Insurance is looking like being a real problem. Basically live in OZ, am coming to the UK to travel around for about 12 months. Buying bike over there to use.
No one will insure me because I am not a UK resident.

My question is I am not the only one in this situation so what have other visitors done to get their bike insurance?

Cheers
Wilky

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We've taken a vow of poverty. To annoy us, send money.

I was in the same predicament recently and had to cancel my trip due to the unavailability of insurance. Unfortunately, the compulsory third party insurance over in the UK is not included in the rego as is the case over here in OZ. So you have to buy the insurance separately and no one will touch you as a non resident.

It is totally absurd, but that's how it is or at least that is what I found out through my enquiries over some 4 months.

If you ship your own bike into the UK the story is different. There are some european companies that will insur you. If I am wrong and you come across any insurance company that will provide the basic insurance, please let me know.

Arisa provide the basic third party for Europe including the UK.

See here for the cheapest way to get it.
Stephan

I have emailed Arisa and I am waiting for their response.

Incidentally, Knopf Tours mentioned in one of the other threads do not provide the required cover for UK if the bike is registered in the UK. They provide cover only if you ship in your own foreign registered bike. I have an email from them confirming this.

Well, Stefan Knopf provides the same Arisa insurance (acting as the middle-man) so then it might be the case that the Arisa insurance is not appropriate in your case.

Surely there are numerous current visitors to the UK, e.g. from eastern Europe who are driving UK-bought vehicles. What do they do? What is the definition of a 'resident' for the UK insurance industry? Does it mean having an address in the UK or a certain kind of visa?

Hope you manage to find a solution.
Stephan

It seems that having an address in the UK is not helping resolve the issue, as I offered all insurance companies and brokers that particular option. Therefore, it appears to me that you need to be a proper resident, ie have the appropriate status with the appropiate visa.

Will keep looking.

Cheers

Try this lot, they may just be able to help you:-

Camper Van Insurance and Motor Vehicle Insurance

They specialise in campervan insurance for Australians and New Zealanders coming to the UK, so they may know for bikes.

Otherwise:

• Do you have a friend in the UK?
• Would they be willing to put their name on the registration of your bike?
• Would they also be willing to insure it with you as a named rider?

Which might well work, I just tried it as an online quote with:-

Bennetts Motorcycle Insurance, Motorbike Insurance, Moped, Scooter, Bike

who were the first on the list for Google and put in me at my old UK address as owner and first rider with a UK licence and it was £99 for a GS1200 Adventure, I then put in my cousin at the same address with an international licence and it was still do-able although it did leap to £261.

But they were the first people I Googled "UK Bike Insurance" so you might get better.

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Call don't mail, this lot are Muppets. You can put whatever you like on the online form and it'll just ignore the bits it doesn't like. When your policy comes through you'll find vital bits missing. Give them a call then and it's "but we don't do that cover Sir". Your money comes back in about 2 months

Carole Nash are the other big online In-Sewer-Ants. They are Waldorf to Bennetts Statler!

Andy

Ok fellow sufferers from the hands of insurers, I am getting there. Give me a day or two and hopefully I will post the identity of at least one insurer who will cover visitors to the UK on a temporary basis. It only took me 5 months to get to this point but may be it was worth it for the sake of helping all other adventurer like me.

Thanks, Alexlebrit. Unfortunately, the Campervan insurers don't insur motorcycle in the UK. I have contacted Bennetts with my query in the past but with no success.

As to the option of named rider, although I have considered it, have been trying to solve the problem without it. In any event, the person in whose name the insurance policy is to be issued needs to have a rider's licence too.

I have also heard about special arrangements being made with dealers. For example, if there is a buy back arrangement, the dealer keeps nominal ownership of the motorbike and you ride it until you resell the bike to the dealer.

Although from a distance most dealers will agree to such arrangements, you never know what actually happens once you get there.

Because of these uncertainties, I have not pursued these kinds of options.

As a general note, I know I am preaching to the converted, but having worked with insurers for many years, I know that insurance policies are issued on the basis of "risk".

The risk is the same whether one rents a bike or buys a bike. In fact, if you own the bike you would look after it better than if you are simply renting it.

Therefore, if in my view the porblem is absurd.

Hopefully, I will be able to locate an insurer soon. Have been narrowing down the "target".

Ok. Here it is. The only positive feedback I have received so far is Italsure.

Details are as follows: Italsure, the email address is insur@italsure.com

The contact person there is Oliver Thornton and his telephone number is 44 2071178283.

I am still looking and if I come across any other insurers I will post it here.

Try this:-
eBike Insurance - Bike and Classic Bike Insurance from eBike Insurance

It is a fully automated system of getting ins, based online only.
I have just tried it (I am insured with them anyway) and it seemed to be OK for quoting me to insure another bike.
What you need is an address in the UK: it does not ask you how long you have been here etc.
Where it asked about my driving licence (in the blurb it says that only a UK or EU licence is acceptable) it actually offers an option for an international licence, so that was my choice; it did not ask me any more.

I went as far with my new quote to get past the bit about the rider and start filling in the details about the bike: from memory of my current ins, this is straight forward and needs to be a bike that is registered in the UK (perhaps also the EU, I don't know on that point).

Good luck, in this day and age someone must offer insurance!!

ps You can't talk to anyone with this insurance quote even if you want to, until it is accepted - they don't give you a telephone number until then. So you just have to answer the questions online "creatively" without lying.

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Dave

I have contacted ebike as well. I have received an email from them confirming that they will not insure a non UK resident.

Dont sweat the "resident" thing. Just buy insurance over the internet, use a credit card.

There are millions and I mean millions of illegal immigrants in the UK who dont have a clue about road tax or insurance and just drive around totally unaware of the requirement - much to the disgust of the locals.

If you buy a bike from a dealer's, just tell em to insure it for you in the purchase price.

As long as you have a UK address for items to be posted too its easy. If you get stuck I can give you some info about driving licence numbers if that is a requirement. Age can be a drama - same as in Aus, 1000cc bike and under 21 you have no chance.

A lot of UK insurers will even recognise Australian no claims bonuses - well for campervans anyway.

BTW you get the legal minimum insurance in any EU country (plus a few others in EU zone of influence - Norway) that you travel through - you dont have to have a Greencard. Although the GC gives you the same insurance cover as you have in the UK.

Don't bother "talking" to them, just get a quote from them in the way I describe - you don't have to pay until you are happy with the quote.

No one here is trying to define "residency" I notice - the tax man in the UK has a definition: you don't want to get into that!!

ps Here's a database of addresses to get a quote (you still need a "real" one for the actual ins):
Search for People, Businesses and Maps - 192.com
BTW, if you get a quote for, say, London, it will probably cost more than other bits of the UK.

RogerM has it right BTW.

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Dave