Aussie taking bike to UK and EU for 8 weeks
 

I have tried every company I can find, none of the Aussie Insurance mobs do out of Oz insurance and UK ones only insure residents I need to get some cover while in UK and EU for 8 weeks from May till July not sure what they call it over there, here it is CTP and covers everyone except the at fault driver/rider and is compulsary. Any help out there with suggestions????

Thanks
Christian Raith
Sydney, Australia

Having the same problem mate.
I'm flying out of Sydney on 3 May and picking the bike up in the UK for a 3 month trip. When and where are you going?
Cheers
Mick

All you need to be 'resident' for this purpose is to have a UK address - that should be easy to arrange. The problem presumably isn't you - its the bike ? You are on Aussie plates ? I can see that you probably need an Oz insurer but I'm a bit surprised none of them can handle that - its very easy here.

Sounds like it might be easier and cheaper to buy a bike here.....problem solved !

Thinking a bit more about that, I'm not sure that the bike plates would necessarily ring any alarm bells. It wouldn't show on the auto system they use here, but that doesn't always have up to date info anyway as I know one of mine didn't show up. Use a UK address and try and get a few quotes - got to be worth a try.

When it asks where the vehicle is registered, use the same UK address. Bit naughty but no one will shoot you for that - imports must start off somewhere before they get reregistered.

Hey Mick,

I think Dave Milligan is trying to organise quotes for bike insurance whilst bikes are in Europe. My bike will probably be on the same shipment as yours, so it looks like I will see you in Felixstowe on 6th May.

I'm riding mine back through Europe and Asia. :thumbup1:

Are you going to Tintaldra?

Kenny

I saw plates from Canada, Australia and the States at the TT, I'm sure they've got valid insurance so it must be possible. Try putting a TT slant on your searches, it may help.

Hey Kenny
I'm waiting on Dave to get back to us all.
When you getting to Felixstowe? I'll be there Sunday night, got a room booked for 2 nights in a local B&B.
Yes, be at Tintaldra on Friday night.
Cheers
Mick

Try Green card Insurance for Europe

When I went May'07 for 5 months (UK & western Europe), I used e-Bike (Australian online) for comprehensive insurance that included the 3rd party person cover (green slip) - and only for the peiod of the trip. Unfortunately I understand they no longer offer this type of insurance. In fact I recall they tried to email me just after my insurance cover expired with some sort of message that it wasn't valid cover. The warning with them too is that they only have a low rating with Standard and Poor's.

http://www.alessie.com/html/europe1.html This group came highly recommended, but they experienced some admin problems last year with the lady doing the work (ill or passed away?), but I understand her partner continued to offer the service.

The other lead I was given was a German company Knopf Motorradreisen (as per RogerM's link) but I recall they required someone in Germany to handle the paperwork for you.
Good luck.
John

As has been paoted above .. but I've added some comments - and condensed.

You need the legal minimum - "Green Card" .. and you can/could get it from

Europe

OR

Knopf Motorradreisen (he does this through ADRC ? = the german auto club .. and he does handle the address thing for you if you dont have one .. )

They may do more insurance too .. at a cost!

gday sportsfans

I've got a similar problem. Well...I don't but my mates do. I'm an aussie living in UK and am going to do a 4 month bike trip through scandinavia and eastern europe leaving in july. Problem is my 2 mates coming from oz to join me for the trip. PLan is for them to buy bikes when they get here and then sell them when they leave at the end of the trip. Problem is, none of the insurance companies ive contacted so far will insure non-residents. most of them say they have to be resident for 3 years. Wheelspin says they just need an address... i'm not sure yet. They could certainly use my address.

They both have bikes at home so the other option (or so i thought until i read this post) was for them to ship their bikes over and use their ozzie insurance. I'll be interested to hear how you get on with that. Please let me know.

tony

shipping
 

hey mick, kenny and christian

who are you shipping with? from? to? i assume you shopped around to get the best deal?

tony

Hey Tony

Mick and I are shipping with Get Routed. I ended up with four quotes and they were by far the easiest.I did get one quote which was cheaper but required me to take my front wheel off and crate the bike myself. With Get Routed all you need to do is drop your bike off to them. Check out their website. Dave Milligan is the guy to talk to.

GetRouted : Bike shipping and Tour Operator

Thanks for all the replies.
I would have gone with Get Routed but the timing and places did not match my time off so going alone into London maybe??????
My youngest daughter will be with me so Mum is not pleased :cool4: that is a good reason for wanting the correct cover, also will not get through customs in the UK without it.
The German mob is for bikes up to 7 years old, mine is nearly 30.ebike no longer does it, all the others Say resident which also means MOT approval in UK (impossible)
This is so hard to organise from this end.
Getting a bike there negates the reason for the trip, 30th anniversary rally for the Yamaha XS1100 in Germany but thought I would take in IOM and site seeing while there, I have 8 weeks off work.
Still may get to meet some Aussie riders while there (I'm on a N.S.W. Ruby Red XS1100 standard)
My email is xtian@nlc.net.au if anyone has the magic solution

How hard can it be?
 

Yes Im having the same problems with UK insurance.
Seems the only thing I can do is to tell porkys about being resident for more than 3 years..

Kenny E did you have any joy?

Green Card
 

Porkies won't work, you need the green card to get the bike through customs and if you are a resident you have to have the MOT inspection and have the bike registered in the UK (takes about 8 weeks).
LOGIC???? if you need the green card to get through customs in UK and UK mobs won't give it to you and Aussie companies don't issue it then how do you do it????? " You have to have it but we won't give it to you"
GRRRRRRRR
Can't go with Dave Milligan as my dates don't line up.
The Dutch mob don't cover enough the German one looks like the one to go

No word on insurance as yet Steve. I believe Dave Milligan is away at the moment. I will let you know how things progress

any joy with insurance?
 

Kenny E - have you had any joy with insurance?

I managed to get a quote from Maria Alessie for 7 weeks, twice the cost of annual insurance for Australia but if its the only option I have..

Hi Steve,

I'm waiting on a couple of quotes to come in- One of them from Alessie. It looks like I can only get "Green Card" insurance at this stage, although Alessie told me they can do Third Party, Fire and Theft as well. Some companies just never even bothered to email back.

A mob called Tour Insure in Germany have quoted me 208 Euro for the first month then 89 Euro for any additional months - Third party(Green Card) insurance only.

I asked my Insurance brokers to see what they could do but they came back and said that there was no way to get it through an Australian company.

I will let you know as soon as I have the rest of the quotes in. Should be in a week or so.

Cheers,

Kenny

Well the insurance worry is all settled, at least for me it is. Get Routed's prices were way better than any others. Most of the companies I contacted would at best only offer 3rd Party, Fire and theft insurance.

I can honestly say that I am VERY glad that I decided to ship my bike with Get Routed. There were none of the hassles that I was expecting. :clap: All I have to do now is pick up the bike in the UK.

Seeya's on the road!

If this is any help... ;

Third party is the only part of the insurance that helps your daughter, so any legal insurance solution deals with that.

If you really do need an MOT, they can only be done in the UK so there is no way you could need one before leaving port. There must be some sort of 'roadworthiness certificate' where you are which may do the trick ? Standard practice is to take the bike straight to the nearest MOT centre. There are loads, and you can get advice on where to go. If its safe to ride it will pass easily - if it isn't, then you and your daughter will be grateful for the chance to fix it. It will take about 20 minutes. Don't let let that be an obstacle. And the TT is a great trip for someone with licence plates from that far away - don't miss it !

We're also looking for an insurance covering our car in Europe. We just got a quote from Italsure Expatriate Insurance Solutions
They offer a 3rd party and a physical damage cover.

Result for Aussies buying and insuring in the UK
 

I am one of fattony's mates and for completeness sake, and hopefully to help others, I thought I'd let you know we ended up getting insurance through Stefan at Knopf Motorradreisen . I also tried Alessie at
http://www.alessie.com/html/europe1.html but they never replied to my email. Knopf has been great.

Mind you, this is because we are buying bikes in the UK. Had we shipped our own bikes over we would have tried to go with Get Routed and would have insured through them. Dave Milligan was very helpful but in the end it will work out better for us to buy bikes in the UK.

Hope this helps,
Damien

green card insurance
 

I've been in contact with the ADAC ( Germany's version of RAC) and I've been told that you can purchase 'frontier insurance' (which I'm assuming is the 'green card') for up to 3 months for 105 euro per month over the counter from any ADAC centre.

Fortunately we're going thru Munich on our way to Syria.

If someone knows that 'frontier insurance' is not a 'green card' please post a reply.

useful docs/web pages
 

xpag6259,

Can't comment on the "frontier insurance' v "green card' but it is likely to be the same thing, as 'green card' is the document continually mentioned.

I found these which might be useful for you too:

Some Australian sites:
Taking Your Car Overseas - Australian Automobile Association

Taking Your Car Overseas

The official EU travel web page:
Travelling in Europe - Getting there

And this is pretty much THE website for insuring in the EU (:(link from above web page):
Council Of Bureaux › Public Area

Cheers,
Damien

PS if there is still a weirdly placed negative 'smilie' (or perhaps 'frownie') that I cannot delete - it is meant to be a bracket!

Here's another one that was very helpful

Expatriate Insurance Solutions

Funnily enough, Alessie came back to me with a quote very promptly, wheras Knopftours didn't bother to reply to my email. Italsure were really helpful and if Get Routed hadn't come through with such a great quote, I probably would have gone with them.

The great thing about Get Routed's insurance is that it is for Fully Comprehensive insurance, which covers 3rd party(Green Card) as well. Another good reason to ship with them!!

Thanks Kenny,

Cheers for the other companies. Looks like there are a number of options after all.

Very odd our different experiences with the German and Dutch companies!

I'll probably get a few quotes from those you've mentioned, but Knopftours have been great for me so far and I've heard good things about them on this website so I'll most likely stay with them.

I wish my trip had coincided with Get Routed's dates - that's definitely a great option.

Cheers,
Damien

http://www.alessie.com/html/europe1.html This group came highly recommended, but they experienced some admin problems last year with the lady doing the work (ill or passed away?), but I understand her partner continued to offer the service.

The other lead I was given was a German company Knopf Motorradreisen (as per RogerM's link) but I recall they required someone in Germany to handle the paperwork for you.
Good luck.
John[/QUOTE]

Hej,
am going to SA for SA and Allessi in the Netherlands made me a quote...but it costs...689 $ for 6 months, but at least you should be insured. Will check with Knopf Motorradreisen...but have been searching and writing alreay quite a bit.
Pascale

Get Routed
 

Who and what is Get Routed ? See them coming back in several posts but not a link to them.

Here's the link

GetRouted : Bike shipping and Tour Operator

Dunno how much good it will be for you as they are Australian based.

Kenny