USA - best insurance options....
 

Hi,
I'm planning a four-month trip to North America (possibly including Mexico) and wondered if anyone has any advice on which companies to use for insurance and the level of cover to get. I'm air freighting my bike over to the US from the UK.

I've had a quote from motorcycleexpress.com - which will cover me riding the bike - but I'm unclear about what else is included...?

Insure & Go won't cover me for more than 90 days (I'm going for 127 days) and Navigator Travel (recommended elsewhere on the forum) appear to exclude cover for motorcycling. Endsleigh do seem to cover motorcycling (as an option) and are quoting £240.23 - anyone else used them?

Any advice much appreciated. I'm going on May 6th....

Ta,

Eryl

Are you sure about Nav. Travel. A friend has just used them and next week I was planning to get in touch about insurance for North America.

I'll try to rememebr to let you know what i find out.

Ins
 

Hey Im a Uk resident and I took my honda africa Twin to USA ,1 year cost me with recovery $140 with Progressive, only thing U need is a adress in USA,I hv used my friends adress done 15000miles around USA and Canada with no problem,good luck enjoing your time there hehehehe .
ttp://www.progressive.com/
Big Foot on 2 wheels

If you're after general insurance to cover injury, theft, etc. etc. we use American Express Travel Insurance and it does cover you whilst riding your own bike. It's not cheap but it does the job. It also covers repatriation if you have an accident and don't say you don't intend on having one, you just never can tell.

Eryl, there is lots of info if you fully search this site, read the search tips, but just for you, Google 1 stop travel.com for your travel insurance, it covers big bike touring for up to a year and as mentioned, Progressive.com for bike insurance which covers the US and Canada. If you ask nicely I'm sure that some US Hubbers would loan you their zip code. Only use M'cycle Express as a last resort, what they charge for a month would give you at least 2 years with Progressive. At the moment I'm coming up through the US en route to Halifax NS and for 6 months basic liability insurance, legal assist and roadside assist, US$46.00 from Progressive on the I'net. Mexico for 1 year through Sanborns on the internet probably about the same, I did mine through a broker in Flagstaff Arizona and it was US$130.00 for 12 months. Ride safe.

Many thanks - lots of useful info! I have been looking around the various forums on this site - honest!
I will definitely get in touch with Progressive - the quote I've had from motorcycle express is $750 for 4 months! I have a contact in the US whose address I can probably use.
I'll also get a quote from 1stoptravel...

Once again - many thanks for the help!

Eryl

I had a look at their website yesterday - and it specifically excludes personal accident & liability if your on a motorbike... Yet elsewhere on their site it says they do cover motorcycling... so it's not really very clear to me what they do cover! Hope you manage to find out more...

Cheers,

Eryl

No cover from Progressive?
 

I've just got this reply from Progressive:

"Thank you for contacting us. We appreciate your interest in our company. Please note that our motorcycle policies are 12-month policies. We do not currently offer short-term policies to visitors who will be travelling.

I would like to suggest that you contact a local travel agency that specializes in foreign travel.

Sincerely,
Paula H.
Progressive Internet Representative"

The website also says they don't cover Canada....

I'm confused?! How did you manage to get insurance from them to a) cover less than 12 months and b) to include Canada?

Cheers,

Eryl

There seem to be two threads on this at the moment. Very confusing. Anyway, I will phone Nav. Travel next week, but I've just seen this on their website:

The Voyager policies are not ideal for adventurous travellers, as they only cover a limited range of sports and activities, though motorcycle touring is covered on both Navigator and Voyager policies, with no restrictions on the cc of the bike, as long as a full UK license is held and crash helmets worn. Personal Liability cover is excluded for claims arising from driving or riding motor vehicles or riding animals.

We got Lucky!
 

For what it's worth we got insurance from American Family Insurance in the US by using our friends address in the States, from what I can remember it cost us in the region of £130 for 6 months. A week after leaving Anchorage we crashed on the Haul road 30 miles out of Deadhorse, got the bike back to Fairbanks and got in touch with the broker, he assigned a claims agent to the case but as they had no one up north so to speak they let the BMW dealer assess the damage and arrange a quote ($6000 approx!) within 5 days we had a cheque for the bulk of the repairs and six weeks later they paid the remainder in person when I called to see them at their offices in Denver.

Graham and Sue

Hi Eryl, you don't go for anything but 12 months. Don't use the web site until you have a zip code and address you will get the chance to make 1 payment for 12 months or 2 payments which will also cover 12 months. This insurance will cover Canada, just don't tell them that you are an alien tourist, just fill in the form normally and as truthfully as you can and ask them to also send you a temporary insurance doc which does not have a terminal date like a UK cover note by e-mail as you will be away from the given address for say 1 month. I know this works 'cos I'm looking at my paperwork from Progressive as I type, just don't volunteer unasked for information. Ride safe.

its a case of aaahhhh
 

hey i just shipped here from australia and thought i had it all sorted with progressive but it was a premium for the year.i fell over when i didnt have the zip code so i called motorcycle express.although it was expensive it was sorted while i was in los angeles in a day.cost me 900 bucks for usa/canada/alaska i was informed by them that mexico is a very different policy as was sth america but they can do it.very pleasant to deal with i must say after braving the australian and the usa customs:frown: (and no i didnt have a carnet).am now in las vegas:censored: chillaxin ready to head for arizona waiting for the snows to go and i will head north:clap:.hope that helps.by the way the lady i spoke to in NY:thumbup1: was cynthia rosado.she was great.

$900 for a year ouch!

USA insurance is good in Canada and the other way around as well. The USA insurance will not sell a policy for Canada as there in the US but it is still good there. So yes they do not "cover" Canada as in you buy one for there but the policy dose cover you when you are there. (as far as I know)

No carnet need in the Americas N. or S.

At one side or the other of the Mexico border you can get Mexico insurance bit more than if you find a policy in Mexico from a real agent.

zip cods for vegas Las Vegas Zip Code Map - Henderson Zip Code Map - Zip Codes

So then what happens if you have an accident???
The company finds out you are on a foreign registered vehicle and that you have given a false address and information. Insurance companies are the same the world over, the first thing they do on a claim is to look for a way to not have to pay out ... and there could be legal issues regarding giving false info.
You want to take the risk? (Please ignore the top line of my sig!! :mchappy: )
Might be worth it to pay the extra for a bonafide policy.

I appreciate what you are saying but first have a look at the application form and let me know which bits you have problems with. After I completed the form on line, I e-mailed the company telling them that the address that I am using is a base/contact address whilst I travelled around North America, I did not say that I was a tourist, they did not ask and I did not tell. I said that I would be entering the US from Mex. so could they also e-mail me a temporary insurance certificate until I get to Duluth Minnesota where the manager of a company there is being my base. All above board, they even know that I am riding on a UK licence albeit backed up with an International one and they sent me my temporary insurance card. All this cost me US$95.00 which a could have paid off in 2 US$47.00 CC payments which was the really weird bit as paying it off in 2 instalments was cheaper than all in one and this also included roadside and legal assist. Ride safe.?c?

I've now spoken directly to Progressive on the phone - and told them my exact plans (I don't want to risk having a problem with providing false info) - turns out they will provide cover to 'foreign tourists' - provided you have a bona fide address in the US to give them.
I still have to take out a 12-month policy - but they also said that if I paid two quarterly instalments and then cancelled the cover after 4 months- they would refund any extra I'd paid - minus a $30 dollar admin charge. So it's going to be $188 for the first 3 months, then $193 for the next 3 months - but when I cancel after 4 months I'll get $114.75 back. Thus total cost to me for the 4 months is going to be: $266.25. A much better deal than the $600+ mc/express are quoting for the same time period.
And - this is all above board and includes roadside assistance too!

Don't know how to get similar cover for $95!? But I'm pretty happy to pay the $266.25 for peace of mind for having a fully legit policy.
Got medical/travel cover from 1stop - which is another £135 - but provides up to £10,000,000 of medical expenses - which I sincerely hope will be enough (Though I'm hoping not to have to incur any medical costs...obviously!)

Cheers,

Eryl

I've just spoken to soemone on the phone from Navigator Travel. They have two policies - Voyager and Navigator. BOTH cover motorbike trips (as long as the bike is a mode of transport and not used for sporting reasons.) No extra 25% option is needed or anything. The bike won't be covered and neither will is cover the person I hit, but it covers me personally, all that I'm after really.

I can get with the Navigator option 12 months (including USA) for £264, or 6 months for North America at £160 and 6 months with "rest of the world" for £121. The reason for this si the policy doesn't let you return to the Uk mid policy (which I will be doing) although I don't know how they would know that!

Oh yeah, and BOTH these policies cover scuba diving as standard which is great. They have various add ons should you want to get cover for extra dangerous sports. Just go the wedsite and click - ourpolicies/longstaysingletrip/sports andadventure.

Isn't it nice when things have a happy ending. Ride safe and don't lose your no claims.
:smiliex:

Thanks Mike! I can now concentrate on the fun stuff - like route planning...

Cheers,

Eryl

An American's experience at acquiring wheels
 

I just returned to the US after a few years on the road and had to buy a motorcycle and insurance ASAP to be mobile again.

Actually, I returned to the US last August (2009) after loosing my drivers license riding around Europe. It took me roughly 5 working days to restore my expired Washington state license to a Michigan state issued version of same (with motorcycle endorsement). I used Michigan because my mail the past 3-1/2 years had been going to a brother living there (I grew up in Michigan). I had documents that were good enough to 'prove' state residency. I now have a legal residence as well as a mail address in Michigan, even though I haven't lived here in 25 years. (My brother will tolerate only so much - he says if I can fit through the mail slot I can stay.)

After getting the drivers license and doing a canoe trip with my other brother, I flew off to Bangkok for the winter. On March 31, I flew back to Michigan where all my 'stuff' lived.

In a weeks time with a bit of help with transportation issues, I agreed to purchase a used KLR650 - a common 2nd-hand bike-4-sale in this area, where used dual sport bikes are few and far between.

First step to buy the bike was purchase vehicle insurance. I took a copy of the seller's title to an insurance agency - my brother's agent. In about 10 minutes time, with my Michigan d.l. and specifics on the bike from the title, they sold me a policy with Progressive for $272 for 12 months.

To me, this was inexpensive, but so many variables go into pricing vehicle insurance in the US that it is nearly impossible to directly compare this price with any other kind of bike or person or place of purchase. I just remember I paid nearly twice that 4 years earlier on my BMW650 in Seattle.

My policy was for 100/300 (Property Damage/Personal Liability, in thousand's ) and $5000 personal medical coverage. (I know I had higher PD/PL limits in Washington state when I was working, owned a home and other assets, was a responsible, producing member of society :innocent:

I only need it for 6 months now, so for that, I paid $137. Progressive was mailing the insurance documents to the address on my drivers license (the other bro's house about 100km away). And indeed, at the end of 6 months, I plan to be outside the country again and will just not pay the premium balance (or if I stay 7 months, I'll pay a monthly premium amount and then skip town).

Back to the seller (a Kawasaki dealer), I put the KLR on my credit card:

$3,695.00 '06 KLR650 - 4370 miles
13.00 license plate fee
15.00 title/registration fee
221.00 sales tax

Since the seller was an authorized seller agent (mc shop doing business in Michigan) I let them do their job and drop off the documents to the Michigan DMV, who would then mail them to my address. I completed the deal on April 6; I would receive plates and registration within 14 days. Today is Sunday, April 17, I'm just sitting on my butt, waiting for plates and registration, wondering if the Kawasaki dealer did his job... :confused1:

Otherwise, I'm packed and ready to roll for another 6 months traveling North America. First stop; Rocky Mtn. National Park area of Tennessee/North Carolina. Its spring after all!

Maybe I'll see some of you Euros over here this summer.