Bike stolen in France: what to do in the first hours
Gather your proof, file a complaint, tell your insurer and your marking operator, then watch the listings. If the bike reappears, you meet the seller with the police.
The first hours count. Here is what to do, in order.
- If the theft is happening now, call 17.
- Gather what proves the bike is yours.
- File a complaint with the police.
- Tell your insurer.
- Report the theft to your marking operator.
- Watch the second-hand bike listings.
Is the theft happening right now?
Call 17. It is the French emergency number for the police and the gendarmerie (France’s other police force) when a crime is in progress. Do not put yourself in danger to stop the thief.
Otherwise, note the time, the exact place and the lock you used, straight away. Look for cameras nearby. You will put all this in the complaint.
What proves the bike is yours?
Before you file the complaint, gather:
- the invoice, or failing that, proof of payment
- the serial number, often under the bottom bracket (where the pedal cranks go through the frame), sometimes on the invoice
- the marking number, if the bike is marked
- photos of the bike, especially ones that show its details
Search your emails, photos and messages. An old photo can show a scratch, a saddle, an accessory. These details are how the bike will be recognised.
Where to file a complaint
Two ways, both free.
- Online, with Plainte en ligne, the government’s online complaint service. It covers thefts where the thief is unknown. With FranceConnect (the French state’s sign-in service), you do not have to go anywhere.
- At a commissariat (police station) or a gendarmerie, any of them. They must register your complaint.
If the bike is already for sale in a listing, go in person the same day. An online complaint takes a few days to process, up to a week. The listing may be gone by then.
The details are in reporting a bike theft in France.
When to tell your insurer
Quickly. French law gives you at least two working days to report a theft. Your contract can allow more, never less. Attach a copy of the récépissé (the receipt you get when you file).
A bike theft can be covered by home insurance (assurance habitation) or by bike insurance. It all depends on the contract: check yours.
Is your bike marked?
Report the theft to your marking operator, the company whose number is on your frame (Bicycode, Auvray, Decathlon or another). The rules give you two weeks. Do it the same day.
Also check your contact details with the operator. That is how the police reach you if they find the bike. More in bike marking in France.
What about the listings?
A stolen bike is often resold online, like any ordinary second-hand bike. Sometimes within hours of the theft, sometimes far from where you live.
Check the listing sites every day, in your town and beyond. That is what Retrace does: it compares the photos of your bike with the listings on the sites it covers, and alerts you when a bike for sale could be yours.
Have you seen your bike for sale?
Keep the link and take screenshots. Go to the commissariat or the gendarmerie with the listing, your complaint number and your proof.
Then set up the meeting with the seller, as a buyer would, in agreement with the police: they assist you at the handover. Never go to the meeting alone. Do not tell the seller the bike is yours. Do not report the listing to the site: it could disappear. Do not pay anything.
The steps are in stolen bike for sale on Leboncoin.