Have just talked to World Nomads. Seems they no longer cover bikes over 125cc. They even rang up the underwriter for me. They no longer cover motorcycle touring apparently, due to bad claims. (anyone?). Yes this has changed recently.

The bloke from world nomads, (Mr Jordan) is very helpful, and is hopefully getting more gen / solutions and getting back to me tomorrow. I did tell him a lot of people from here would be a bit pee'd off!

But I get the impression its not looking great. Suggestions for other medical insurers (UK national) welcomed, as am off in 6 weeks, and was rather hoping to have it sorted by now. Am doing the pan americana (ish) then to NZ...

bu66er

dan

Maria did all the hard work so we don't have to... see this thread fr details:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...esidents-21155

--Mike

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www.BesideTheSeaside.eu
---I'm back. Now what?---

I'm leaving for SE Asia in 4 weeks and am planning on using world nomads. I emailed them after reading this post and recieved the following reply.


We will not pay any claim if you or a member of the travelling party rides
a motor cycle (except as a pillion passenger) without a licence that is
valid in the relevant country and you are legally allowed to ride a bike of
that engine capacity.

We will not pay for a liability arising out of your ownership, possession
or use (including as a passenger) of a mechanically propelled vehicle.

We will not pay for loss, theft or damage to anything shipped as freight
or under a Bill of Lading.


Basically as long as you are licensed etc, you are covered for medical and travel claims as per their site.

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Gone for a ride

Worldnomads seems to say different things to different people! Lost of conflicting feedback from them!
My advice, (and that cover all insurances) would be get a contract from them and read the small prints, before signing it. Remember, insurances love to get money in, hate to pay out claims. They have armies of lawyers and will use any legal trick no to pay!
People make the mistake to think that financials services somehow provide a service! But they are businesses and their only care is to provide value to shareholders. They don't give a damn about you!

__________________
Maria

www.franglais-riders.com

the advice from world nomads does seem to be a "bit wobbly".

they were definately going to call me back yesterday. they haven't.

When I queried the 125cc limit, they confirmed it. It IS definately listed as a limit in their policy restrictions.

on the other hand, Navigator Travel were knowledgable, definate about what is and is not included in the policy, and now have my recommendation (they already have my business). About the same price as WN as well, and do not have the 125cc restriction.

So thanks for all the running around Maria... much appreciated and was useful as helped me out of a (world nomads created) hole!

on the road soon....
dan

Yes, Navigator, Campbell Irvine and STA Travel seem all 3 to be fairly good and comparable prices to WorldNomad without the "wobbly feed back". Let us know how you get on with Navigator!

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Maria

www.franglais-riders.com

Interesting, on their web site they still state that bikes are covered. The problem could be that customers do not get a policy document, so in theory they could change the rules (like introduce a cc limit) and you couldn't prove that there wasn't one when you signed up. I think I need to send them an email.

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Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10

beddhist, thats exactly what I did and specifically mentioned I would be travelling on an F650. Reply was as above which I confirmed with a follow up email clarifying the facts.

Steve

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Gone for a ride

Dan, since their online policy clearly say they DO cover bikes perhaps you could ask them to show you WHERE in their policy it says that they don't? Seems a case of the left not knowing what the right is doing...

__________________
Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10

on their website they do not mention it in the FAq's or on the guidance, but when you run through the purchase routine, just before you get to put in your card details it offers a hyperlink to the actual policy wording. buried in there is the 126cc limit.

i only checked "on the off chance" just before purchase... very glad i did.

When i emailed WN, they replied with an email telling me to contact their claims department, and even kindly gave me the number... the lady there was very pleasent, but not able to help me at all. (unsurprisingly).

So then i rang them. Land line number diveted to a mobile. The man (Mr Jordan) was friendly and helpful - but when i explained the situation did the "ah yes" routine, and said he would contact the underwriters and ring me back later that day. He did return the call, having spoken to the underwriters and told me straight that "they totally refuesed to cover it", (wouldn't even give a higher premium) "because they are no longer covering motorcycle touring due to bad claims"

His words.

He then said he would see if he could get any further (esp when i mentioned a lot of HU'ers would be a bit cross), took my email, and that was that. No more contact.

Having since spoken to navigator and having recieved very good, knowledgable service at (essentially) the same price, i had no hesitation with giving them my business.

Now, even if WN would cover me i wouldn't use them before a last resort, as would have no faith that the urgent claim call wouldn't be met with... "sorry mate, you're not covered...."

my 2pworth.

dan

Strange, my emails were promptly returned and left no doubt that I would be covered. I wonder if they use different underwriters in Aus and that makes a difference. I'll have a look at Navigator too and see how they compare here.

OK, just had another look at the WN site. The policies for each country of residence are different, The Aus policy just say's you must be licensed for the bike and the UK policy has the 125cc limit.

Steve

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Gone for a ride

I have put the question to them and just received the following reply:

Hi Peter

Thanks for your note.
The confusion lies in the fact that the underwriters for the UK market have just been changed so the UK product is now different from the NZ/Australian one. Under the NZ/Australian product for residents in these countries, you are covered while riding a motorbike provided you have the relevant licence (no engine size limit). Medical and medivac are covered in case of accident etc. You would not be covered for liability should you cause an accident and were sued however (standard for all vehicles , not just bikes as per policy wording -section 4 exclusions).

The UK market cut over to the new underwriter a matter of weeks ago so they are still having a few teething problems there with the new cover (unfortunately as the blog you sent as a link is not good for our product).

When you purchase a policy, you do receive a policy certificate immediately that you can print out and also the policy wording is available from the home page. This policy wording has not changed for over 2 years now and if it does, the policy wording is honoured for the date on which you purchase the policy.

Hope this helps.

Best wishes
World Nomads


For me as a Kiwi resident that is good news, but it seems that UK residents are no longer covered. I have asked them for confirmation on this and will post the reply here as soon as it arrives.

__________________
Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10

Hi Folks,
I insured myself with STA Travel which are a bit more expensive than World Nomads but their cover seems a lot more comprehensive and they don't seem to have the weird exclusions that make me suspicious of World Nomads. (The whole 'if you are not Australian you have to visit Australia on your trip blah, blah blah' thing) But then I'm suspicious of all insurance companies.
To be covered for a bike over 125cc and for biking to be the 'main purpose' of your trip you have to go with their 'Premier' policy though, which ain't cheap. To give you an idea my 8 months Worldwide excluding USA cost £260.
Unfortunately my policy, which I have in front of me, doesn't note their website so if you're interested you'll have to google them!
Matt

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http://adventure-writing.blogspot.com

http://scotlandnepal.blogspot.com/

*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

STA website: http://www.statravel.co.uk/

And at same time : Navigator: http://www.navigatortravel.co.uk/

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Maria

www.franglais-riders.com

I have received the confirmation: UK residents are no longer covered while motorcycling. Looks like you Brits will have to insure elsewhere.

Perhaps I better take out a policy quickly, before they change underwriters for NZ residents, too. Then again, I'd have to change insurance when I want to extend it...

Ciao,
Peter.

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Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10