To me, part of the beauty of riding a motorcycle is that it can be a relatively cheap means of transportation.

So it does rile me that insurance cost is so high.

I am based the UK, looking to travel around Europe for shorter periods of time throughout the year. In the UK I would normally go for a Third Party, Fire and Theft policy, but this would cover me in the UK only.

If I decide to take my bike abroad for a few months, is it a legal requirement to have additional insurance for the bike? Apologies if this is considered a lame question but riding abroad is completely new to me.

Cheers,
Toby

In France, and I think throughout the EU, you have to have third party.
Maybe it is time to change you insurance provider. I had 3rd party that covered me for europe, when i lived in UK.
Now Ilive in france I pay 86 Euros ayear, third party plus medical care for me and pillion. It covers me for all of the EU.
France is biker heaven, no road tax or MOT's either

Now that sounds like a good deal, oldbmw... shame we do no have those in the UK

I did look at insurance from Carole Nash, which I think covers Europe, but again it is pricey. So I was hoping this was not a legal requirement.

Well, I bit the bullet and went for a TPFT policy from Carole Nash. It includes 90 days of travelling within the European Union (at 30 days per trip) as well as UK and European breakdown recovery (x4 per year). This set me back £468.

The limit of 90 days is not ideal but it will be more than enough for now as I am merely starting to think about riding abroad.

Ebike ( http://www.ebikeinsurance.co.uk/ ) give you 12 months Europe cover as standard on their policies, and are the cheapest I found.

I looked at ebike, but they only give you European cover if you take out a full comprehensive policy.

I thought that as a legal requirement, your insurance company must cover you for the minimum cover required by any EU member state. So this 90 day thing is bollocks.

Every policy you buy in France and Germany comes with a green card valid for the period of insurance.

I may be wrong but....

John

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Nostradamus Ate My Hamster

Thanks John, I hope you are right, it would make the policy so much better!
I should investigate... Now what is a green card...?

Think I better put the search function of the HUBB to good use!

I switched to ebike when re-newing earlier this year. They had the cheapest of 3 quotes. The basics of my cover are --

TPFT cover for the UK and the whole of Europe; the countries are listed and, no, that list does not include Morrocco.
Cover throughout Europe, 365 days - no ringing them to let them know that I am going "abroad" (how antiquated is that routine?).
Up to 4 bikes can be on the one policy.
Free legal expenses insurance - I think this is in the first year only, to get you to transfer.
I understand that you can pay by the month, and not pay when you are not riding, such as in the winter (I don't have that facility).

And, I like this bit - the whole policy is controlled by me online. I can change it anytime and anyway that I want, interactively with this computer. I have done this once, and there were no costs and no charges, with new paperwork received in the post after a few days.

That web link is all you will get, until you are a customer -- all done online.
Their office address is at Aust, near the Severn Bridge, Gloucs.

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Dave

Quite agree, the 90 day, 30 day, any number of days thing is a load of tosh. As ever, we are ripped off with extra charges for every time we even want to talk with an insurer; I laugh every time I see the "Bennetts" advert on bike racing on the TV - someone has to pay for all of that advertising; I used to, by being one of their customers, but I got fed up with charges applied for mid-term changes in the policy: change of bike or whatever, "that will cost you sir".

Further to my last post about Ebike: they don't issue a green card as such and it is not required for Europe - the whole policy says this. It is just a case of carrying the policy document with the cover note.
I also understand that this is part of the EU legislation: even the bike insurance companies have to fall into line!

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Dave

Carole Nash provided one of the two higher quotes that I got earlier this year when re-newing; nothing against them, they were simply more expensive.
Oh yes, nearly forgot, they had this limit thing about how many days you can ride in Europe without letting them know (and potentially paying a supplement).

I can't remember who gave me the other higher quote.

Incidentally, I have used Honda's own insurance a few years ago; it was very good (and keenly priced) when they first came out with their scheme and very popular with Honda owners - then slowly I realised that they are, in fact, a "broker" for another of the large insurers.
I "innocently " enquired about how I would get insurance if I changed my bike from a Honda to some other make and they were not bothered; so long as I stayed with "Honda Ins" I could have any make of bike!! = Marketing once more.

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Dave

If you intend doing more travelling, you might want to consider which bike to use. In the UK. BMW insurance is very cheap for older models. These are fine throughout europe providing you stay on surfaced roads...... off tarmac they may not be yout first choice. Japanese sports bikes with lots of plastic seem to attract higher premiums.

Another thought, maybe insure your bike here TPFT in France, as well as in the UK tpft, if you can have the use of a French address.

Thats a fortune! I pay £178 for 3 bikes! TPFT Carole Nash.

Get back to them.....

In the U.S., insurance rates are hard to compare between people. They are based on a number of factors, including:

1) The insured's driving record: points (tickets) and accidents,
2) previous claims: for instances of damage, vandalism, theft, etc.
3) one's local: cities, counties, states all having different amounts of vehicle theft, accidents, vandalism, etc. hence higher rates
4) ones coverage limits - 3rd party medical and liability coverage. Someone who wants to be indemnified for 100,000 per incident is certainly going to pay less than someone who wants to be indemnified for 300,000 or 500,000 (or whatever the numbers are you work with).

If one is talking about comprehensive coverage (collision, theft, fire and other damage), then
1) the deductible amount
2) value of the bike(s) - newer, bigger more expensive than older, smaller
3) one's overnight parking situation (locked in a garage, out in the open air, etc.)

I'm guessing that in GB you have a similar set of factors the companies use to determine your premiums, but nowhere do you guys talk about any such things, so it seems to me it would be really hard to know whether a quote of 468 is too much money to be paying. And a quote of 178 for 3 bikes may be totally insufficient coverage for someone else.

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quastdog
Chiang Mai, Thailand

With you on that quastdog; the systems in the UK are similar, maybe even more detailed:- I could have got a discount if I stated that I would not carry a pillion passenger; that would mean that I would not carry such a passenger ( ) who could claim against me if I crashed the bike.

For my insurance, I have many, many years of no claims bonus with the no claims discount protected in any event, even if I make a claim (up to 2 claims in any year I think from memory) - never have really understood that bit, but it is all related to even further insurance cover taken out by the main insurer for the risk, IMO.
I pay £78 per year for TPFT cover on a single bike - to add another was quoted as £38, but I didn't take that 'cos the bike is laid up in the garage anyway.

The point; it is all about risk and the perception of risk - someone brought up with 1st world standards will probably be risk adverse, far more so than someone who has no such experience of H&S BS and the rest of it.

Here in the UK there are ideas bandied around to introduce insurances that are based on where you ride & how you ride as well as what you ride, age etc etc - big brother stuff based on GPS tracking of you, where you go, what roads you get on and off (motorways are statistically safer than minor roads), what time of day you travel, etc etc. You would pay for this interactively via your credit card - deducted automatically as you travel.
It would have to be compulsory of course!.

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Dave