Travel insurance for motorbike holidays
Riding a motorcycle or scooter on holiday can be a thrilling, inexpensive way to travel...until something happens! Make sure you have adequate cover.
Travelling overseas on a motorbike can be a thrilling way to travel. You feel free, can go where you want, stop and stay for however long you like, and leave when you're ready with very little fuss. You're not tied to a schedule of rushing from A to B, squeezing onto uncomfortable overnight buses or stressing about missing expensive flights. You can make your own path and go at your own pace...all whilst looking hip and cool.
The tricky thing about overseas motorbike holidays is finding a good travel insurance policy that will cover you. Many insurers say a flat out 'no way' for covering you on a motorbike, but there are policies out there for you. Some insurers will cover you for no additional charge for a bike up to 125cc. If you're planning on riding a more powerful bike, you can often get cover for a small additional premium. Have a good look online and you'll be able to find a policy that suits you. Comprehensive cover that has unlimited medical and hospital expenses, as well as emergency medical assistance would be the best option. There would be nothing worse than getting seriously injured in a foreign country, then to have to fork out thousands of dollars for medical bills, not to mention trying to work out how you're going to get yourself home. You want to make sure that if you are riding a motorbike or a scooter overseas you will be completely covered by your travel insurance no matter what happens, because after all, no rider no matter how experienced can ever know exactly what will happen on the road.
Apart from your health and medical expenses, the second major factor you want to be sure to have travel insurance cover for is rental vehicle excess. Renting a motorbike can be pretty cheap until of course you have an incident and find yourself facing a whopping rental vehicle excess of a few thousand dollars. Many travel insurance companies will cover rental vehicle excess, so do your research and compare lots of different quotes and policies to make sure that this will be covered. This way you will save a significant amount of money not only on the rental vehicle excess, but you will not need to pay the extra daily rate for the rental company to lower their excess.
Licensed to thrill
If you're travelling to a foreign country make sure you get your International Drivers Permit (IDP) - preferably before you leave! This allows you to drive or ride the same class of vehicle you are permitted to ride in your home country. So, if you are NOT covered to ride a motorcycle or scooter in Australia, you are not permitted overseas. It's strange how we tend to throw caution to the wind, when on holiday. Many of us have absolutely no training and no experience riding a motorbike or scooter at home, but seem to think we'll master the skills on the spot in a foreign country.
You can apply for an IDP overseas, but make sure you're ticking the right boxes. You may be able to fool the traffic cop in Thailand that you have a motorcycle licence, by 'ticking the box' when you got your IDP, but it won't cut the mustard with your travel insurance company. If you DO have a valid motorcycle license, be thrilled! Your licence will be accepted in over 150 countries including Bali, Indonesia, Laos, and Thailand.
Finally, contact your travel insurance provider before you purchase travel insurance for your motorbike holiday to double check the policy details. It often pays to make to take a few minutes to make that short phone call to clarify. When riding motorbikes or scooters overseas you are taking risks with both your health and your money. So do your research, compare different quotes and different policies. Don't just settle for first or the cheapest policy you find.
