Off road insurance for the USA BDR

camphair

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Hi all,

I'm travelling to the US in April this year to ride the BDR of Utah and Arizona with Back Country Expeditions. The bike will be a GS1250.
I've spent the last two nights trawling through the web to try and organise appropriate travel insurance but seem to be coming up blank.
From what I can see the the major provider of this was a company called Voyager but they have pulled their product for the time being and all the other ones will not quote or will only cover up to max of125cc or only on road (tarmac).
Another one, via the Overland webpage, I found was Travel safe but they won't quote based on my age and the duration of the trip. (54 years of age on a 9 day trip. It's hardly pushing the boundaries)
For some reason Carol Nash travel insurance doesn't even list "Motorcycling" in its list of activities covered?
Would be grateful if any one can recommend a company that will provide the necessary cover.

Cheers
 
Have you asked Back Country Expeditions if they have any recommendations? As the organisers, they should know.

I had a very quick look (so not a full search) at my worldwide travel insurance policy, provided by HSBC. From a quick look, I cannot see that riding a motorcycle off-road is excluded, providing: I have the appropriate licence, I am riding in a place which is lawful and I am wearing a crash helmet. The only specific exclusion relates to ‘track events’ which I take to mean a ‘race track’ in the sense of Silverstone or Spa.

From my snap look at MY policy, I would be happy to rely on MY policy to cover ME, providing ‘the BDR of Utah and Arizona’ met the lawful category and of course that I wore my helmet.

You may need to contact a specialist broker, to ensure that YOU have the cover YOU need. Google ‘specialist travel insurance off-road motorcycling’ to see what pops-up, having in mind that the list of providers / products is not all of them. Ask those that take their bikes to say, off-roading in Iceland or along the pistes of Morocco (though I can accept that those two countries are not America) what they do and then check again that their insurance provider meets your needs. Of course, they might just ‘wing it’.
 
Have a look at Puffin Insurance.

They offer cover for Elephant Polo and Ostrich Racing, so motorcycling shouldn't be too much of a problem!
 
camphair said:
Hi all,

I'm travelling to the US in April this year to ride the BDR of Utah and Arizona with Back Country Expeditions. The bike will be a GS1250.
I've spent the last two nights trawling through the web to try and organise appropriate travel insurance but seem to be coming up blank.
From what I can see the the major provider of this was a company called Voyager but they have pulled their product for the time being and all the other ones will not quote or will only cover up to max of125cc or only on road (tarmac).
Another one, via the Overland webpage, I found was Travel safe but they won't quote based on my age and the duration of the trip. (54 years of age on a 9 day trip. It's hardly pushing the boundaries)
For some reason Carol Nash travel insurance doesn't even list "Motorcycling" in its list of activities covered?
Would be grateful if any one can recommend a company that will provide the necessary cover.

Cheers
Click to expand...

BDR should be excellent, very envious, let me know how it goes with Back Country Expeditions!

Did Alpine passes in Colorado independently in 2019, and also Continental Divide with RawHyde in 2018
just signed up with Puffin Insurance for ORS Portugal
 
We use Carol Nash
Motorcycling is covered under activities on page 9 of there policy wording.
"driving motorised vehicles (excluding
Quad bikes) for which you are licensed
to drive in the United Kingdom (other
than in motor rallies or competitions) and
wearing a helmet if driving a motorbike,
moped or scooter, segway or assisted
bicycle and wearing a seatbelt when
travelling in a motorised vehicle where a
seatbelt is available for use."

I'll let you know how good they are with claim as we're in the process.
 
Greg Masters said:
Have a look at Puffin Insurance.

They offer cover for Elephant Polo and Ostrich Racing, so motorcycling shouldn't be too much of a problem!
Click to expand...

Much more fun than Ostrich Polo or Elephant Racing.

That might depend if you are the jockey, the elephant or the ostrich.
 
camphair said:
Hi all,

I'm travelling to the US in April this year to ride the BDR of Utah and Arizona with Back Country Expeditions. The bike will be a GS1250.
I've spent the last two nights trawling through the web to try and organise appropriate travel insurance but seem to be coming up blank.
From what I can see the the major provider of this was a company called Voyager but they have pulled their product for the time being and all the other ones will not quote or will only cover up to max of125cc or only on road (tarmac).
Another one, via the Overland webpage, I found was Travel safe but they won't quote based on my age and the duration of the trip. (54 years of age on a 9 day trip. It's hardly pushing the boundaries)
For some reason Carol Nash travel insurance doesn't even list "Motorcycling" in its list of activities covered?
Would be grateful if any one can recommend a company that will provide the necessary cover.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Are you seeking travel insurance, or vehicle insurance? If the former, Tesco Travel Insurance covers motorcycling without a cc limit...
 
From the opening post, everything seems to point towards the fellow wanting personal accident / travel insurance, rather than motor insurance.

We have heard nothing back from him since his initial enquiry 10 or more days ago, in response to the suggestions made.
 
I used Navigator insurance for my TransAm jaunt and found that quite a lot of the others were with them as well. When one of the guys had an unfortunate off on Tierra del Fuego Navigator were really good in getting him looked after for his initial treatment and then repatriated home. Highly recommended.
 
Just about any half decent Personal Accident Travel insurance will do. All the buyer needs to check for themselves is that:

A. It covers the country or countries they intend to visit.

B. The activity or activities they intend to engage in are not specifically excluded or only included with prior agreement and maybe by paying an additional premium.

Most of the insurers will outsource the care part of the policy to a handful of companies who specialise in the job. This means that the care part will probably be provided by the same third party company, whether you insured by company ABC or XYZ. When I had to claim under my AA branded travel insurance, following buggering up my knee in France, the insurer was Zurich but they contracted out the care part to an Axa company.

One tip. Don’t buy the policy for just the duration of the trip. Buy it as soon as you have paid the deposit or made any kind of financial outlay in respect of the holiday, for instance paying for a flight. That way, if anything untoward happens to you before the departure date you’ll be covered, subject of course to the terms and conditions of the policy. It’s a common mistake made, that people only buy the insurance to start when their holiday starts.
 
I insured through P J Hayman for my cover,I am 67..
International cover for the country's you choose,big bike friendly,as long as your on a registered road in the country your covered..

Medical care was passed onto Healix International......and they were the people who dealt with my problem...and point off calling
When initially the ball started running..given a reference number so they could look up instantly to see the state of progress..
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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