Travel Insurance
As the world opens up to travel after 2 years of the ball and chain that has been COVID-19, many of us are contemplating a week … or three, riding somewhere exotic like Asia, Europe, Canada or the U.S.
Who in the Australian motorcycling community hasn’t been dreaming of hitting the Stelvio Pass on a Ducati Multistrada, touring the Canadian Rockies on a big ol’ Harley or even that mad trip from Melbourne to Cape York? The stuff dreams are made of!
Well, I don’t generally like to go around peeing on happy peoples parades, but there’s one sure way to turn that dream into Elm Street (80’s horror movie).
INSURANCE!!!!
Travel insurance, or more to the point, lack of it. Oh, I hear the hollers already…. “who’s silly enough not to have it,” they say. It turns out plenty of people don’t have it and of those that do, a huge percentage think they have the ‘be all and end all’ of travel insurance until their butt touches a motorcycle seat.
That’s right, just because you have travel insurance, don’t assume you are covered for riding motorcycles, even that little moped thingy you and the rest of your football team where hanging off on the way home from the club in Bali.
9 times out of 10, if you have not actually sorted out a specific policy that will cover you for the motorcycling activity you are doing while travelling overseas, you are not covered once you get on that bike. Most general travel insurance policies will actually have a pretty staunch anti-motorcycle clause. If you intend to do a tour, you should make sure that is what your policy covers.
BUY BEFORE YOU FLY
Tour companies will often try to sell you personal insurance at the last minute, just before you sign the Terms and Conditions of the tour. In places like Canada, Western Europe and the USA, these policies may be worth a look at. In Asia, including India, South America, Africa and Eastern Europe its very much “BUYER BEWARE”. There is absolutely no reason why you can’t have all your insurance sewn up with a reputable company before you leave home. Do a little homework/research and get it all done - BUY BEFORE YOU FLY!
Tour companies almost never have any insurance built into the tour cost that will cover you sufficiently. Fact is, all the good reputable tour companies will demand you have appropriate travel insurance before you even pay for the tour. Not all though and it often depends what part of the world you are in, whether the tour company could give a ‘rats’.
PILLIONS
If your chosen pillion thinks they are going to pull off the usual “free loader” thing and sit back experiencing visual orgasms whilst you wrestle that huge BMW Supertourer through the French alps,...wrong! Nothing good comes for free! Pillions beware, if things should go wrong, you’re up for the price of an average Australian family home just to get out of Hospital in a lot of countries. In fact, in a lot of countries you will both possibly want to be brought home to seek better medical attention. OOOOPs $$$$$.
DOMESTIC TRAVEL
If you happen to be lucky enough to be setting up a big trip in Australia, consider topping up your accident cover before you leave. In some cases, its quite beneficial to simply take out a motorcycle friendly travel insurance policy for the duration of your trip. Again, most tour operators will insist that you have full cover even before you pay for the tour.
For the sake of a little more research and planning before your trip, please get it sorted and BUY BEFORE YOU FLY/TRAVEL to avoid a fire sale of all your much-loved assets that will ruin all the great memories of your trip in a heartbeat.
Travel insurance comparisons are available online through websites such as travelinsurancesaver.com.au and comparetravelinsurance.com.au
SAFE TRAVELS.
