Hi Pat:

The "problem with insurance" that international travelers like you and I have is that each individual country in the world has their own accreditation process for the company that issues the insurance, and, unless two countries happen to be side by side (like Canada and the USA) or associated together in some kind of common economic zone (like the EU), insurance issued by a company in one country is not recognized by any other country.

For example, I live in Canada, and have a Canadian-plated motorcycle. My domestic (Canadian-issued) insurance is valid in Canada, and because of a mutual-recognition treaty between Canada and the USA, it is also valid in the USA. But it is "not recognized" (in other words, not valid) in any other country in the world.

I frequently ship my motorcycle to Europe, to ride there. Europe has a "common market", and because of that common market, it is possible for insurance companies to sell policies that are valid in all of the EC member nations. This means that you can ride (for example) from Ireland all the way to the eastern border of Romania on one policy.

Because tourists sometimes ride into European countries from outside this "common market", just about every country in Europe (both EC countries and non-EC countries) has at least one insurance company that offers policies to tourists from outside Europe, like you from NZ or me from Canada.

What you need to do is purchase insurance from one of these companies. I suggest you contact Dooby (who posts here as Frgich). He sells this 'green card' insurance that is provided by a Croatian insurance company, and it is valid in about 20 countries (more about that in a moment). I have been buying insurance for my Canadian-plated bike from him for several years, his level of service is excellent. Buying this tourist insurance is kind of like buying gasoline: the product is identical no matter who you buy it from, so, you buy it from the place that offers the best price and best service.

The "green card" we are talking about is an EC-defined form. When you buy an insurance policy in Europe, it is written up on this standard green-coloured form, and the form has check-boxes on it to indicate what countries the insurance is valid in. These policies are valid in all EC countries and some (but not all) of the EC candidate countries.

If you plan to go from France to Siberia, you will probably need to make three insurance purchases, as follows:

1) A 'green card' policy that will cover you in all the European countries from France to Slovakia or Poland (inclusive).

2) A policy for Ukraine. You buy this at the Ukraine border crossing. It's dirt-cheap and a quick process to get it, the sales office will be at the same location as any major border crossing into Ukraine. I've done this many times, most recently last year, there is nothing to worry about, and no point in trying to buy it before you reach Ukraine.

3) A policy for Russia. I don't know how this works, but I expect you buy it at the Russian border, same as with Ukraine. I'm pretty sure another forum member will explain how that works to you.

In all cases, what you are buying is "liability only" insurance that indemnifies you for damage or injury caused to others by you when you are riding your motorcycle. None of these policies gives you any benefits, for example, if you get hurt or your motorcycle gets wrecked or stolen, too bad, you have no insurance coverage. For what it's worth, it is practically impossible to buy that kind of coverage for a foreign (tourist) vehicle, so ride carefully.

Michael