TRAVEL INSURANCE

For years now, we've taken out annual worldwide travel insurance. When we were based in the UK, it was about GBP 120 (call it US $180) per year for the pair of us. In France, we are still insured with a British company because the French don't appear to understand annual travel insurance, and it's just over GBP 200, call it US $300. Many travel insurances in Britain are sold on two levels, European and world-wide: European is quite a bit cheaper, principally because it excludes the United States, where lawyers' and doctors' bills can be very high.

We can recommend the company we use, Worldwide. It is worth knowing that they will insure most people, in most countries, and that you are then insured in all countries except the one you live in. They have many competitors who are also good.

Travel insurance covers health -- particularly important in the USA -- and a host of other things: luggage (though with very small limits for individual valuable items such as cameras), cancellation, missed flights/trains, delay, loss of cash (typically up to about GBP 200, US $300), death and dismemberment, and so forth.

Always check very carefully to see that motorcycling is not excluded. Some insurers exclude all motorcycling, on the grounds that it is a Dangerous Sport (there's often a heavy loading for skiing, for rather more convincing reasons). Others exclude motorcycles up to a specified capacity limit, on the grounds that these are likely to be small, poorly maintained vehicles hired by tourists who can't actually ride anyway. Yet others exclude motorcycles beyond a certain capacity limit, on the grounds that they are faster and therefore more dangerous. Read the proposal form carefully, and if in doubt, ask. When you get the policy, read that carefully too. You can usually repudiate the insurance and get your money back if it does not provide the cover you want, provided of course that you haven't already made a claim on it.

British citizens should go to their nearest Post Office and pick up an E111 (E-one-eleven) that entitles them to most forms of medical treatment when they are in other EU countries. Fill it in; get it stamped; and it is good for the rest of time. As far as I understand it, all other EU countries offer something similar. It may even have the same name.

DISCLAIMER

This information has been verified as far as possible but should not be taken as definitive. You alone are responsible for your safety on a motorcycle (or elsewhere) and should always ride and behave accordingly. Click here for the Official Health Warning.

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