Fellow Aussies that Have Ridden Mother England
 

Hi,

Have any of my countrymen looking here had the experience of going to the UK and buying a bike to ride around?

If you are out there could you please bestow upon this ignorant one the wisdom of your experience, especialy how to get a damn 3rd party insurance policy with a NSW license?

Forever indebted and good for a beer or several if ever near Lismore (PM me)

ED:offtopic:

Not that i would ever do this myself. Decide what bike you are going to buy. Take a set of NSW bike plates and rego document with you, buy green card insurance from any of the companies that sell it on the internet.

Or go to Germany and buy a bike with a one year export plate and green card at the same time.

Hi Roger,
I did have this thought myself the other day as a possible fall back.An idea formed, no doubt, in the midst of a deliriem bought about by trying to get some clear information on the topic. SHHHH!

My wife and I flew there 4 years ago and bought a secondhand tourer on which we toured Pommieland, France and Spain.

Before we went I phoned some of the main insurance companies to check out premiums etc. Non of them wanted to know me - saying they dont insure tourists. A week or so later I phoned them again and said I was moving to England and would be buying a bike as my sole means of transport. I just didnt mention that I would be moving out again after 2 months. No problem. They would insure me for 12 months on my Aussie licence but I would have to have a Pommie one by the time it came to renew.

I am a Pom myself - but that is irrelevant to all of the above - they didnt know that.

To get the rego you simply need evidence of insurance, a MOT certificate (equivalent of a pink slip) and a UK contact address. The insurance certificate and policy arrived in the mail by first class post the morning after I arranged it over the phone. The insurance included comprehensive cover and "get you home if we cant fix it" breakdown cover for all of Europe at a price that was little more than I pay for just fully comp in Australia.

To get the benefit of your Aussie no claims bonus you need details of an Aussie insurance policy that has cancelled or expired. The company that I used would not accept a policy that still exists in Australia. I guess that is reasonable if you are claiming to have moved to England. Fortunately I had recently taken one of my many bikes off the road and I had the policy number in the records I had with me.

I tested the breakdown cover when the battery died in France - excellent service though the operator on the desk in England did query why I had phoned on an Australian mobile phone!

When the trip was over I cancelled the policy, SORNed the bike (ie informed the rego people that it was being taken off the road - so they didnt penalise me for not renewing the rego) and stuck it in the shed of someone I met over there. The next summer we went back - resurrected the bike - and rode it to Romania and back. Did the same sort of thing the next year and then sold it.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for that Deolali. You don't happen to recall the company?

Also,did you actually buy it over there or did you do it from here?

ED

If you send me a private message with your phone number or email address I can give you a lot of info that I'd prefer not to post publically.

I tried to send you a personal message but it wont let me until I have posted 5 posts.

Your a champion Deolali!!

I've sent a PM with my email.

i did it a while back (2005)
 

all i needed was an address and i got it no problem, you need a bank account and you can get it taken out monthly and cancel it when you like

Thankyou everyone that has offered their advice.

I think I have it all sorted out now. In my head at least. I filled in an insurance application online with an english address and 3mths residency and an international license and got a quote and offer to purchase. I guess that means there's no problem.

What a relief. It's been a good exercise though because (I think) I now know the workings of the system, and discovered "mail forwarding" businesses, which seem to have some interesting possibilities for the traveller.

ED