What to Do When Your Bike Is Stolen

Your bike is gone. The lock is cut, the rack is empty, and you're standing there wondering what to do next. Take a breath. The actions you take in the next few hours matter more than anything else for getting your bike back.

Most stolen bikes are never recovered — the rate sits around 2-5% across Europe. But that number jumps when owners have their bicycle serial number on file through bike registration and act fast. Here's the step-by-step playbook.

Act fast — the first 24 hours are critical

Stolen bikes move quickly. Research from Cycleplan found that 67% of stolen bikes are resold within hours of the theft. Every minute you wait, your bike gets further from you.

Before you do anything else, gather what you have:

• Serial number — check your Bike Registry account, purchase receipt, or photos. The serial number is the single most important piece of information for recovery. Without it, police have almost nothing to work with.
• Photos of your bike — any images showing the full bike, distinguishing features, scratches, or custom parts.
• Purchase receipt — proves ownership and helps with insurance.
• Details about the theft — when you last saw the bike, where it was locked, what kind of lock you used, and anything suspicious you noticed.

If your bike is registered on Bike Registry, open the app and mark it as stolen right now. This flags your bike in the database so anyone who searches that serial number — a buyer, a police officer, a bike shop — immediately sees it's been reported.

File a police report

This is step one, and you need to do it even if you think police won't find your bike. The police report creates an official record that you need for insurance claims and for proving ownership if the bike is recovered later.

In Finland: File online at asiointi.poliisi.fi or visit your nearest police station. You'll need your bike's serial number, make, model, color, and a description of where and when it was stolen. Police can flag the serial number in their systems, which means any bike matching that number during a stop or a check gets flagged.

In Sweden: Call 114 14 (police non-emergency) or report online at polisen.se. You'll need your personnummer for online reporting. Provide the frame number (ramnummer), bike details, and theft circumstances. Keep the crime reference number — your insurance company will ask for it.

Everywhere else: Visit your local police station or file online if available. Always get a crime reference number.

Search online marketplaces

Thieves sell stolen bikes fast, and they sell them online. Start checking these platforms immediately:

• Facebook Marketplace — the most common resale channel for stolen bikes across Europe
• Tori.fi (Finland) and Blocket.se (Sweden) — the main local classifieds
• eBay and local equivalents
• Bicycle-specific forums and Facebook groups

Set up alerts for your bike's make and model. Search daily for at least two weeks. Thieves sometimes wait a few days before listing, or they sell to someone else who then lists it.

If you find your bike listed: Do not contact the seller. Do not try to buy it back. Do not confront them. Contact the police with the listing URL, screenshots, and your crime reference number. Let them handle it. Confronting a thief puts you at risk, and buying back your own stolen bike can complicate the legal situation.

Alert your local cycling community

Community networks recover bikes that police databases miss. Post in:

• Facebook groups — in Finland, look for "Varastetut pyörät" groups for your city. In Sweden, search for "Stulen cykel" followed by your city name.
• Local bike shops — drop in with a photo and your serial number. Shops sometimes get offered stolen bikes for resale or repair.
• Your cycling club or commuter network — more eyes on the street means better odds.

Include clear photos, the serial number, a description of any distinguishing features, and the area where it was stolen.

Contact your insurance company

Most bike theft in Finland and Sweden falls under home insurance (kotivakuutus in Finland, hemförsäkring in Sweden). But coverage varies and the details matter.

In Finland: Home insurance typically covers bike theft from your home or a locked storage space. Bikes stolen from public racks or the street may not be covered unless you have extended coverage. You'll need the police report number, your serial number, and proof of purchase. Most policies have a deductible of EUR 150-300.

In Sweden: Home insurance usually covers bicycle theft, but many insurers require that you used an approved lock (often SSF class 2 or higher). Without an approved lock, your claim may be denied. You'll need your police report, frame number, and purchase receipt. For e-bikes, check whether your standard policy covers the full value — many have a cap.

Time limits apply. Most insurers require you to file within 30 days of the theft, but don't wait. File as soon as you have your police report number.

What to do if you spot your stolen bike

It happens more often than you'd think — you see your bike locked up on the street, or you find it listed online with new photos. Here's what to do:

1. Do not take it. Even though it's yours, grabbing it can lead to a confrontation or even legal complications.
2. Document everything. Take photos or screenshots of the bike, the listing, the location.
3. Contact police. Provide your crime reference number and the evidence. If your bike is registered and marked stolen on Bike Registry, you have a clear digital record connecting you to that serial number.
4. Let police recover it. They can verify the serial number against your registration and the stolen report.

Why most stolen bikes stay gone

The core problem isn't that police don't care. It's that most owners can't prove which bike is theirs. Without a stolen bike registry record, a recovered bike is just a bike.

Police warehouses across Europe hold thousands of unclaimed bikes that were recovered but never matched to an owner. Eventually they get auctioned off or scrapped.

Research shows that registered bikes have recovery rates around 23%, compared to roughly 5% for unregistered ones. The difference is simple: a serial number in a searchable database gives police, buyers, and bike shops a way to connect a bike to its owner.

If your bike wasn't registered before it was stolen, this is a painful lesson. But you can still act now — file your police report, search the marketplaces, and alert your community. And when you get your next bike, register it on Bike Registry before you ride it for the first time. It takes two minutes, it's free, and it's the one thing that changes the math on bike theft recovery.

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