Long Term Insurance.

[BrokenPaw]

Hi,
Ok, this is not specific to this area, but I thought it might be read by knowledgable types.
Tried HU and no luck.
I am struggling to find long term cover for my motorcycle throughout Europe. Bike is Uk Reg, I am Uk Resident, UK Licence.
I know it's a different game, but the folks that head to Morocco and Africa are surely spending quite a while around southern Europe.

Also, the Insurers change the rules so often that a search engine throws up answers which are too old to be current!
Hence this new thread.

Apologies that I am not really posting in the correct place, but I am hitting a brick wall.

To date.
CN will not quote for some reason
E-Bike don't do more than a month now, but I wouldn't touch them anymore.
Tried one called aleese? but they did not respond.

Most others seem to just do 3 month one off trip.

 

[GADGET]

I think 90 days max for one trip is normal, I guess that covers it for most

 

[Fanum]

What do you mean by 'Long term'?

As an example , you can (by European law) take out a Spanish Insurance policy on a UK registered vehicle.
It WILL be registered on the MIB database as insured, and because it's Spanish, is VERY likely to cover you fully comp for Morocco

You have to go into the details a bit though, as my old Toyota Amazon VX that I had on a fully comp Spanish policy ( for 200 quid cheaper than an equivalent UK based policy) would only allow me, technically, to have the truck in the UK for 6 months a year.

Don't, in other words, limit yourself to a UK based broker or underwriter.

(PS the language barrier was non-existent when I took out my policy, as I went to an office in Al Heurin near Malaga that was staffed by English Expats.....there are dozens if not hundreds of Insurance brokers down on the Costas who deal with the Expat communities all the time)

 

[BrokenPaw]

Hi everyone.
Thanks for the replies. Well, I was kinda hoping for a hassle free run with no Visas, just meandering around Europe for a year. I plan not to be in any country long enough to run into reg or licence problems. Prob only a month per country.
Looks tricky; makes the US seem a doddle.
3 months does seem the norm; however some limit it to just one of these per year.
I need to go into the fine print,but I am optimistic of a 3 month per trip and multiple trips.

I still wonder what the guys do, who wander around Europe.
I am retired, and on my Bucket List is a stroll around Europe.
I have feeling this is more difficult than keeping to one country.

Thanks again.

 

[Tim Cullis]

Have a look at the trip paperwork forum on HUBB: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/trip-paperwork/

 

[mrsroynie]

As an example , you can (by European law) take out a Spanish Insurance policy on a UK registered vehicle.
It WILL be registered on the MIB database as insured, and because it's Spanish, is VERY likely to cover you fully comp for Morocco

You have to go into the details a bit though, as my old Toyota Amazon VX that I had on a fully comp Spanish policy ( for 200 quid cheaper than an equivalent UK based policy) would only allow me, technically, to have the truck in the UK for 6 months a year.

This is really interesting to us too. We are now in the position that we should be re-registering our bikes in Ireland but the thing that is really off-putting is the idea of loosing our French insurance. Our AXA policy has no particular restriction on trip length, no restriction on authorised riders and the green card even covers us for Russia. It's well worth us asking if we can continue to insure with them ... Though, with the French, I can't help feeling that things won't be quite as straightforward as with the Spanish.

 

[Jav]

On first reading these guys seem to offer 365 European cover
May be worth checking out the small print- devil is always in
The detail
http://www.ebikeinsurance.co.uk/eu-riding.php

 

[BrokenPaw]

Hi Jav,
Put it this way, e-bike have my money, and the devil is indeed in the detail!
They restrict the time in Europe on each stay to one month!

 

[BrokenPaw]

Hi Tim,
I trawl through that.
I see I already feature in it as asking advice, but got no replies - yet.

One of the problems is that Insurers keep moving the goal posts, and as I found out, 6 months is a long time in Insurance terms. What worked and was promised a few months ago, gets changed real quick.

Thanks everyone for replying.

 

[Wapping]

As an example , you can (by European law) take out a Spanish Insurance policy on a UK registered vehicle.....

There is a (European) law that Spanish insurers must (I guess, if requested to do so) insure UK registered vehicles? Nobody should knock the EU ever again. This is the death knell for UKIP.

I can only hope that this law is extended to embrace UK and the rest of Europe soon, as I rather fancy insuring my British registered motorbike with a Finnish insurer one year and an Italian the next. If they say no, I will take my case to the local police station here in Wapping and demand that they arrest the chairman of the Finnish (or Italian) insurance company for refusing to obey European law by failing to sell me an insurance policy. I will then burn the Finnish Embassy to the ground, imprison the ambassador and murder his children in various ways. His dog, I will simply let loose to roam the streets. That's UKGSer law!

It WILL be registered on the MIB database as insured.....

Despite having a well developed imagination, I can't quite picture how the Spanish Motor insurer in Barcelona or Cadiz accesses the UK's MIB database, other than through telepathy. The Greek submissions to the MIB must be a laugh, not least as they write all funny.

 

[mrsroynie]

Sorry to bump this old thread, but we've just had a bit of a revelation. This won't suit everyone, but it appears that any EU resident buying a motor insurance policy in their own country automatically has minimum third party cover to ride or drive in any EU member state and a number of other non-EU countries that are signed up to the 'First Directive on Motor Insurance'. Strictly in terms of minimum third party cover, insurance companies cannot limit the number of days you spend outside your own country of residence. While it isn't ideal because you aren't getting the same level of cover that you would get at home, it is massively important to people with second homes, for instance, who don't want to be tied to a 30 day trip.

DIRECTIVE 2009/103/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL ....

(25) Some insurance undertakings insert into insurance policies clauses to the effect that the contract will be cancelled if the vehicle remains outside the Member State of registration for longer than a specified period. This practice is in conflict with the principle set out in this Directive, according to which compulsory motor insurance should cover, on the basis of a single premium, the entire territory of the Community. It should therefore be specified that the insurance cover is to remain valid during the whole term of the contract, irrespective of whether the vehicle remains in another Member State for a particular period, without prejudice to the obligations under Member States’ national legislation with respect to the registration of vehicles.

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/insurance/consumer/motor/index_en.htm#maincontentSec1

We didn't quite believe that insurance companies were actually complying with this rule, so we checked a few UK and Irish policies and, sure enough, most do have a clause relating to minimum third party cover and refer to the European Directive. Some couch the wording in such a way as to imply that there is a limit on trip duration, but the limitation usually only refers to the 'comprehensive' part of the policy covering damage, theft, etc. As I said, it won't help you if you want full cover while you're abroad, but in terms of simple legality, there shouldn't be an issue riding around Europe for the whole duration of the policy.