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Insuring a bike in Ireland for a non resident Insuring a bike in Ireland for a non resident
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It's going to be a long 300km...
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  #1  
Old 24 Apr 2015
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Insuring a bike in Ireland for a non resident
I've purchased a Transalp in Ireland, registered in Ireland. Now I'm finding that purchasing liability insurance is extremely difficult if not impossible.

There were companies as recently as the beginning of April that provided coverage, but no more.

US citizen needs help!
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  #2  
Old 24 Apr 2015
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Problem solved : )
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  #3  
Old 24 Apr 2015
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Great! Good for you ... but what about everyone else?

Could you take 30 seconds to respond and let the rest of us know how you solved your problem?

I bought full cover insurance in UK using a friends address, did it all over the phone using Bennett's. No questions asked about my country of origin (US), no DL # asked for, just bike info, which was a UK bike. But that was a decade ago ... probably all changed by now?

I even got "Green Card" cover as my trip included a lot of EU. Next year, I got a no claims discount. You get discounts if your bike is alarmed or has those little data tags on it. (mine did)
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Old 24 Apr 2015
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I've learned waaaay more than I ever wanted to about insurance in the EU.

I think I have this right:

EU countries found that some countries were issuing insurance policies for much less than the country where the vehicle was registered. Apparently, some people were working the system and acquiring inexpensive insurance elsewhere plus the green card. So, now you can get green card insurance in some eu countries, but it won't be valid for the country where the vehicle is registered.

My only option: I'm buying green card insurance from a company in Germany, they'll mail me the card, I pick up my bike in Ireland and run for the UK border. I was going to tour Ireland, but the plan has changed to England, Scotland and possibly Northern Ireland, possibly part of the continent.

I'll return the bike to the storage in Ireland (again, getting to the storage place as quickly as possible)
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Old 24 Apr 2015
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.my understanding is that the green card extends your local insurance to cover the rest of the EU. So if you buy the policy in Ireland your basic policy should cover you in ireland only (by which i assume you mean the republic of ireland rather than northern ireland - which is part of the uk so a green card for the rest of the uk would not be needed) and your green card covers the rest of europe.


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  #6  
Old 24 Apr 2015
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Quote:
Originally Posted by little bike View Post
I think I have this right:

EU countries found that some countries were issuing insurance policies for much less than the country where the vehicle was registered. Apparently, some people were working the system and acquiring inexpensive insurance elsewhere plus the green card. So, now you can get green card insurance in some eu countries, but it won't be valid for the country where the vehicle is registered.
Are you saying that you've found a German insurance company that'll insure an Irish bike in every EU country apart from Ireland?

I'm no expert on EU insurance law (to say the least) but that doesn't sound right to me. As I understood it if you buy a policy in one EU country it has to cover the legal minimum in every other one. That may not be much in the way of cover and you may end up mired in paperwork for years if there's a claim but at least there's a legal policy in force.

This from the European Commission site -

"Under the Directive, subscribers to compulsory motor insurance policies in all EU countries are covered for motoring throughout the EU"

"Vehicles should be registered in the country of residence of the policy holder and/or vehicle owner. Provided their registration is in order, they may be insured by an insurer established in the country of registration or in any other EU country."
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  #7  
Old 24 Apr 2015
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The bike is registered in Ireland and I "have" an Irish address (where the bike is stored). I'm going to have to risk that if there is an accident in which I'm at fault there won't be an issue.

I'll be riding very carefully.

This has been beyond frustrating. You can ship a bike over and insurance is not an issue. But buying a vehicle isn't feasible (you can purchase, but you can't drive it due to not having insurance). Go figure. You would think that the governments would want travelers to be covered (even if the premiums were high, it would probably still be cheaper than shipping a bike)
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  #8  
Old 24 Apr 2015
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Originally Posted by Temporaryescapee View Post
.my understanding is that the green card extends your local insurance to cover the rest of the EU. So if you buy the policy in Ireland your basic policy should cover you in ireland only (by which i assume you mean the republic of ireland rather than northern ireland - which is part of the uk so a green card for the rest of the uk would not be needed) and your green card covers the rest of europe.


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Since I'm a non-resident I can't purchase any insurance in Ireland
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Old 24 Apr 2015
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mollydog View Post
Great! Good for you ... but what about everyone else?

Could you take 30 seconds to respond and let the rest of us know how you solved your problem?

I bought full cover insurance in UK using a friends address, did it all over the phone using Bennett's. No questions asked about my country of origin (US), no DL # asked for, just bike info, which was a UK bike. But that was a decade ago ... probably all changed by now?

I even got "Green Card" cover as my trip included a lot of EU. Next year, I got a no claims discount. You get discounts if your bike is alarmed or has those little data tags on it. (mine did)
It's all changed. For the worse. The days of gallavanting around are over.
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  #10  
Old 24 Apr 2015
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Little bike - i will ask around in the uk and see what i can find - it sounds frustrating!


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  #11  
Old 24 Apr 2015
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Originally Posted by Temporaryescapee View Post
Little bike - i will ask around in the uk and see what i can find - it sounds frustrating!


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That'd be great!
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  #12  
Old 25 Apr 2015
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The days of gallavanting around are over.
That extends to pushing the limits of the Schengen agreement as well. Used to be there was no communication between countries to pin down the length of stay, but now they have it pinned down to the second. Last time I was two weeks over because I didn't realise that Switzerland was now in Schengen and I got a severe talking to about what would happen the next time I miscalculated.
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  #13  
Old 25 Apr 2015
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Done a bit of digging into the UK position.

As you would expect the position is simple if you are deemed a UK resident. Basically this means being in the country for 183 days.

You will be fine to take out insurance if you have an EU Licence or one which is 'exchangeable'. This does not include the USA. For other countries you can drive for 12 months on your local licence after which you need to do a UK driving test. It seems if you are in this latter category getting insurance is very problematic.

Info here: http://www.moneymaxim.co.uk/short-te...seas-residents
http://www.uswitch.com/car-insurance...on-uk-licence/

As per the start of this thread, you can get a green card providing insurance in the EU outside of the country the vehicle is registered in. See here: http://www.tourinsure.de/internation...cle/europe?L=6

I've not spoken to these people but they claim to be able to get UK car insurance for USA licence holders. Whilst this is for car insurance the licence appears to be an issue so I'd find out who the insurance company is and if they are ok for cars you would hope motorcycle insurance is ok too.

http://www.duinsure.com/motor_insurance/car_insurance

Hope this is of some use.
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Old 25 Apr 2015
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Thanks so much for that clear, concise explanation ... and thanks for the links as well. I've copied the post, put in my Euro Folder.

Cheers for doing the work!
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  #15  
Old 26 Apr 2015
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The two possibles I have are :

Knopf Tours in Germany
Tourinsure

If you're a non-resident you cannot insure a bike in the country of registration, but you should be able to get green card insurance for the rest of the eu.
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