Travel Insurance

Your EHIC allows for reciprocal health treatment within the EU which can be basic. I would look at better health insurance with repatriation cover. Andy

 

If you haven't already got a European Health Insurance Card, get one (Apply for a free EHIC card - Healthcare abroad - NHS Choices If you're travelling to EEA (including EU) states or Switzerland it basically entitles you to medically necessary state healthcare on the same basis as a national of one of those countries.

Even with an EHIC I would always have travel insurance as well (to pay medical bills, as not every EU state will provide totally free healthcare at the point of use, and if necessary get me back to the UK if I was really ill or had a really nasty off).

I'm lucky in that my current account with Nationwide building society includes European cover as standard, and their small print about motorcycling is fine. (Watch out as not all travel insurance will cover you for riding a motorbike, especially one over 125cc - you do have to check the small print.)

Might be worth checking if you do have any cover with your bank account and what their small print says.

Before I had cover with my current account, I used to take out an annual travel policy as if you make several overseas trips in a year it can be cheaper than taking out multiple separate policies for individual trips.

 

In my experience, travel insurance does not generally cover people who are touring on their own bike.
The insurance will however happily cover you for hiring a scaggy, unknown 125 ped from a beach taverna that you can razz about on after a skin full down at the local "all you can drink for a Peso" bar.
Absolutely crazy.

 

I would be interested in who covers motorbikes over 125 at no extra premium, I used to use Direct Travel Insurance as they covered up to 800 cc automatically. Last year We toured abroad and my argument with the insurance companies was I was not hiring a bike, it was my mode of transport and if my mode was a car they wouldn't,t be loading the premium. They were insistent I paid extra as I was going to participate in motorcycling, stuff like hand gliding was on the list, back to my argument that it was my transport not an add on I thought I might do when over there.

 

The Nationwide building society Flexaccount travel insurance policy document has the following wording:
"Use Of Motor Vehicles – Scooters, Mopeds and Motorcycles
This policy will automatically cover you on your trip for using hired motor vehicles of 125cc or less but you must wear a crash helmet and, if you are the rider, you must hold a valid licence to drive that vehicle type where you live in the UK.
You will also be covered for vehicles above 125cc but only if you hold a valid licence to drive that vehicle type where you live in the UK, it is your mode of transport from where you live in the UK and you are wearing suitable protective clothing.
Cover under Section F Personal Liability does not apply to the use of any motor vehicle."

 

The fact that they give "Personal Accident" initial capitals suggests to me that there is probably another section of the Post Office policy wording headed "Personal Accident" which defines what they mean by "Personal Accident" cover.

The most recent version of section D (page 15) of the policy wording on the Post Office website (http://www.postoffice.co.uk/dam/jcr...c8a493b/travel-insurance-policy-july-2016.pdf) - note that if you've already taken out the policy it may be a different policy wording which applies - describes the Personal Accident benefit.

"We will pay one of the benefits shown in the Schedule of Benefits (for the cover level as shown on Your Policy Certificate) If You suffer Accidental Bodily Injury during the Trip, which within 12 months is the sole and direct cause of Your death or Loss of Limb,
Loss of Sight or Permanent Total Disablement."
(There follows a bunch more exclusions).

The table on page 6 shows how much they'd pay depending on the level of cover selected - betwen £5,000 and £50,000 if you lose a limb or are blinded, depending on whether you go for economy or premier plus cover..

So the exclusion means that if you lose your leg or are blinded, killed or left totally permanently disabled because of a motorcycle accident, they would not pay out the flat rate benefit from page 6.

I've not read the whole of that policy document so don't know if there are other exclusions for motorcycling, but that kind of personal accident benefit is not generally (in my view at least) the sort of key benefit you look for in a travel insurance policy, so the motorcycling exclusion from the Personal Accident benefit would not in itself dissuade me from taking out that policy IF EVERYTHING ELSE WAS OK.

I'm afraid when it comes to motorcycling and travel cover, there's no escape from having to read and digest the small print.

 

I have annual travel cover with Insure &Go which only cover bikes up to 125cc without an additional premium so it looks like additional premiums.
I also struggle as I'm a keen skier and do more days than most allow. So I usually end up with a mix of policies.
It is very hard and time consuming to review cover levels from different insurers for what you need. Some of the call centres are all but useless.
One point I would make is to research the payment record and consider that more than their premium

 

No point in worrying on holiday. Get insurance for repatriation for you & bike (separately, if necessary). You do not want to use the reciprocal NHS cover anywhere except France and even there, you will get better service if privately insured.

I'm biased because bit covered by NHS in Channel Islands, but I wouldn't go without being insured.