Insurance
 

Hi,

Planning a RWT (Asia, North America, Europe)

After a heap of rerading about all sorts of travel documents, I'm still unsure about whether or not insurance (third party and comprehensive) can be obtained for the entire trip or if it has to be arranged every time I enter a country with local insurers.

Thanks for any information/guidance

same problem
 

I too have the very same dilema, though mine is for a 4x4 truck not a motorbike.
I have been struggling for months trying to get a company to insure me ! it's hard enough trying to just get cover for Turkey and it appears as soon as you exceed 180 days your snookered !

I have same question posted in 4x4 section.

Lets both keep other informed if anything positive comes back from somebody.

good luck
Phil.

From what I can gather, trying to get insurance cover for a RTW trip is either:-1)So complicated as to be almost impossible! or:-
2)Horrendously expensive!

With cover available and relatively cheap, though often worthless, at most borders, I feel that is the way to go. It's how I'm doing it on my trip.

Cheers Derek.

Apparently company 'Fortis' will offer green card (certainly to Turkey anyhow) & they will extend cover to 180 days.

But I fell at last hurdle ! they would not cover my iveco, not coz its 4x4, not coz its a van but because it has been 'self-converted' into motorhome.

Still Lookin !

I'll give the simple answer:

No one will give you full cover insurance for the world. NEVER heard of anyone obtaining it. IF you could find insurance you wouldn't even consider paying for it from the quotes I've seen.

As a general rule consider yourself "self-covered" for the vehicle.

Insurance may or may not be required when you arrive at a border. You may or may not be told if it IS required. For instance when you arrive in Canada or the USA or Europe no mention is made of insurance - but you MUST have basic third party liability insurance. They ASSUME you know you need it and have it.

In general in Africa you WILL be told if you need it - and they will happily sell it to you - in other words, require you to buy it. Whether it's worth anything at all is doubtful. BUT if you get in an accident and don't have it you'll likely go straight to jail, so do buy it when told it's required. It's never expensive, often US$30 or so.

In general in South America where it's required you will be told, same in Asia.

For basic third party insurance for Europe and North America and possibly Aus (they are expanding their area of cover) see the links page and look for Motorcycle Express. They even give HU people a discount, and we get a small cut too! :)

Not necessarily the very very cheapest, but by far the easiest and most reliable we know of - which is why we recommend them.

hope that clarifies it a little!

Thanks Grant, excellent info - cheers.
Phil.

Shameless plug - this is one of the many things we cover in our Achievable Dream DVD :)

I have been declined by Motorcycle Express because of too many tickets, however I'm determined to go through Mexico and Central America on the way down to Tierra del fuego (I'm in Texas) in the next two weeks. I've been planning this trip for two years and just failed to recognize this problem. Anyway, I'm understanding from you that I can purchase liability insurance at each port of entry for every country from here to there.? I would assume that this would be sufficient to travel. I'm on a 2006 GS Adventure with no lien. I'm excited about the trip, but I don't want to get into trouble as a result of lack of insurance. I don't know any other companies to try.

Bo Griffin
www.bogriffinrides.com

Any more shameless plugs Grant? The last one is no good for me.

I'm British, so Motorcycle Express is a no go. They only cover US citizens or Canadians. Does anyone know of a company that will give me a couple of months European cover? My bike is Australian and I'm not, so I can see this is going to be a headache.

I'd rather not go through the proccess of sorting insurance out at every border because I might only stay in some countries for a few hours!

Central America Insurance
 

In answer to Bogriffinrides question:
Sorry but it is not easy to get liability insurance at four of the CA borders. Only Belize, Nicaragua and Costa Rica sell it and demand that you purchase it right at the border facilities before they will let you enter.
The other countries do require officially that you have such insurance but they do not have any agents to supply it at the customs buildings.But neither do they ask for proof of insurance( nudge, wink, you could ride without any insurance)
Unless things have changed in the last 8 months this situation still exists.
In the past I have bought such liability insurance when I got to Guatemala from such local insurance companies as Seguros G &T and Seguros Panamericana which policies were valid for all CA.
HOWEVER two years ago this was no longer possible because of rules changes. To buy insurance after that it would require having a bike registered in CA.
Because of this I reverted to the practice of buying liability insurance for CA from Sanborns Insurance in Texas ( www.sanbornsinsurance.com) who will supply a policy covering all the CA countries. Problem is the three countries who require you buy their official insurance may not recognise it and force you to buy theirs as well. Getting the CA policy is more complicated and takes a lot longer than just buying the insurance for Mexico.
IF anybody does know of agents who sell such liability insurance at the borders of Guatemala,Honduras,El Salvador and Panama please let us know their company names and addresses. It would be of much value Thanks.

Thank you very much for your response. I'll try Sanborns again. (They told me that they wouldn't cover me, but I could get it at the borders.) Otherwise, I'll just wing it (wink, wink).

insurance
 

Bogriffinrides: As you live in Tejas you have a head start on all of us.
For the Sanborns Insurance I 'd suggest you go by way of Eagle Pass and visit their rep at Capitol Insurance Services,1115 Main St. phone 830 773 2341. Easy to locate . I use this agent often and they are very friendly and helpful for getting all the Mex and CA liabilityinsurance I need whenever I show up at their door.
Easy on the throttle to avoid more tickets now =).

:) I bought some insurance for Mexico from mexpro.com. I'll have to try Sanborns next time. The lady I talked to from Dallas wasn't as helpful as your contact in Eagle Pass. Anyway, thank you for the info. I'm on my way very soon.


[quote=Easy on the throttle to avoid more tickets now =).[/quote]

Skidder,

I think you've got some duff info there! I'm using M/express next year and the forms I downloaded for Insurance clearly state that their policy is for Foreign Nationals visiting the US&Canada:thumbup:

Cheers Derek.

Del Boy is right - the whole point of MC Express's insurance is that it is for foreigners, NOT locals.

Call them and ask for Gail, she'll give you the straight scoop.