Touring Time: The Ins and Outs of Travel Insurance

Motorcycles. It is all sex, glamour, and high-octane excitement, not boring topics like Travel Insurance and Breakdown cover.

Nonetheless, having decided that winter is over, it is time to start deciding on tour destinations, planning, scheming and trying to ensure we don’t get into too much trouble by having a basic idea of whatever rules might apply.

Spain will discontinue warning triangles at the end of 2025 and replace them with V16 lights. These are “strongly recommended” for motorcyclists but not a requirement (yet).

The topic of French Helmet stickers will come up again, as it does every year. According to their website, ETIAS will not come online in the first half of 2025, but they also skipped over when it will come online. Like I said – sex, glamour and excitement.

And so, to the very grown up and sensible topic of Travel and Breakdown Insurance.

Good to Know

First, I need to say that we are journalists, not insurance advisors, lawyers or experts in anything. What follows is the stuff we have worked out, and hopefully, I’ve not cocked up in writing this down because I organise the tours.

The next thing is that all policies and circumstances are different. This is what we found that applied to us. Hopefully, this points you in the right direction and tells you where to look to see if there is a gap in the cover you want.

And lastly, we have nothing to do with any of the companies we mention here other than being customers. We pay the same price as you do, and they don’t advertise with us, kick back a bag of greasy fivers under the table, or support us in any other way. Not even a cup of coffee.

125cc Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is often included with bank accounts and other financial products as a “freebie” or an add-on to another product.

Buried in the small print of these policies is often a capacity limit for a motorcycle you hire while travelling. Typically, it is 125cc, but not always.

The keyword to look for is Hired or something similar. What this is saying is that any motorcycle, moped, or scooter you hire while travelling can’t exceed 125cc. However, assuming motorcycling is covered under your policy – more on that in a moment – you won’t have travel insurance (medical) if you hire a bike greater than 125cc. However, this size restriction does not apply to your motorcycle because you didn’t hire it.

I called the insurance company that provided the travel insurance that came with my bank account about this and checked. And yes, if I hired a bike bigger than 125cc, I was not covered, but riding my motorcycle, regardless of its capacity, was covered.

Where Can I Find …

Hertz Rent a Bike Faro

Tired of the grey days in the British Winter, I considered taking a cheap flight to Faro and hiring a bike from Hertz, which appears to operate from the airport. According to their website, one-way and round-trip hire is available.

I couldn’t find a capacity restriction on motorcycles I hire in my Carole Nash Travel Insurance policy. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one, only that I couldn’t find one.

Had the trip come together, I’d have called Carole Nash and double-checked. The idea of five days riding in the sunshine appealed greatly, but Snr Management had other ideas. “Keep the sunshine; leave the motorcycle.”

Is Motorcycling Covered?

Not all travel insurance covers you for motorcycling, as some consider it a dangerous activity. Check the exceptions section of the policy, which often includes Skiing, Scuba diving, flying in small private planes, mountain biking and all sorts of other fun stuff.

This is travel insurance that they are giving away with something else. The insurance company is going to minimise what it covers for “free.” Their market is a two-week package tour to somewhere warm and sunny, not people who happily ride 500 miles to enjoy the twists and turns of a mountain pass just because it is there.

The next check to make is what type of motorcycle riding is covered. Straight-up road riding may be covered, but trail riding, the TET, the Nordschleife (Nürburgring) and other cool things we like to do may have specific exclusions even if motorcycling is included.

Breakdown Insurance

It is worth considering that 99% of breakdown cover works on the basis that accidents are not breakdowns, and we all know that insurance companies won’t do you a favour. If it isn’t covered as a risk, then it isn’t their problem.

If you are involved in an accident, the first people you should contact should be your motorcycle insurance company. They will, most likely, have a preferred method of recovering the motorcycle, assuming it can’t be ridden.

Breakdowns are entirely different. Your motorcycle insurance policy isn’t going to help you if you break down. You need specific breakdown insurance. Numerous companies offer this service, and the reports of who is good and who isn’t vary.

ETA Insurance is the one breakdown insurance company we have found that covers both breakdown and accident recovery. As none of us have had to use them, and hopefully we never will, we can’t say anything about how good or bad they are.

The ETA website looks weird to a biker, as it doesn’t mention motorcycles specifically. I triple-checked with them this morning – mostly because I’m covered by them – and they confirmed that a motorcycle is a vehicle, and all the same terms apply.

Alternatively, Carole Nash includes Breakdown Insurance with some of their Motorcycle Insurance policies. Yes, it is a free add-on, but it is aimed at motorcyclists.

If you insure your motorcycle with someone else, you can buy Carole Nash breakdown cover, which the RAC provides, as a stand alone policy.

My ETA policy covers me on any bike, and the cost is in line with the other European breakdown insurance providers that don’t cover accident recovery. Two for the price of one … I’m in.

And The Answer Is …

In our circumstances, Carole Nash’s Premier Plus travel insurance best suited our needs, and we paid £80 each (from memory) for a year’s cover. Bennett’s did travel insurance in the past but appears to have stopped. If I’m wrong, I’m sure someone from Bike Social will be along in a minute to correct me.

I’m sure there are other companies with policies that might be a better match for your needs. Our simple logic for Carole Nash was that it would be hard for a motorcycle insurance company not to cover motorcycling with their bike-specific travel insurance.

Although the travel insurance covers me when motorcycling, it also works for other trips as long as I’m within the policy’s conditions. So, when Senior Management explained to me that I was going on holiday and no, I couldn’t ride down and meet her there, I already had travel insurance sorted.

Laminated

Sitting on a boat talking to a random biker (as we do), the subject turned to tour tips, and he described the homemade information card he carried.

On the card were his medical insurance details, essential phone numbers, blood group, and other information he thought would be helpful. The idea was that if he could not speak the local language or could not speak at all, he could point at the card.

He had used symbols to explain the information on the card and kept one in his wallet and another in his passport. Neat idea.

And having thought about touring and trips to come in 2025 – I’m off to do some planning. After all, a Suzuki Hayabusa is the perfect touring bike … Right?

Clarity

The header image is by a Belgian photographer who goes by the handle Dendoktoor and is under license.