Check Holidaysafe. All of their longstay policies cover bikes, and are a sponsor of Bike Chat Forums, so definitely cover bikes. They even have bike specific policies to stump up money in the cost of a breakdown etc.. Not that I bothered with those.

You'll still have the problem that you won't be able to return home without the policy ending though.

Yes we live in a mediocrity and the UK is particularly bad for it. Just try getting green card insurance for your bike. Insuraers in France, Spain,Germany, will hand them out no problem. In the UK only LV, Aviva, and Carole Nash (underwritten by Aviva) will offer them (at a massive price hike). In my case Aviva then backed down as they though Morocco was full of Jihadists.

I paid around £200 with AA Travel insurance Backpackers policy for a year in South America. I actually crashed and needed medical attention and Global Response dealt with the claim. I found them to be very good actually. However claiming back was a very drawn out process though to be fair this wasn't anything to do with Global Response who paid up front but the awful "Rightpath Claims". I think AA have dropped them now and it's not hard to see why.

If you're a UK citizen and looking for extended motorcycle coverage some options are, as far as I know;

AA travel insurance
Post Office travel insurance
Navigator travel insurance.

For a year all would be in the £200-300 region. Obviously double check all this before buying a policy.

NFU always gave me green cards, no problem, including for Morocco

They no longer cover bikes.

A few more calls has resulted in these replies;

Holiday Safe. In order to offer cover I have had to spend six months of the previous twelve in the UK. So a no go for me.

AA Travel insurance. Single trip policies are only available for up to 185 days. So they are a maybe if I choose to return during the year.

Post Office. To provide cover I must have a return flight booked!

Navigator. They have the same residency rules as Holiday safe, so no again.

Carol Nash was suggested by one of the other companies so I phoned them. Cover is available but only for 92 days.


Still looking...............Hahahahahaha.

zedsdead did you go with TrailFinders in the end?

There is also Carole Nash, and LV.

Hello again. Ok time to put the answer to my original question up. I have sorted the insurance. The company I used was STA. I am not sure if I contacted them a year ago when I started this travel lark.

They confirmed they cover bikes and that touring or using it as the main means of transport is not an issue.
My having been abroad over the last year was not an issue. I am a UK citizen with a passport, that was enough for them.
Also they can offer cover whilst abroad for up to two years. For me this is important. My cover does not include the States, however I can now travel to there and with one phone call continue the cover for another year. All this without having to fly back to England. This may or may not happen but to have the option is important. It also means I can if needed just extend the South America cover with a phone call. Great no insurance imposed time limit to travel.

All this was in their standard policy and when I checked a branch in a town near to me in England. So real people to talk too.

I believe and I hope I have it all sorted. They have my money and I am in their hands if something goes bad. As I said at the start it was not about price. I travel alone and need medical back up. In short if I get in big trouble I will need good help. I hope I never have to find out.

Cheers for all the input from everyone, it was a big help.

Thanks for posting your conclusion. Question: is your cover limited by the UK government foreign travel advice?

Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk

Cam belt. Hmmm, now that one I don't know. It was not a question I had ever thought of or asked.

So off the top of my head I will say this. Having looked at and used the UK.gov website for foreign travel advice I would say it is too fluid to warrant the worry. When I was in Dakar last year I looked at it regarding travel across Mali. The website showed a map covered in portion by red. The advise was not to travel within this zone. I then went to the British embassy in town to get clarification. They told me I should not travel anywhere as it was unsafe. This also included Mauritania, Senegal and Mali. So I respectfully asked them how they thought I should proceed. As Dakar was in Senegal, how should I travel back to my campsite. They were not terribly inspiring or helpful. So I believe unless a system of evacuation for travellers is put into place, eg as in after the terrible events in Tunisia I need not worry. I guess time may tell..........

Generally I've never worried too much about FCO travel advice in West Africa / the Sahel, or anywhere else really - it's really overcautious as the govt needs to cover its arse from the media frenzy that happens if people get into trouble and there wasn't any kind of warning. But in the context of travel insurance it is important, and unfortunately it's not just the red "advise against all travel" areas that you need to worry about. Most travel insurance policies will be invalid if you travel to the yellow "advise against all but essential travel" areas (except where it has just changed from green and you are making arrangements to leave).

One question I have -

All the insurance policies which include motorcycle travel state that you are only covered if you are on a public road. Does this mean;

If you were driving out of someones private property and fell off (say a large property like a ranch, farm or large hotel complex) and broke your leg, you would not be covered?

And what is a public road defined as? If it is on a map would you say it's a public road?

I'm always covered when I travel, though I don't know if I qualify as a long-term traveler necessarily. It's just not worth the risk, especially if you're in an unfamiliar area.