Can I ride my bike in the UK on my Canadian plate?
 

Hi hope I can get some help here. I have tried googling for days and keep getting turned in circles.

I would like to know how to insure my motorcycle for a touring holiday in the UK. I am coming from BC Canada.

Everywhere I call in the UK they keep telling me it has to have a UK registration. But what do travelers do?? My ICBC insurance told me that I have to insure it in the country that I will be touring.

All this back and forth is driving me crazy. Any help?

Much appreciated!

You'll be hard pressed to find a standard British insurer who will insure a foreign plated (especially non European) bike.

Try a few options

1. Motoferime in Ireland

2. Motocamp Bulgaria for greencard European insurance 3rd party cover

3. Tourinsure.de for comprehensive but more expensive European cover.

Good luck,

Let me know if you need use of a UK address

Fern



Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk

Fabulous! That's a great start thank you so much. Will let you know how it works out
I've got a UK address but thanks :)

/Jennifer

I agree with what Fern has said and here is the thread on the subject, member dooby is a provider of good repute who has helped many non-EU motorcyclists get cover.

https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hu...cheap-34822-20

Excellent thank you very much!
/Jennifer

UK Canuck:

No problem at all riding your Canadian-plated motorcycle in the UK. Just be sure to have a white oval sticker on the back with 'CDN' on it. Years ago, you could get these from the Canadian Automobile Association - but if you go to any sign shop you could get them to make you one easy enough. Don't get fancy with the design, use the same colour, size, shape, and typeface as you see in the picture below.

Others have given you good advice above about how and where to get insurance. In the past, I have purchased European insurance from various sources - MotoTouring in Milan, Dooby in Croatia, and Motocamp Bulgaria. The product that each of them sell is exactly the same thing (minimum liability coverage for the EC, including the UK), so choose your vendor based on service quality, reputation, and price. We have a long discussion here in the HUBB about European insurance - here is the link: Here is where you get the cheap European green card insurance. Start reading that post about halfway down page three (posts from about 2017 onwards).

Concerning transportation of the motorcycle from Canada to Europe, I have always shipped by Air Canada or Motorcycle Express. There is some information about shipping a motorcycle by air at this post: Shipping Canada to Europe.

The only problem you might run into is if you are a UK citizen travelling on a UK passport. I mention this because your username (UK Canuck) suggests this might be the case.

If you are travelling on a UK passport, you MIGHT encounter some problems with customs & excise either at the moment you import the bike, or perhaps later on if you are stopped by police or customs & excise whilst riding.

For someone like me (born in Canada, travelling on a Canadian passport, with a Canadian driver license, riding a Canadian-plated bike in Europe), it is obvious to customs & excise that I am a bona fide tourist and there is no possible chance that I am trying to import the bike illegally, or evade the requirement to comply with each country's MOT checks, etc.

If, though, you are riding in your country of citizenship (UK?) on a foreign plated motorcycle, the authorities could make a credible case that you are not a tourist, should have paid import duties, and should have plated the motorcycle in your country of citizenship, which means MOT compliance, RHD headlight, etc.

So, let's hope you have a Canadian passport & Canadian driver licence.

Michael

Note White Oval Country Sticker Under Licence Plate
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...720&fit=bounds

The couple on the loaded up Harley with a Nevada plate that we followed for a few miles a week or two back hadn't felt the need to put a USA sticker anywhere that I could see. Like the discussion on which sort of EU sticker is acceptable post Brexit I suspect you'll be very unlucky if anyone bothers about it. There's so many no country ID (vans mainly) from various Euro nations on the roads here that I suspect it's not a police priority. Probably easier to get a sticker for peace of mind but it's not going to be make or break.

A single datapoint: I rode a US registered bike through almost every country in Europe (EU and non-EU) for about 8 months without ever thinking about a country sticker. If I'd thought about it, I'd have brought one...but I didn't, and if anyone was distressed they sure never mentioned it aloud.

How that applies to the OP is an open question.

Mark

Police wise here , there are really better things to do then stop check a Canadian plated bike unless you commit a traffic offence . As long as you are licenced , insured and if its ur bike registered in ur name I dont foresee an issue . The only fly in the ointment is how long are you going to be in the UK at the address u have ? If it's under 28 days then u risk arrest if u commit any traffic offence and are stopped as a summons cant be issued......we dont do on the spot fines in the UK....unfortunately . So just ride normally.......most officers will just be interested in where u come from and are there any jobs going .

There could well be, I was stopped on the side of a dual carriageway in Canada when my bike broke down and a RCMP officer pulled in as I was parked out of the way in an emergency vehicle only layby to see what was up, common sense prevailed and the officer originally from Yorkshire agreed I was better off there than on the very narrow hard shoulder.

Green Card for Europe in 2017
 

Hello

I shipped my Landy to Spain in 2017. Gloria from Mototouring arrange the insurance for me, 180 days for 583 Euros. All the documents were couriered to me but they didn't arrive before I left SA. Contacted Gloria and she arrange for new documents to be couriered to Spain where I was collecting my Landy.

Very happy with the service. Communication via email, payment via my Visa card.


Gloria - Mototouring <info@mototouring.com>

Mototouring s.r.l. a socio unico – tour operator & motorcycle rental
Via del Ricordo 31 - 20128 - Milano - Italy
tel. - 39 - 02.2720.1556 fax - 39 - 02.9366.0584
P.I. 11303890153
http://www.mototouring.com - in english
http://www.mototouring.it - in italiano
http://www.classicmotorcycletours.it - in english

I agree that it is unlikely that anyone is going to get into serious trouble for not having a country sticker on the back of their moto. But...

If your overall objective is to have the least possible reason to be stopped by authorities, then it makes a lot of sense to display the appropriate country sticker when required.

Having the sticker might make the difference between a police or customs officer stopping you because they don't recognize the licencee plate, or ignoring you because the sticker makes it clear that you are from another country.

Similarly, if you get into an encounter with an officious authority, having the sticker eliminates any risk that the officer can find fault with you for not complying with the rules of the road.

In other words, keep it simple, keep things low-key and compliant, eliminate possible causes to be challenged.

Michael

plate
 

Attachment 25252 this plate may raise a few eyebrows

I agree with other comments in general:

It's better to have the CDN plate, if only because then no-one can bring it up as an issue if you're stopped for any reason. I know that there are lots of vehicles/bikes around the world without the international plate, but it's not as if it's expensive or adds a lot of weight. We always travel with an international plate.

Speaking as one who has both a Canadian and a UK passport, I have taken vehicles into the UK from both Canada and the USA. In both cases I registered them in the UK, and could do so because I was going to be resident for a few years. I believe (haven't verified this though) that even if you have a UK passport, if you're non-resident you can ride on a foreign-registered bike with no problems, however you must be able to show that you live somewhere other than the UK (e.g., Canadian licence). If you're resident in the UK, whether you have a UK passport or not, you must register your vehicle within a short period. I drove both of the above-mentioned vehicles in the UK but only long enough to get them to where I was staying and get them registered.

First two options are not registered insurance providers at all (Martin at Motofeirme is not providing insurance to any of his clients directly, important fact), third one is registered broker and provides services of Axa as long as Axa is willing to sell their products.

Lobagola MotoTours is the only broker specialist that will provide coverage for such clients in Europe and outside Europe as well.

Just facts, so OP and other readers later wont be mislead and loose time.

BR
Dooby

Concerning Motocamp Bulgaria (the second of the two options you referred to), I believe that what that company does is go out and buy a standard "green card' insurance policy for the customer from the Bulgarian insurance provider, then mail that policy - meaning, the green card - to the customer.

I have used them in the past and been quite happy with their service. The insurance provider in Bulgaria has very low rates when compared to insurance providers in other countries that issue 'green card' coverage for out of region motorcycles.

This post from a few years back provides more information: Bulgaria- Motocamp

Michael

EU vehicles don't need an oval sticker because it is incorporated in the license plate.
British vehicles driving in Europe do need the oval sticket

Well, not as long as the moto stays in the back of that Twin Otter. :smartass:

Marking up the price on third party liability coverage/reselling it for higher price is illegal in EU.

Bulgarian authority that overseas and regulates their insurance and financial market:

https://www.fsc.bg/en/

Just facts

BR
Dooby

Dooby:

At the risk of straining a long-time friendship with you, isn't that exactly what you did for many years before you recently acquired your status as an insurance broker?

Let's face it, buying "green card" insurance is like buying gasoline - it's a fungible commodity, all policies offer the same amount of dollar-value coverage.

Michael

Nope,

We have created a product from day one that was underwrited by the pool of insurers that enables coverage in the country where the vehicle has been registered for EU residents and non EU residents (hybrid product not of the shelf item). Martin can provide info at any time if it’s needed for his Irish clients.

Reason why I am openly providing facts is that there was already a case that happened in the community in 2019 that stirred looks on all others like we are all scammers and that is not good at all. And I for sure don’t want to be labeled in that way, but I’m providing facts as I have been doing it all the time.

Green card insurance has the largest volume of fraud in the industry, and I am wandering why it is like that doh

BR
Dooby

Strictly speaking there should be no charge for a Green Card other than a possible admin fee at the discretion of the issuer. A lot of insurers, particularly in the UK don't realise this

https://www.mib.org.uk/making-a-clai...n%20of%20cover.

Hi Warden:

I think your comment, whilst correct, is not directly related to what we have been discussing here.

Your comment & the reference you linked to addresses the issue of whether a European insurer who underwrites a policy for a European rider can charge an additional fee for issuing the actual "green card" document, in addition to issuing the basic policy document.

This discussion has focused on the topic of non-Europeans obtaining insurance coverage for their non-European registered motorcycle. Historically, we non-European riders visiting Europe with our non-European bikes have referred to this as "green card" insurance coverage.

The posts of the last two days in this discussion have discussed whether a third party (a facilitator, so to speak) can purchase insurance coverage for a non-European vehicle, then sell that coverage (which includes a green card) to the non-European rider at a markup over what the actual policy costs.

Michael

Point noted, although it might be worth not incorrectly referring to it as a Green Card as this has a specific legal meaning?

Mototouring in Italy will insure you for minimum liability cover on a non-EU registered bike.
They refer to it as a Green Card.

I rode a NZ registered bike in the UK for a year with no NZ oval sticker, no one ever asked why.
Yes, the rules say you can only ride a foreign reg bike in UK for 6 months, but I didn't know this at the time, so that was OK then (!)