Hi
Have heard they are hot on insurance in Mauritannia and that we will be unable to buy it at Diama border. Any info on this and where is the earliest we can buy it

Regards

Becky
www.2riders-1dream.com

AGM is the company- Kiffa is where I bought mine here:
N16 37.222 W11 24.305
Bon Voyage

>>THEY are hot on insurance in Mauritannia

Well ,at least to me , It seems that they don't care at all about insurance . I never -ever- carry/buy Insurance in Mauritanie , and almost never in Senegal neither.

Most of the time , the insurance bought of in Morocco (45 Euros 5 days ) looks "ok " for the Mauritanian police , and most of all looks ok for the Senegalese police aswell , Its written on Arabic/ French , looks very official , and -specially if you add by hand "RIM" "SENEGAL" .. It works like a charm

I know that most people will think "wtf are you endorsing dodging/faking an insurance policy!!!" , etc...

but the truth is that this isurance is just a scam. Looks like a insurance , but is a scam.


And I got a friend which had a really nasty experience in Nouadibou (he hit a donkey cart , kililng 1 occuper , maiming the other , and the donkey ) and the INSURANCE DIDNT MOVE A FINGER. THE INSURANCE NEVER PAID , nor even answered the phone . The INSURANCE even didnt help him with the police/court hassle/costs.
What's even worse. The insurance policy had a "Mutu assuances , France group" logo on it ., and of course , Mutua Assurances from France had never-ever heard of a "Mauritanian Insurance" . and of course they didnt cover the damage neither.


At the end of the day , my friend could settle up for 4000.000 UM with the family ( around 12.000 Euros) and is a free man again (and really well well well away from RIM).

Have a nice day

thats right attitude. The insurance in Morocco and below is just to get easier with police and 'police'. I crushed into a car in Senegal, didnt had that insurance paper, nobody cares, just negotiate, pay, and leave as soon as normally possible, or faster. I know people who had home printer made insurance papers with them.

The insurance is more for just a formality in case or when should i say we get pulled. Easy to bribe your way out as we never bothered with morocco insurance either!

There are also serious companies in africa who also pay out on claims. There was a story either here or on the old swiss forum about a year ago about two people in Atar whose insurance paid out.

Serious insurance companies in most countries do eventually pay out and having lived there for 8 years I have experienced it several times.

The insurance is almost always third party for non residents, but at least if you do kill or maim someone they stand some chance of a payout.

In Bamako I am aware of a case where an uninsured European killed a man late at night and killed him. He left the country illegally, the family were given what was left of his car as he wasn't insured, they sold it for scrap for about 600 euro. He was the main breadwinner, after that i don't know how they got on.

You don't have to buy insurance but if you spend thousands on going to Africa and then have an "up yours" attitude to things like insurance then thats your own problem.

There have also been a few cases where people weren't as lucky as Javier's mate and have spent a fair bit of time in african jails. Think about that too.

1- If you have an UK insurance policy, you will be insured Third party ONLY for Morocco- just tell your insurance or broker
2- Relying on bribery to get you out of getting insurance is neither wise nor helps your fellow travellers as this raises the 'expectations' (and price) of those in authority who will challenge you at road blocks etc.
3- Insurance for both Mali and Mauritania can be purchased- they operate & have different 'tier' levels- the more cover you want the more expensive it gets; nothing new here!

a word of caution- If you don't have insurance AND get pulled AND pay a bribe-... don't think you've gotten away with it...... the one you paid the bribe to will have phoned his colleague with his mobile and passed on all your description. They will be on the look out for you too and pull you in again....and again..... and you will end up paying a huge amount with no redress/recourse.
They know how to 'milk' travellers....

Totally agree !
We all like to bend the rules a little in our favor, but thinking paying bribes is a better way than spending a few cents on insurance...

If you, unforseen, do need it and they pay-out, great!
If they don't, atleast you tried, and it wouldn't cost you more than carry nothing, have to pay and bribe yourself out.
Most of us are travelling with some sort of travel-insurance (just incase you break a leg or 'loose' your beloved camera/laptop) which at the end of the trip did cost you a lot of money (too much money if you didn't need it but that's why it's a insurance).

That said, I can imagine the agencies can look a bit 'dodgy', and the paperwork is really (mostly) paperwork.

Back to the original question;
In Mauritania you are supposed to buy insurance at the first big town/opportunity you arrive (on tarmac).
So coming from Morocco buy in Nouadhibou or if you go straight into the desert to Atar, Nouakchott you buy it there when you arrive.
If you come from Mali, you buy in Nema, Timbedgha, Ayoun, Kiffa, Aleg etc.
Coming from Senegal I wouldn't know but I can imagine there is a agency in Rosso otherwise just go to NKC and arrange it there.
If you go to Senegal you can buy insurance for Senegal in NKC, skipping that dreadfull person at the Diamma-border.
In the rest of NW-africa you can buy a insurance for most of the countries in one time ( called a 'carte brun' ), you just have to pay a bit extra for every country you want to add to this carte brun. It's valid for most/all CFA using countries + the ECOWAS countries (or is this the same?).

Regards, drive save...

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bart & sophie

Hi,
Surely having insurance has to cost less than repeated bribes and the day someone's donkey, goat, etc. (or worse) goes mad and causes a multi car pile up you'll be happy you did get it (if the company's a good one).

Thankfully I didn't need to call on the insurance companies I used, who knows if they are serious?

Perhaps those who have had the misfortune to need to call an insurer could add the info on which companies have dealt effectively with claims and which ones stalled until you gave up.

Tips on buying the insurance: do it before word gets round you're in town, go to the office in a taxi, have a "carte grise" (logbook in french) which lists "chevaux fiscaux" (nothing to do with real hp).
A fully prepped overland vehicle (especially if it's not an ordinary LR/TLC) parked in front of the insurer's office is a sure way to increase the price; its chevaux fiscaux that counts.

happy trails
Luke

Calm down you lot!
What i wanted to know is where to buy the insurance. Morrocco is the first country in about 20 where we have not brought insurance and believe me we have tried without sucess.
So can we stop the slagging about bribes and all the rest as WE WANT INSURANCE but where do we buy it?
By the way we also have never needed to or tried to bribe a police officer!

I'm perfectly calm, don't worry..

bmw.bec:
When you come from Morocco, the first oportunity to buy insurance is in Nouadhibou. There are several agents of different companies. Don't worry about the road from border to town, it's perfectly normal you don't have a insurance because you just arrived. There is a slight possibility someone want to check this when you leave the town.
If you go to camping Baye du Levrier, standing in front of the gate first office at your left hand. If you first want to chill after the bordercrossings go the next day and Ali, the campsite-owner, propably will/can point things out/help if you prefer. I've been told the same goes for the other campsite.

regards

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bart & sophie

Hello BMW,
It sounds like you're coming out of Senegal, therefore northbound.
Are you sure Mori's not on your carte brune? Check also the main certificate, sometimes it says valid for TRANSIT of... That'll get you to NKT
If you cross at Diama, and take the left fork away from the digue some kms later (someone will have the GPS coords) your first city is NKT with a minimum of checkpoints.

Olivia at Auberge Menata will know where to point you once in NKT

If you follow the digue all the way to Rosso (which I strongly advise you against) I doubt the checkpoints on the NKT road will let you continue without having bought something in Rosso.

Do a quick search of the HUBB for Rosso and you'll see why many prefer to avoid it.

Who can confirm that MORI insurance is available in Rosso?

I would still like to (ab)use this thread to collect info on which companies are serious.
cheers
Luke

As Sophie-Bart pointed out, the office next to Ali's campsite sold insurance me twice. I havent had any chance to check the quality of that insurance, by trying to get something be paid, but I met couple of Spaniards in that campsite who said it was big help when they crashed in NDB, just 5 mins after insurance had been bought. I can try and find the name of that company tonight, if I might still have those papers.
On other hand, I came from Diama to Nuakschott last year, was stopped for check 3 times, nobody asked for a insurance, I think, they are aware, if you come from Rosso direction, you must have one, just like Luke said, they dont let you in without...

Has anybody have had any experience with Alessie Insurance?
http://www.alessie.com
I can't find any review about them on the net. It also seems that their web site has very few visitors (according to Alexa).

Are they really a serious company?

you do need to get it at the earliest reasonable opportunity, even if it means a slight detour. I didn't, intending to get it at the next main town I actually reached, got pinged and had to pay the fine and the insurance, copper said I should have made the detour to the first town to get it, fair point!!

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1990 Landcruiser H60. Full rebuild completed 2014