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Insurance shakedown in Colombia! Insurance shakedown in Colombia!
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  #1  
Old 13 Mar 2007
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Insurance shakedown in Colombia!
Just over a week ago, Dirty and i left Cartagena and proceeded south to Sincelejo. We encountered a police check, which was no big surprise. The police wanted to see our seguro (insurance). "No tengo seguro!" He took our licences and registrations and asked us to follow him to the "office". We drove for about 20km. to the next town and the bikes were impounded in a tireshop. The cop said when we produce the seguro, we can leave with the bikes. It was Sunday and nothing was open, so i started to argue, in a friendly way, that nobody told us at Aduana that we need the insurance, and that if you enter the country from the south, it´s not required! Why here? How much is it? $250!! No way! We can´t afford that! Why?? This went on for about 10 minutes, and in the end, 100,000 peso bought our freedom (about $25 each) Who said the policia in Colombia were´nt corrupt? So, my question is, what really are the rules about insurance in Colombia? And, if it is required, how much is it? We were warned by our customs agent this would happen, but only around Cartegena. Any other experiences like this?
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Old 13 Mar 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Ron View Post
Just over a week ago, Dirty and i left Cartagena and proceeded south to Sincelejo. We encountered a police check, which was no big surprise. The police wanted to see our seguro (insurance). "No tengo seguro!" He took our licences and registrations and asked us to follow him to the "office". We drove for about 20km. to the next town and the bikes were impounded in a tireshop. The cop said when we produce the seguro, we can leave with the bikes. It was Sunday and nothing was open, so i started to argue, in a friendly way, that nobody told us at Aduana that we need the insurance, and that if you enter the country from the south, it´s not required! Why here? How much is it? $250!! No way! We can´t afford that! Why?? This went on for about 10 minutes, and in the end, 100,000 peso bought our freedom (about $25 each) Who said the policia in Colombia were´nt corrupt? So, my question is, what really are the rules about insurance in Colombia? And, if it is required, how much is it? We were warned by our customs agent this would happen, but only around Cartegena. Any other experiences like this?
I heard almost the exact story from ktmdave.smugmug.com but in bogota. he was taken to impound place where everything was close and couldn´t buy insurance. however, if i remember correctly he didn´t have to pay anything he just told the cop that he would return and buy insurance the next day which he didn´t . i didn´t buy insurance but also never got stopped by the cops while in colombia.
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Old 13 Mar 2007
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I was in Colombia last October and the customs officail at the airport wasn't going to let me take the bike till I could show proof of insurance. I paid about $40 US for it in Bogota. I have never read of this in any of the travellers blogs I have read but it happened to me. She probably did me a favor, because I got stopped at a military checkpoint in the south of the country and was asked for passport, bike permit and proof of insurance, which I had, so no problem.
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Old 13 Mar 2007
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Phew!
Somehow we made it all the way up to Cartagena without any insurance despite being stopped by police/army a tonne of times and was never asked for it.

But maybe they did ask for it and I just didn`t understand them - I remember being stopped by police on enroute to Machu Picchu in Peru and being asked for my bike documents (V5 registration and import aduana etc) but as I´d stupidly left them in the hotel in Cusco, I just smiled and handed him a laminated copy of my driving licence which he seemed happy enough with.

My own view is that they don´t always seem to know what they`re looking at and would probably be too embarrassed to ask you what a V5 document is anyway.
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Old 14 Mar 2007
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Seguro Obligotorio
Yup, we were asked for the same thing. Only heading South from Cartegena. I think we were asked to produce insurance twice out of about 6 stops as you leave the city. Not once after that.

Thier uniforms were shady, no guns. One of these guys was not in uniform and still flipped through my documents, acting like I raped his cat, I was not happy. One of the older guys was pretty insistent with me. He couldn´t stop repeating "Seguro Obligotorio", a little bit like torrets. I would not speak spanish and refused to pay anything. The younger guy was cool, got bored, and let us go. I´m not sure what the deal is exactly.

Everyone else in uniform through the rest of the country were great. Nothing but smiles.
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Old 7 Jun 2007
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Uh, what's a V5 doc? The DIAN paperwork for the bike?

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