USA trip rental insurance - can you get it cheaper?

Jesim1

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Hi Guys

I'm looking at a trip to the USA next year with some friends and trying to get my head round everything. The insurance seems to be ridiculously expencive considering my policy in the UK for a GS is under £300 for a year and I'll have travel insurance as well. I understand the insurance I need is on top of this, but I was looking at Eagleriders insurance for this:

Vacation Interruption Protection plus Theft & Damage Waiver = $35 per day

Plus

Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI) -- $300K = $14.95


So looking at $50 a day x 16 = $800, which is around £600 which just seems crazy.

Is this what I have to suffer? or are there companies this side of the pond which can sort it out or on the other side which will not fleese me?

Does anyone get their own isurance or just use the rental firms?

James
 
Rental firm HC Travel David sorted it all for me

Picked up bike in Vancouver (my choice) and travelled in USA, believe can organise insurance for your bike if your taking it.
 
Because your bog standard insurance for your awesome steed is (arguably) underpriced for a year in the UK, it doesn't necessarily follow that the Americans will necessarily do the same for temporary / rental insurance in the USA, just because you think they should.

Contact Sgt Bilco, who arguably knows more than the average bod on this site, for his advice. Failing that, Horizons Unlimited.
 
Try contacting Gail at www.motorcycleexpress.com. They are based in New York and I use them for US and Canada insurance when I ship UK bikes over for trips and they are excellent.

I'm not sure whether they will insure rentals but worth a try.

I don't know of any UK companies who offer US insurance.
 
Looks like quite good value using these guys: http://www.holidaysafe.co.uk/niche/motorcycle-travel-insurance/

I'd need normal travel insurance anyway, this one is bike specific and if you take the premium vesrion give you £2,000,000 personal liability cover which should be fine.

James

Fine (as in 'enough') for what?

Without reading the policy, I wouldn't assume that the TP liability extension includes cover relating to motoring / motorcycling activitities. It would be very rare if it did and.... even if it did.... £2m is nowhere near enough even for the UK, let alone America when it comes to Motor TP liability.
 
Fine (as in 'enough') for what?

Without reading the policy, I wouldn't assume that the TP liability extension includes cover relating to motoring / motorcycling activitities. It would be very rare if it did and.... even if it did.... £2m is nowhere near enough even for the UK, let alone America when it comes to Motor TP liability.

There is a balance for each person between how much it costs for insurance and what cover you get for it. So how much do you pay and for what cover? Do you pay £1000 a week "just in case" and have £100,000,000 cover? - Probably not?

Companies like Eagleriders which is probably the biggest motorcycle rental company in the USA only offer SLI up to $1,000,000 - which is a fraction of the £2,000,000 I mentioned, so although your suggesting getting a lot more - I personaly don't feel the need - but I appriecaite your input all the same, I did ask for advice after all.

As for it not being applicable to bikes - it's a bike specific travel insurance policy, but just to be on the safe side I'll contact them for a definative answer before I do anything. The hire bike will have full "bike insurance" as offered by the hirer, I'm just looking at the personal liability bit with this insurance.

Thanks

James
 
Looks like quite good value using these guys: http://www.holidaysafe.co.uk/niche/motorcycle-travel-insurance/

I'd need normal travel insurance anyway, this one is bike specific and if you take the premium vesrion give you £2,000,000 personal liability cover which should be fine.

James

They are very good and I use them because they offer excellent motorcycle specific cover. I've not found better to be honest.

You have to make sure any cover in the USA includes repatriation if the worst should happen and get the very best you can afford.
 
As for it not being applicable to bikes - it's a bike specific travel insurance policy, but just to be on the safe side I'll contact them for a definative answer before I do anything. The hire bike will have full "bike insurance" as offered by the hirer, I'm just looking at the personal liability bit with this insurance.

Thanks

James

My reference to £2m was only in relation to the TP if it covers you for Road Risk.

Yes, you can buy worldwide Travel policies that include motorcycling (on and off road, hired and / or owned, above and / or below 125cc etc etc etc) along with free fall parachuting, deep sea diving and for all I know, rattle snake sexing amongst a long list of 'dangerous' activities. They are not uncommon, nor particularly difficult to buy quite cheaply.

My only comment is that if you are expecting the Travel policy to include your liability to third parties caused by your injuring them whilst riding your motorcycle (ie the American equivalent of our compulsory Third Party Liability section of a bog standard UK Motor policy, the so called 'Road Risk' element) then you may well be disappointed when you read the policy conditions.

Do not think for one minute that just because someone slaps the word motorcycle onto a policy and / or claims that it's 'By bikers for bikers' it covers everything and anything to do with motorcycling; it very probably doesn't.

But hey, it's your holiday. Do as you like.
 
My reference to £2m was only in relation to the TP if it covers you for Road Risk.

Yes, you can buy worldwide Travel policies that include motorcycling (on and off road, hired and / or owned, above and / or below 125cc etc etc etc) along with free fall parachuting, deep sea diving and for all I know, rattle snake sexing amongst a long list of 'dangerous' activities. They are not uncommon, nor particularly difficult to buy quite cheaply.

My only comment is that if you are expecting the Travel policy to include your liability to third parties caused by your injuring them whilst riding your motorcycle (ie the American equivalent of our compulsory Third Party Liability section of a bog standard UK Motor policy, the so called 'Road Risk' element) then you may well be disappointed when you read the policy conditions.

Do not think for one minute that just because someone slaps the word motorcycle onto a policy and / or claims that it's 'By bikers for bikers' it covers everything and anything to do with motorcycling; it very probably doesn't.

But hey, it's your holiday. Do as you like.

To be fair Richard it's a very good policy and it does what it says on the can as we have the missfortune to find out. I think when you couple it with a good bike insurance, you have everything just about covered.
 
I'm sure it's very good.

I had tried to open the PDF of the policy wording - to read what the TP section did and / or didn't do - for the bod, but for some reason or other my Adobe reader has gone AWOL.

I only mentioned the caution as we had a bikermate on here, screaming blue murder as he'd just read that his Travel policy which - whilst covering motorcycling - excluded TP liability for injury and damage he might cause to a third party whilst engaged in motorcycling; in his opinion this was an outrageous condition and an absolute rip-off. Of course when it was explained to him that his Travel policy excluded TP liability whilst he was engaged in the act of motorcycling, as it would be covered by his Motor policy, all was well.
 
Quick update.

The insurance from holiday safe is very good for motorcycle travel insurance, but does not cover the "SLI - Supplementary Liability Insurance", so I'm still on the look out for that cheaper than Eagleriders are offering it for $15/day which I still think sound a lot over 18 days as I'll be taking the full VIP DCW insurance for the actual bike anyway.

Thanks for all the input.

James
 


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