What sort of prices were Lobagola offering? I always thought that buying a green card was more expensive that buying frontier insurance?

Hi Bonnie:

I think you are mixing apples and oranges.

'Frontier Insurance' implies buying insurance at the border entry point of a country that insures you for that particular country only.

'Green Card' insurance implies buying insurance that insures you for a whole basketfull of European Community countries with one single policy.

I don't think that 'Frontier Insurance' (in other words, insurance for one specific country only) is available in any of the countries that participate in the European 'Green Card' scheme.

'Green Card' insurance covers a non-European vehicle (car or moto) in all of the EC countries and a few of the countries that are in the process of integrating into the EC.

'Frontier Insurance' covers vehicles from outside that country (which could include European vehicles) in that one country only.

See the picture of a 'Green Card' document that I posted in post #126 of this discussion (click here to go directly to that post) , then compare it with all the different 'Frontier Insurance' documents I posted in a separate discussion entitled Balkans Insurance.

When you look at the 'Green Card', note the country codes at the bottom of it. 'Green Card' insurance covers you in all the countries that are not crossed out with an X. If you want to go into the countries crossed out with an X, you have to buy 'Frontier Insurance' at the entry point to EACH of those countries.

Hope that clarifies it for you.

Michael

Thanks for your help. Perhaps I didn't express myself well, or this is more complicated than I thought!
I currently have insurance from the UK, which also covers Switzerland and Serbia. Up to now I have been buying frontier insurance in the Balkans (as well as Turkey, Iran Armenia), usually €10-ish, so not much of a big deal; especially as my insurer quoted me £100s to insure me third party in the Balkans only. However, on-route I've met lots of other EU travellers, who seem to have got their 'Green Card' (or whatever it is) from their insurer at little or no extra cost - and this has allowed them to travel into the Balkans, and in the case of some Germans I met, Turkey and Georgia as well.
I understood that they had a Green Card, but perhaps their insurer just has some sort of deal within these countries?

Hi again Bonnie:

If your vehicle is from the UK and your insurer is based in the UK, chances are that your insurance document is, in fact, a 'Green Card'. I say this because you stated that your insurance cover includes Switzerland (CH) and Serbia (SRB, or possibly RS). The standard in the EC is to issue an insurance document in a standard form (the Green Card) so that the authorities in all the different countries only have to be familiar with one form of document.

Each insurance company in the EC can decide on their own, in consultation with their customer, what countries they want to provide cover for. In the case of the UK, being an island, there are probably a lot of people who never leave that island, and it would be pointless for them to be paying for insurance cover that is valid in all the EC countries. However, someone living in (for example) Switzerland probably visits neighboring countries such as France, Germany, Austria, etc. frequently, so it is likely that the Swiss insurers automatically include coverage for these other countries unless the customer asks them to not do so.

Have a look at your document. It will be like the one I referred to in my first response to you above. If you want insurance cover for additional EC countries, speak to your insurance agent, it is likely that your existing policy can be amended to provide cover for (at the very least) all EC member countries.

Not all insurers are licenced to write coverage for countries outside of the EC. Hence, the ABC insurance company might be able to cover you for the Balkan countries and/or Turkey, but the XYZ company next door might not be able to offer coverage for those countries.

Be aware that this particular long-running discussion about insurance here on the HUBB specifically addresses the needs of owners of NON-EUROPEAN vehicles. For example, me, when I ship my Canadian-plated motorcycle to Europe to ride around for a month or so.

Michael

Thanks for your very detailed post. The green card is not just for EC members, but is actually 48 countries. I understand that this post is primarily for non-European residents, but I was wondering how much you were paying for some of the solutions offered here - as I might also benefit from it.

Ah, but that is exactly the problem. The type of European 'Green Card' insurance we have been discussing here is only available to vehicles registered outside of the EC.

The 'Frontier Insurance' for the former Yugoslavian countries that I posted about in the Balkans Insurance post is available to EC residents whose own insurance policy does not cover these countries. I posted the prices I paid in each country, although that was two years ago. I doubt that the prices will have changed substantially since then.

For EC residents planning to tour the former Yugoslavian countries, it may or may not be less expensive to buy 'Frontier Insurance' at the point of entry to each country, instead of having coverage for those countries added to your existing (home country) policy. You will have to contact your insurance broker and find out what the cost of adding those countries will be - and, if your insurance company even offers cover in those countries. The answer will vary from one insurer to the next.

Michael

Another thumbs up for Lobagola.com, especially Dooby!
He organised a green card for me in just a few days days, when I was (almost) stuck in the UK.
Good, friendly and quick service.
Thanks guys!

Just wanted to add my two cents - just finished a 4.5 month trip around Europe, from England to the Black Sea and back, and used Lobagola insurance (two 90-day policies). I first needed it in France and when they accidentally sent it to my California billing address, they immediately overnighted a second copy to my French address so I could take off on my trip as soon as possible. I stopped through Zagreb and said hi to Dooby when I picked up my second 90 days, and he was super friendly and we talked bikes and trips for a while too. Completely hassle free, great experience.

-Eric

just saw this, but we didnt stop getting green cards for people, but our Bulgarian insurance company stopped issuing green cards for EU registered bikes.

We found a new company in BG now, and once again can get green cards for EU registered bikes, and non EU registered bikes as well

same rates as always
60 euros 1 month
100 euros 2 months
140 euros 3 months
and can be renewed if you stay longer than 3 months

email us at motocampbg@yahoo.com

__________________
www.motosapiens.org

My Motorcycle Hotel/Cafe in Bulgaria

Just FYI, I received this from ADAC in Frankfurt. They do sell Green Card Ins here's the email from them, this was sent March 29, 2017:

yes – we sell the liability insurance for vehicles coming in from outside Europe.

The price is €105,- per 29 days (for your trip €210,-).

For the insurance we need the Type of Title, your passport and address in the States. You can pay the fee cash or by credit card.

Our office is not so far from the airport. We are open for public Monday to Friday from 09:00 am to 05:30pm.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions

Kind regards

Andrea Brackmann
Stellv. Leiterin Geschäftsstelle
ADAC Geschäftsstelle & Reisebüro Frankfurt - Lyoner Straße 22 - 60528 Frankfurt am Main
Telefon (069) 66 07 88 01 - Fax (069) 66 07 88 49
Andrea.Brackmann@hth.adac.de
www.adac.de/hessen-thueringen

ADAC (the German auto association) used to be the 'go-to' place for overseas riders to get European insurance, but about 6 years ago they jacked their prices up by about 500% overnight, and now, they are the most expensive place on the planet to get insurance.

I have fond memories of buying moto insurance from ADAC for €22 a month prior to 2010, but nowadays, forget about ADAC.

Michael

Well that ADAC quote is very reasonable.

I wonder whether it is possible to buy roadside assistance as well? I sent an e-mail to the contact to find out.

Well I'm starting to have a mild case of the panics. I ordered my Green Card insurance from Dooby a month in advance and selected the Economy Express shipping. One month should get here, right? Well I have 4 business days left before I leave and the card hasn't shown up. If it doesn't come by Tuesday I'm mildly or well and truly screwed.

I may have to take a taxi from the Frankfurt airport to the ADAC place and see if I can get it on the spot.
I'm regretting not just arranging it through Stefan.

Hi Bob,

thanks for sharing the info with the community, appreciate it.

You have chosen express economy service without tracking, which usually takes 14 days to get back to USA or Canada.
We do not have control on the service of US post or Canada post for that matter.

Upon receiving your docs and forms, we have created your policy and have sent you the scan of the original on 9th of May (Tuesday). Original was sent on Wednesday 10th of May, using express economy service (non tracked air mail), and the shipping to US usually takes around 14 days.

As always we try to provide excellent service, and we have already suggested that if the hard copy doesn't arrive in time (we can't be held responsible for US post services) we will send another hard copy to Frankfurt and we will pay TNT global tracked shipping by ourselves.

We have already done it for other customers previously where US post didn't deliver the package in time.

Another thing is that we do not compare ourselves with Stefans business, though will always say only high prises for his job and service, where we're sending each other mutual guests back and forth using both B&B's as their base and to acquire much needed info and knowledge.

Like I've stated previously we will send another copy to FRAnkfurt in case the first one doesn't arrive to your address so you will be able to get the bike from customs without problems.

Lost package for sure doesn't have anything to do with us, but with local postal services.

Cheers
Dooby

__________________
Bike purchase, storage, expedition tours / insurance, health & repatriation, transport, rally training
www.lobagola-mototours.com/ www.lobagola-insurance.com/

Dooby:

Yes thanks for the reply. I'm not placing blame on anyone but myself. I'm sure both you and Stefan are very reliable, postal service- maybe not. I'm certainly hoping that one day I will be visiting your BnB in Croatia! Your service is slightly less expensive but has a higher coverage level, which is why I made my decision.

I'm just in a quandary as what to do as the bike will be at AC cargo in Frankfurt. I'm staying at Stefan's the first night (and why I mentioned I should probably have gone through him) which is an hour away , and I was planning on riding there- I'm not sure where in Frankfurt close to the airport I could have the doc delivered for pickup when I arrive. If I could figure that out I would gladly pay the courier fee.

I've been told the customs people won't accept the pdf version of the policy. The only alternative I can think of is taking a taxi to the ADAC office and hope they will issue a policy. I've still got Monday and Tuesday to wait, but if it isn't here by now..