Africa Motorcycle Insurance
 

Hello everyone. I am making the plunge to start a round the world trip in August (next month) and I have used this forum to try and piece together the administration required. It has been brilliant! I have got my Carnet sorted and my travel insurance is coming together. Now I am aware that there is probably a thread somewhere that will answer this question however I am a little lost and cant seem to find it. If some one could comment the hyperlink or answer these questions that would be incredible!

1) I have UK and EU insurance through my current insurance provider however I am aware that when I do arrive in Egypt, Bennetts wont cover me. Do I buy insurance on the border or is it something I buy ahead of time.

2) When I arrive in Africa, is it a bad idea to cancel my UK coverage as I am 19 and it is bloody expensive.

Many thanks in advance,
Tom

Hi Tom,
You can get one stop insurance for several African countries with something called a comesa which is their equivalent of a green card, I cannot remember which countries it covers but I had one for most of East Africa.
In theory your bike should be legal in country of origin so you should keep your insurance running but many have travelled without it and I have never met an overseas police officer who was interested, only that you be insured in their country.

http://http://ycmis.comesa.int/

Mark, the link you gave needs to be as follows:

http://ycmis.comesa.int/

Thanks for that - I hadn’t heard of it.

Tom:

There is no point at all in maintaining an insurance policy if you are operating the vehicle outside of the countries that your policy is valid in.

For example: I live in Canada, and have a ST 1300 here in Canada that has a Canadian licence plate and is insured with a Canadian insurance company. The geographical limits of my coverage include all of Canada and all of the United States.

I also own a ST 1100 that I use in Europe. It has a Canadian licence plate on it. It would be pointless - a total waste of money - for me to maintain my Canadian insurance policy whilst that motorcycle is in Europe. First of all, the insurance policy doesn't apply outside of Canada & the USA (the geographical limits of policy coverage). So it doesn't matter if I hit someone, or if it gets stolen, or if I crash it in a ditch, my Canadian insurance policy would not pay out a penny if the claim occurred outside of the geographical limits of the policy. Second, I would be in violation of the laws of European countries if I didn't maintain insurance coverage that is valid in those European countries.

If I was to operate the ST 1100 (the bike I have in Europe) in Canada, I would be obliged by Canadian law to have it insured for liability. Same if I was to operate it in the USA. If I operate it in Europe, or Africa, I'm also obliged to have it insured for liability there too... and the only way I can do this is by buying a policy from a provider who sells coverage valid in Europe or Africa.

So, when I am in Europe or Africa, I buy insurance policies from European or African providers who are able to sell me insurance coverage that is valid in the countries that I am riding in. For an example of this, see this post that I made many years ago: Balkans Insurance - Here's the story, with details & sample documents.

So, to sum up:

1) Find out what countries your existing UK policy covers you in. Sounds like you know that already.

2) You might want to ask your present insurer if they can extend your existing policy to cover additional countries (i.e. Eastern Europe, Balkans, maybe even Turkey).

3) When you leave the geographical area that your "home" policy covers, cancel (or suspend) your home policy, and make sure that you buy coverage at the border for whatever country or region you are entering.

Michael

PS: For greater clarity, and the avoidance of doubt - The law in your home country says that you must have insurance to operate your moto in your home country. It doesn't say that you need to have insurance to operate your moto outside of your home country... it is the laws of the other countries that say that you need insurance valid in those other countries to operate in those other countries.

In practice that's how I've always looked at it but Mark's point that the bike needs to be legal in your home country to be legally used in another country is also something I understood as well. Quite where that understanding came from I'm not sure though. It may be something that was agreed between European countries pre EU or maybe it forms some part of the various international transport treaties that international driving licences for example are the visible face of, or it may be something else totally. In reality though nobody is going to delve that deeply even if it does apply.

This comes up most often not so much with insurance but with MOT's if you're out of the country for more than a year. There's no (easy / cheap - I suppose you could always fly the bike back once a year for an MOT :rofl:) way round it and everybody takes a pragmatic approach (ie don't bother).

I understand what you are saying, but the "legality" of being able to operate the motorcycle in your home country (in this case the UK) addresses the question of whether or not the moto is roadworthy (i.e. has proper lighting, functional brakes, etc.) and also whether it is properly registered in the home country.

I think it is safe to assume that in Tom's case, both of the above requirements have been met.

The question of whether or not to keep up the annual licence plate fees when the moto is out of the home country is one that has come up before. It is a gray area.

My opinion (strictly an opinion, I'm not a lawyer) is that it is not necessary for me to keep my Canadian licence plate sticker, which is proof that the annual fee has been paid, current if I have the bike in Africa or Europe. The sticker is a tax that is paid to use the roads in Canada, and I'm not using those roads. Even if the sticker is expired, the motorcycle is still registered to me in Canada, hence, the ownership document is still 100% valid, as would be the case if the moto was in Canada but didn't have a current sticker (be aware that in North America, there are no regulations such as the SORN regulations you have in the UK).

But having said that, if I was in the USA, I would want to make sure that I kept the licence plate sticker current, simply because all the American states use a similar annual sticker system, and if I was stopped by a policeman for any reason, they would likely notice that the sticker was out of date. Whether they would - or even could - charge me with an offense I do not know, but it's not the kind of potential headache I would want to expose myself to. Additionally, because my Canadian insurance policy also covers me whilst I am in the USA, the question arises about whether the insurance would be valid if the annual licence plate renewal fee had not been paid.

But, in Europe or Africa, it's a whole different story. No police officer there will be familiar with Canadian road tax regulations. Any Canadian insurance that I might have on the motorcycle would not be valid in Europe or Africa. As long as I have an official registration document showing that I own the bike and that the licence plate number on the back of the bike matches the registration document, and as long as I have insurance that is valid in the country I am riding in, I have met all the requirements.

It might be worthwhile for Tom to keep his UK registration fees paid up whilst he is in Western Europe, simply because the authorities in nearby countries such as France, Spain, Germany, etc. might be familiar with UK registration and tax practices, as soon as he gets into Eastern Europe / Turkey / Africa, I don't think he needs to worry about that.

If a UK motorcycle carries some kind of sticker or tax disk with an expiry date on it, it would be prudent for him to remove it once that sticker or disk becomes out of date. That is what I did with the out of date sticker on my Canadian licence plate - I just took a hair dryer to it and removed the expired sticker. Now my licence plate looks like any other European plate = no renewal sticker on it.

Michael

There's nothing at all on UK bikes these days that visually signifies legality or lack of. There used to be 'tax discs' - small round paper discs - that you had to display to show you'd paid the annual 'road fund licence' and you couldn't get those unless you could show evidence of current insurance and having passed the annual safety inspection (MOT), but the discs were scrapped about 10yrs ago. You still have to do that stuff but these days your compliance is checked via a combination of computer records and number plate checking. It's assumed that every vehicle will be legal every year unless you declare otherwise - by registering it as off the road (SORN).

So in practice in Africa there's no way of checking the current roadworthiness status of a UK vehicle unless the authorities there can somehow access UK records - and let's face it, that's never going to happen. It comes down mostly to a matter of conscience I suppose but pragmatism rules there for most of us as well.

To date you up, Michael:
European plates only have one thing in common which is a blue area with 12 yellow stars on the left side showing the country code.

For mandatory other informations what has to shown on the plate every european country has got it`s own laws. Quite common are informations about:

- district/town of regulatory authority stickers proofs value of paid tax
- vehicle inspection sticker proofs verhicle is regulary checked for safety by authority.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicl...ates_of_Europe

I have to correct you on this one as it is so important for the community to understand how the bare minimum third party liability coverage works and what you as the owner of the vehicle needs to provide/keep from your home country.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/europa....ndexamp_en.htm

@mark_manley and @backofbeyond are totally correct with the info they have provided.

Basically everyone that doesn’t follow this rule could end in huge trouble, when things go not as planned.

I am providing info from a position of certified insurance broker that also provides services in many EU and non EU countries like UK, Africa, Russia etc.

BR
Dooby

Just as Ol’ Blue Eyes used to say...
 

When in insurance doubt...
Dooby-do-be-Do!:smiliex:


Everyone enjoying the downpours? I know my tatties are!

Dooby:

I don't understand what you are trying to correct me on - in other words, I don't understand what point I made that you are suggesting is inaccurate or inappropriate.

The link you provided is to the EC website... and the rider who is asking this question does not live in the EC, and his bike is not registered in the EC. He's from the UK, they left the EC a while ago. Furthermore, the article you linked to addresses the question of establishing residence in another country, not visiting another country as a bona fide tourist.

Obviously, if he rides in any other country than his home country the UK (i.e. EC, South America, North Korea, wherever) he needs to have liability coverage that is valid in the country he is riding in. I made that point very clearly.

Michael