Insurance and registration in Europe?
 

I've been riding through USA, Central and South America for last year and three months. In Uruguay at the moment. I ship my bike on May 5th to from BA to Madrid and continue riding around Europe. My bike is originally registered in California. Registration expired in November last year. i know through South America this was not an issue. I'm assuming it should be the same in Europe since they will give me temporary import permit (yes!?), but I would like to hear from someone who has experience with this. Also, what are requirements with insurance? Mandatory through European Union? Down here I only had to get it for Panama and Colombia, rest of countries were not mandatory nor anyone ever asked me for one when I was pulled over.

Hi Renimus:

Answers to your question have been extensively discussed and documented in the "Trip Paperwork" section of the forum.

The executive summary is that it is pretty easy to get insurance for a foreign motorcycle in Europe, it will cost you somewhere between 150 and 250 Euros for 3 months (prices vary a bit depending on who you get it from, but everyone sells the same product), and it doesn't matter that your American licence plate has expired, just use a hot-air gun to warm up the expired sticker and remove it from the plate.

Michael

Photo shop is a great and fast solution ...I used that system last year for my trip from Serbia to Japan with Nevada plate, NO PROBLEMMOOOO :D

Safe ride Kawazoki

Perhaps more fast than great.......

As per the first post getting insurance should be simple enough and is also a legal requirement. You may well get your bike impounded if you don't have it.


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Yes, and in Turkey and in Morocco and in non-EU Balkan states


Not exactly true. Just that they checked that you had it in those two countries.


Ah, but that isn't the same as not being mandatory, is it!.

I don't want to be a PITA, but I'm going to be, because I've been dealing with European Legislation as it effects motorcyclists for a number of years.

First of all , don't do anything silly like ''creating'' documents. European customs/police are getting shit hot on real global import/registration documentation and can spot a dud very easily. With the tightening of borders due to global unrest, customs also check everything and everyone that comes in to Europe with a vehicle , and are meticulous with paperwork.

The European Union has some very strict rules on vehicles in circulation anywhere in Europe, and this applies to foreign registered (temp imported) vehicles also. Basically, all vehicles in circulation on European roads, must conform to the roadworthiness regulations of the country of registration. If your bike no longer conforms, ( ie no valid registration ) then it is basically illegal on European roads.

There could be serious financial implications if you are involved in any incident.

Minimum Third Party ( or civil reponsibility) insurance is compulsory throughout the Union, and for insurance to be valid, then the vehicle must conform to all apsects of the roadworthiness requirements. If it isn't ( ie unregistered in it's home country) then insurance ( even third party) is nothing more than an expensive piece of paper.

You may find that insurers or their agents will ask for proof of ownership ( title) as well as current valid registration and your driving licence etc.

Make sure that you organise insurance in advance, you can't just buy it at the point of entry like you can elsewhere in the world, and customs clearance may depend on it. They won't let you leave the building without proof of Insurance.

Coming into Europe is nowhere near as easy as it was even 10 years ago, and it's not just a question of turning up at a border and trusting your luck. Get yourself prepared well in advance.

Good luck!

What can I say....some off us are not complying with all this Western ...so called ,regulations.This is my choice and my bee wrong for you`r standards but I don't work in the office from 9 to 5 and I don't go on 2 weeks vacation once a year.

Safe ride

Isn't insuring yourself against the harm your actions might do to innocent people a matter of personal integrity rather than rules.. Where do you draw the line?

Cant advise re going without valid documentation and insurance in continental europe, but playing russian roulette with only one chamber empty in UK , if insurance is not valid in Uk then vehicle can be seized by Police , at time of stop , and they have direct link to insurance database .
This is a fairly targeted enforcement in UK at the moment due to exploitation of some EU transit loopholes by some recent joined countries motorists . HTSH

By mandatory I mean you cannot enter country without insurance. Tony, not sure what your experience is riding around South America (if any) but I've been pulled over more than 20 times in different countries around here and was never asked insurance.

I plan to get the insurance just curious if it's something I need to get now before getting to Spain or I can sort to out there. Still not sure where I stand with expired registration and if I should do anything about it.

Been stopped at checkpoints in Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Turkey, Morocco, Iceland and never been asked for insurance papers. Have always had them though. Also been stopped in Australia and the US and never been asked there either. Generally nobody cares about insurance documentation until something happens.

My view is that if you can't afford insurance against damage you cause to others, then you shouldn't be on the road. Hit a bus full of kids and who pays. Whether any official asks to see the documents is quite irrelevant to whether I have them or not. (I know the insurance aspect isn't what you are concerned about because you have already said you want to get insurance)

In Australia, if an uninsured driver (who is driving an unregistered vehicle, or has stolen it or whatever) causes injury to others, then any claims are paid by the aggregate of all insurance companies so there is normal protection for the victims, but I doubt whether this is the case everywhere. Also it Australia, if you get caught driving an unregistered vehicle the fines are huge. Bet that is the case in the US as well, and I imagine in every country in the world. Of course the key words are "if you get caught".

Never been asked for an International Drivers permit either, but also carry one as well. (and that pisses me off a lot because the rip off price is about $50 a year in Australia and you can't get it postdated by even a day)

Pongo had all the answers in his very comprehensive post on EU procedures and I didn't think he left much wiggle-room. His explanation of the requirement to be legal back in the country of origin of the vehicle is nothing new and while it isn't taken seriously by a lot of travellers getting around a lot of countries with fake titles and fake insurance documents and fake license plates (because the countries don't take it seriously either) that doesn't mean that if things go wrong the police and legal system and insurance companies won't take it seriously. Your dilemma arises because there is no way of knowing whether your customs people will be proactive and check everything thoroughly, or whether they will be slack and leave things for reactive responses by others down the road.

I'm certainly not an expert on EU regulations. I just drive a vehicle there for a few months a year, but in your case, I could believe that Customs at the port of entry into Europe might not know about the little square tag on the license plates, just as their counterparts might not know about the round TUV disc on German plates in S America, and they might not notice that some titles also have expiry dates of registration and they probably won't ask to see the annual registration papers either and neither might the insurance providers who will issue you with a 10 page insurance policy and take your money in return. After all, who bothers to read all that fine print about duty of disclosure of all matters relevant to the coverage.

Just take care not to have an accident - whether or not you are in the right, or get pulled over for a traffic infringement.

I don't think anyone here can answer your questions simply because there are plenty of examples where people arriving at a border in essentially identical circumstances have vastly different experiences that are down to having different customs or immigration officials dealing with the paperwork. South America is (collectively) famous for that sort of thing. In one case, a traveller goes through three borders into Argentina with no problems and at the fourth border entry his vehicle is confiscated. Lucky three times and his luck ran out. Story is somewhere here I think.

I guess you know about the Schengen Zone and that not all of Europe is in it so there may be Customs and immigration procedures at other borders even within the EU. Staying completely within the Schengen Zone keeps things simple.

Hope your trip goes well.

Pongo said "Make sure that you organise insurance in advance, you can't just buy it at the point of entry like you can elsewhere in the world, and customs clearance may depend on it. They won't let you leave the building without proof of Insurance. " so maybe he can give you some info on how and where to get it in advance. This same point was mentioned recently on another forum so I'd say he has it right.

Thanks Tony for taking time to respond in such detail. I'll look into sorting out registration online and if not doable maybe have a friend take care of it for me and just ship sticker and document to Spain for me.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...et-cheap-34822

is regarding green slip insurance and might be useful

I just added information regarding insurance in Europe here:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...9-2#post502879