cover

Excess

£50^*

Varies

* No excess on recovery claims. £200 excess for battery-only insurance claims.

Get your quote

★ ★ ★ AS SEEN ON TV

On the hunt
with TV crews

Three film crews. Three networks. One question — what does it actually look like to recover a stolen bike? Press play and find out.

Trace, Track, Get My Car Back — episode still

45 min

Featured · BBC One

Trace, Track, Get My Car Back

In London, bike recovery specialist Bilal hunts down an ebike's GPS signal to a block of flats — and is shocked to discover what looks like a bike chop shop inside.

Watch on BBC iPlayer Series 1 · Episode 15 · 45 min

Bike Theft: London's Recovery Crew — episode still

Crime + Investigation · 60 min

Bike Theft: London's Recovery Crew

Watch on YouTube

Britain's Bike Theft Capital — episode still

Channel 4 Dispatches · 30 min

Britain's Bike Theft Capital

Watch on YouTube

The kit · £150 of trackers

Covert trackers,
disguised & hidden

Every bike we protect gets a covert tracking kit — hidden away within the bike itself, or tucked into one of 17 disguised casings, so no two bikes look alike and thieves never learn the hiding spots.

Depending on your bike, that's some mix of an always-on Live GPS, a no-wires Sleeper GPS that wakes the moment your bike's reported stolen, and a short-range Proximity Beacon that leads our agents to it indoors. Read more about the trackers.

Find the right kit for your bike

Wide pannier reflector — covert BackPedal tracker casing

1 of 17 disguises

Handlebar cable coverCovers any brake, gear and electrical cables whilst hiding the tracker

Browse the disguises · tap to preview

1 / 17

Our customers love us

My bike was stolen… BackPedal took over the whole operation to get my bike back. Kind and caring and excellent at their job!

Alexandra Stratos

Chef, Highbury

My ebike is essential to our lives so I love the peace of mind knowing you've got a team there ready to go if the unthinkable happens.

Elan TamSey

Musician, Walthamstow

BackPedal gives me a way to protect my kit and fight back against bike theft at the same time.

Mat Shreeve

Engineer, Camden Town

BackPedal have recovered my ebike twice now. It is still a horrible experience having my bike stolen but the team are so resourceful they got a quick result.

They could not have been more conscientious on my behalf.

Frances Kelly

Kensington

Recovery service FAQs

How quickly does the recovery team respond?
Once you call our 24/7 hotline, we begin live-tracking immediately and a recovery agent is typically deployed within the hour. Most successful recoveries happen within 48 hours of the theft being reported. Real-time tracker data plus our agents' experience with London theft patterns mean we often have a fix on the bike before it reaches its first handover point.
What if you can't recover my bike?
If recovery isn't possible, our backup theft insurance (underwritten by Sundays Insurance, FCA regulated) handles a claim for replacement, accessories, and theft damage — subject to standard policy terms and a £50 excess. Recovery itself has no exclusions — even if you forgot to lock up — so most subscribers never need to claim under the insurance side at all.
Do I need to report the theft to police first?
No — please call BackPedal first. We handle the police report on your behalf as part of the recovery process, which logs BackPedal as the party acting on your behalf and streamlines all subsequent coordination with police. If you've already reported the theft yourself, it can create a parallel record that complicates the handover. Time matters in the first few hours; call our 24/7 hotline and we'll start tracking immediately.
Where does the recovery service operate?
UK-wide. We already protect thousands of ebikes for nationwide fleet partners and recover their bikes from across the country — Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, rural villages. The covert tracker reports position wherever the bike ends up, our 24/7 ops team monitors, and recovery agents go and get it back. The one thing currently regional is the consumer install network: a BackPedal mechanic visits to fit the tracker, and that mobile visit is currently available in London zones 1–4 (expanding in 2026). Fleet bikes are bulk-installed at depots, which is how fleet cover already runs nationwide.
How does recovery actually work?
The covert tracker reports position via GSM, GPS, and BLE — three technologies that cover each other's blind spots. As soon as you report a theft, our ops team monitors the live feed. Recovery agents are deployed to follow the bike's location. We coordinate the handover non-violently where possible, call in police where needed, document everything, and return the bike to your door.

Get your bike back, not a payout

Covert tracker, 24/7 recovery team, and backup insurance — bundled into one subscription. See your price in 60 seconds.

Get your quote See all bike insurance options