mandatory insurance
 

car insuarnce is now mandatory to travel in russia (has been for about a year so I have been told) it can be bought at the border but is fairly pricey (90 euros plus) it is also mandatory for ukraine but cheaper

yes, i ve heard such stories recently also (no confirmation), that insurance is now compulsory for overlanders in russia (bike, car) and that russia could be part of the green card (no confirmation).
still no Carnet de Passages en Douane (CPD) compulsory for russia.
international driving license (IVL) recommended, like anywhere else, if you can get one, otherwise take your local one : they may not know the IDL or/and make the difference between IDL and a local one, but they can always make problems if any document is missing (IDL is the international standard) or be cool with you.

any confirmation about insurance ?


[This message has been edited by vincent danna (edited 06 June 2005).]

Insurance is compulsory, I have just come back. I couldn't find my internatiional driving permit but was told I didn't need it anyway. Never caused a problem, just produced my UK photo licence

i just called my insurance :

normally, russia is NOT included in the "green card" (car or bike insurance in europe). well, in france, it s like this. uk seems to be same.

there are many hidden rules with insurance companies (differences between damages caused to you, to your bike, to others, third party, assistance, etc ... like over 3 months consecutive outside of your country, you re not insured any more, etc ...), watch out carefully when you buy your contract(s).

i tried to make it a bit clearer on :
http://vincent.danna.free.fr/infos/assurances.html
you can translate with : http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en

if it can help

moggy, thanx for sharing : could you pls give more details when you had to get insurance at the border : you re talking about price, for how long is it, which guarantees etc (briefly), cheers

Hmm...

I don't know anybody who went with car into russia, but all the people I know that went there with a bike had to pay insurance at the border. This was last summer (2004), so is this news or not? :-)

Marco
http://www.schnueriger.net

Green card does not cover ukraine or russia. My insurance for russia was brought at the border from a pair of right old slappers who plied me with tea and insisted on taking me by the arm and doing a lot of touchy feely stuff. All designed to get you to part with more money I suspect. The charge was 90 euros for 15 days insurance, longer periods are available on a sliding scale but I don't know what the cost is. I think I paid over the odds by paying in euros. You can change rubbles at the border and you should get a reasonable rate. Next time I would do this before buying the insurance I think. You will also need to get a temporary import permit at the border for your vehicle. They found a woman who spoke some english who helped me with the paperwork at a cost of 200 rubbles (only about 7euros) which saves a lot of trouble.

I didn't get any insurance entering Ukraine from Poland, but apparently I should have so it is just as well I didn't get asked for it or have an accident. I got some on the way back which was about 50 euro I think.
They will show you a sheet of tables which contains the rates for what size of vehicle you have and the duration of your stay. A 4ltr landcruiser like mine will be a lot more than a mid sized motorbike I would imagine.
There are different levels of insurance cover and I couldn't really understand what you got for the money so I just went for the cheapest, which presumably is basic 3rd part cover

I crossed into Russia on road M3 from the Ukraine.

Andy
1990 Toyota Landcruiser
Landrover 101 ambie
ford escort and morris minor traveller!
[This message has been edited by moggy 1968 (edited 09 June 2005).]

[This message has been edited by moggy 1968 (edited 09 June 2005).]

The fact that 3rd party insurance is now REQUIRED is part of the (slow) process towards Russia joining the "green card" system. For all motor vehicles.

user "iswoolley" covered the procedures at the Finland-Russia crossing at Valimaa(?) (main road Helsinki-StP) and also covered where to buy insurance BEFORE crossing this border ie in Finland where they speak English.

I have also been told (by a finnish travel agency in Lappeenranta) that it is possible to buy insurance just before the other crossing Nuijamaa in Finland. I shall find out when I cross the border there.

Rgds

Les

[This message has been edited by 4wheels (edited 10 June 2005).]

4wheels, you WILL fill in the border crossing info form to help everyone, won't you?! http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/wink.gif

(TripPlan, Borders on left)

thanks!

Grant

Green Cards issued by German insurance companies definitely cover UA (Ukraine) but not Russia. 3rd party insurance for Russia is available at Uktrain/Russia border at 3000 Rubel for 1 month (for Toyota LandCruiser).

Information on our CA trip in 2004 is presented on www.tlc-exped.net/R25Info.html

Reinhart

------------------
www.tlc-exped.net/

Does anyone know where insurance can be purchased in Vladivostok?

Thanks.

Mike

Yes, I will do this!
This site has provided me with much excellent advice and it wouldn't be fair not to put something back into it.
Rgds
Les

From the Kingsmill website...
In the end we just bought insurance in Vladivostok from
DAL ACFES Insurance Company
Phone: +7 (4232) 410-971 or 411-010
Fax: +7 (4232) 410-990
WEB: http://www.dalacfes.ru
Email: rakuta [aatt] dalacfes [dott] ru
We dealt with Sergey Rakuta who spoke excellent English. Their office is on the way to the port. The insurance policy we bought included 3rd party insurance and theft. Three months cost us US$135.

...when Iworked in Primorski Krai, we insured our company vehicles through DALACFES and had no problems. However, this was 1995-1998 so my information is dated.

Also this link allowing you (via altavista translation) to estimate your russian insurance costs...
http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/tr url_pagecontent?lp=ru_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.au toins.ru%2finsurance%2ftariffs.html#p8
Rgds
Les

(Sorry Mod!)
[Hello, this is your moderator reminding everyone once again not to put unscrambled e-mail addresses in your messages. It just attracts spam to the address holder.
I have scrambled the address above (change [aatt] to @ and [dott] to . ). For more information, see http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb...#addressinpost ]

[This message has been edited by Chris in Tokyo (edited 13 June 2005).]

[This message has been edited by 4wheels (edited 13 June 2005).]

[This message has been edited by 4wheels (edited 13 June 2005).]

With reference to my earlier post, the bit about foreign vehicles is right at the bottom where it also explains how to calculate the premiums. For foreign vehicles, all the co-efficients are fixed except power (bhp) and period. Strange, but motorcycles seem to classed under trucks with base premium 1,215 RBL . Of course there may be commission due to the insurance agent on top of these figures(!)
Rgds
Les

also, don t forget that when you buy a local insurance in those "less rich" countries, you get local guarantees. in case of an accident, you may not get as well reimbursed as in europe.

Russian insurance is just something you need to travel about (without your lack of it being used against you). Heaven forbid you might want to make a claim! I doubt most people would be around long enough to actually finish processing a claim before their visa ran out.
Even though insurance is compulsory now in Russia, I would bet the vast majority of Russians driving about don't have insurance.
You can have all sorts of bits of paper stating this and that if you get stopped, but it doesn't mean the insurance is genuine or paid up.
Les