Hi
 

Hey,

I've been reading through all the posts on the HUBB for travel insurance and appreciate all the advice!!! So I just thought I would post my 2 cents as well, (no point in hours of research going to waste)!!!

So,

I found the main problem's with finding suitable travel insurance for long term motorcycle touring are:

1. Finding a company that allows you to ride a bike over 125cc

- a lot of companies state in the small print that the bike can not be over this size and as far as I have read, a lot of people get caught out with this one when it comes time to make a claim,


2. Riding the bike as your MAIN form of transport and NOT just as an 'activity'

- A few of them state that you can only ride them as an activity and so you need to check that its cool to ride it everyday if you so desire


3. Allowing you to ride over 31 days consecutively.

- The Annual multi-trip policy which I know a few people have bought only lets you ride abroad for a certain amount of days usually ranging between 31 -45 and then you must return to the UK before going out again. So a Single trip policy, backpacker, explorer or long stay policy is required.


4. Lets you extend your policy whilst your away

- This one's interesting as a lot of companies i spoke to will only let you purchase travel insurance from them as long as you are in the UK as you purchase.

- The reason this is an issue is that in my personal case, Im leaving in a few weeks for a trip to the Middle East and the minimum amount of time im gone is 6 months, max being a year. I dont want to have to pay money unecessarily as Im not sure how long I will be away, so if towards the end of my six months i decide I want to carry on for another 2 or even 6 months I need to be able to purchase my insurance without flying home!

- One insurance advisor told me that you may have a problem if for example you brake your leg before the six months is up and then you want to renew. BUT i double, triple and cross referenced this and If you do brake it whilst insured the rule is that your insurance will cover it but when you renew that new insurance will not pay out for anything related to it. (sorry its so long winded) But you dont have to worry as your initial policy would take care of it anyway!!!


*side note, the general rule with companies that allow you to extend whilst your away is that you MUST purchase BEFORE your current policy has expired.


5. A policy which doesnt cost more than your bike!!!

The first company I phoned yesterday was Carole Nash and they told me that for 1 years travel im looking at £900 ... Obviously hearing that depressed the **** out of me as i guessed that was the bench mark... I thought that maybe its because im only 23 Years old that its so high, but as I phoned more and more companies the price seemed to drop to the 600 and then the 400 and 300 mark!


In the end I narrowed the companies down to Navigator Travel and The Post Office (believe it or not - it was the very last company on my list of 30 odd)

As a chap on here stated Navigator are very helpful as its straight through to a bloke but then again the post office is too!

Navigator gave me an annual price of 250 for silver and 314 for gold
Post office gave me 340 or 370

the two are roughly the same with the post office offering slightly better payouts BUT heres the big difference....

If you have a PERSONAL ACCIDENT whilst on the bike and lose or seriously damage a limb etc Navigator will not pay you a lump sump - Nada

whilst the post office will pay 30,000 ....

In the end I went with the post office for a 6 month policy for £160 quid which I am free to extend for another month to six at any time within my current policy.

Right thats about it, any questions happy to help :D

Andy Davidson

I just spoke to a really helpful chap at the Post Office who offered me cover for a 10 month trip in the Americas (inc. USA) for £382. I feel safe going with the Post Office, slightly more reliable than most companies, the cover looks good, and it covers my medical and travel insurance all in one (including medical evacuation).

I'm going to go back through all the small print again, but looks as if it is the policy that I'll go with!

another sad reminder about why good travel insurance is needed:

BBC News - Rescue bid under way for Bali crash man Richard Plummer

Home - Richard's Appeal

If anyone in the Bali area can assist, I'm sure the family would be eternally grateful, same for anyone else who may have a few bob kicking around perhaps?

i use www.flexicover.co.uk as they have a range of information on the different medical circumstances etc. ideal for sourcing information before you go away.

Apologies if anyone has already mentioned this company - it's a long thread...

I used a UK company called MRL Insurance for our long term cover and will definitely use them again.

Cover was very well priced, they do long term cover globaly, and it is aimed at independent travellers rather than package holiday cover.

As part of thier service though they have a contact centre, and if you are in any kind of trouble or emergency and can reach them, they will act on your behalf and make phone calls to friends/relatives and arrange for your problem to be fixed - they will also send cash by express courier to wherever you are in the world (as long as a courier can reach it I guess). Thankfully something we never needed but it was very comforting to know that if we had an empty tank of gas, no ATM's and no dollars left we wouldn't be there for long.

Post Office
 

Driven me mad trying to get insurance. I posted earlier about the "Final Hurdle" catching me out each time... Being over 65....Bike over 125....trip over 30 days...etc....finally thought I'd sorted it with Hayman( recommended by me above) only to be told that as Mauritania is on the UK Govt Foreign and Commonwealth office "No Go" list..ie advice is not to travel at all...the whole policy is null and void.................Thanks to folks above for recommending the Post Office....insurance sorted in about ten minutes on the phone. NO cover whilst IN Mauritania...but no problem with the rest of the itinerary.....ie Morocco ...south western Mali ...B-Faso..Benin....back to Senegal and the Gambia. Cost £485.....but cover is excellent...

UK Post Office
 

I've just insured through the UK Post Office.
First of all I tried the company advertised by MAG. That would have been fine until I had to own up to having an accident within the last 3 years. They then said they couldn't provide cover for motorcycling. If they had given me the free motorcycle upgrade I think the maximum trip length would have been 1 month, which is all I want at the moment.
So I checked the Post Office web site. It doesn't mention motorcycling, but does say you can declare extreme sports such as skiiing and golfing (GOLFING????) so I had to ring up to ask about motorcycling. They assured me that travelling by motorcycle is covered within their standard policy and no mention of a cc limit. So I've got an annual world wide policy (excluding Americas) cover for both us with a single trip limit of 1 month for £108. It can be upgraded to cover the Americas and for trips of up to a year when we require it.
It looks like getting insurance gets progressively harder as you get older and especially when over 65. Also the older you get the more medical history you have to declare which gives them the chance to either charge more or add exclusions for pre-existing conditions. Unfortunately there's no point in being less than honest when applying for cover as giving them the slightest excuse to avoid paying out if you make a claim means you might as well have saved the cash and taken a chance in the first place.

I’ve been desperately trying to find an insurer that will allow you to extend your policy longer than 12 months and while you are already on your travels and after searching thru god knows how many, think I have struck gold!
Company is called Globelink and they provide all the standard covers at a good rate and also, you can extend your policy when you’re away (as long as it’s before the current one expires!)
Here is their website https://globelink.co.uk/

Do you know if UK Post Office insures also EU residents, not only UK residents?

Today checked with ADAC in Germany. They offer max 24 month travel insurance and it has global coverage (includes also USA).
Price is 1170€ for 24 months (for persons over 27 years), 450€ for 12 months (if you are below 27 years old, then it is cheaper).
According to ADAC staff, it does not have any limitations for motorcycle size.
Does anyone have experience with ADAC travel insurance?

http://www.adac.de/produkte/versiche...t/default.aspx

I fully agree. It's important to pickup a travel insurance before you depart. Save the insurer Hotline telephone number for easy assess.

World Nomads
 

A current thread about World No... nads is providing an update, as at April 2012, here:- http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...d-nomads-48863

Go Walkabout Travel Insurance
 

Being old, very old, travel insurance is getting harder to find, however, one of the many advantages of being retired is that you have time to search the internet and I have found a company called "Go Walkabout" which almost seems too good to be true giving me a quote of 400 pounds for 288 days in the Americas riding anything that is covered on my UK license. Anyone have any info on this lot? Ride safe.

Hello Maria:)
I see you are an expert in travel insurance area. :thumbup1: What would you say of Globelink international?
here they are - Cheap Travel Insurance for EU Residents - Annual Holiday Insurance
I appreciate your advice :helpsmilie:

Hi Leeloo,
sorry to disappoint you but I am not really an expert.

When I was preparing my trip I did a lot of research and put my finding in this thread.
I do not know the insurance you mentioned.

Regarding travel insurance I usually look at few things:

- Does it cover MC over 125cc in teh coutries I will travel through and what are the restrictions;

- Who is the underwriter (for example I avoid AXA but this is personal preferences!);

- Do the broker answer the phone straight away or is it a complicated messagerie (to be discarded: you do not want to spend 1 h on the phone, on the other side of the planet, going through 1000s of menus if you have an emergency!);

- I also inspect the details of the medical insurance (which is the main reason for the insurance for me, Id on;t care about the rest!) : what does it cover, how much, does it include repatriation etc...

- reputation....

Price in such case is totally secondary to the above. In case of bad crash my health would be worth more that few quids saved on the premium...


Cheers,


Maria