Travel Insurance for Motorcycle Tours: What You Actually Need

On a motorcycle tour there are two separate things to insure, and riders often confuse them.

On our tours, your rental agreement is directly with the rental company, and a security deposit equal to the excess is held on a credit card in your name. Under our terms, any cost from damage to or theft of the rental bike, whoever is at fault, is the rider's responsibility, so we strongly recommend excess refund insurance. Your personal travel insurance is your responsibility, and it's mandatory.

If you remember one thing from this post, make it this: your insurance must pay for private medical care, and for getting you to the right private hospital, with a high limit.

South Africa, like much of Africa, has two healthcare systems. The public sector carries a heavy load. The private sector is world-class, with modern private hospitals never far from the main routes, but it's expensive. As a visitor you want to be treated in the private sector, and with the right insurance you can be. That's why private medical cover is the first thing to check, before anything else on your policy.

These are the essentials:

• •Private medical treatment, with a high limit: private hospitals, surgery, specialists and medication in South Africa or every country on your route
• •Medical evacuation and repatriation: including air ambulance to the nearest suitable hospital, and the flight home if you need it
• •Search and rescue: if you're injured somewhere remote
• •Motorcycle riding as the rider, at the engine size you'll ride. Insurers often sell this as an adventure or extreme-sports extension, and it's usually not in the basic policy
• •Off-road riding, named in the policy. Our terms require it on every tour, not only gravel tours like Mufasa
• •Personal accident cover, with the adventure-sports extension so it applies while you ride. Our terms require this too
• •The full length of your trip, including extra days before or after

Then the cover that should also be on your policy: third-party liability, cancellation cover and cover for your belongings. Those protect your money and your plans. Medical cover protects you.

These are the clauses that most often void a motorcycle claim. Look for them in your policy wording:

• •Licence requirements. Most policies only cover you if you hold a full motorcycle licence valid for that bike class, in your home country and where you ride.
• •Helmet and protective gear. Riding without a helmet, or without required gear, can void cover. Our packing list sets out the gear we require.
• •Alcohol. Any alcohol in your system at the time of an accident usually cancels the claim.
• •Engine size limits, as above: check the number, not just the word "motorcycle."
• •Off-road exclusions. Some policies cover tar but not gravel or "off-road" riding. Ask how they define it.
• •Pre-existing medical conditions that weren't declared.
• •Racing or speed events. Normal touring is fine, but timed or competitive riding usually isn't.
• •Rental bike excess. Your travel policy may or may not cover the excess on the rental motorcycle. If it doesn't, a separate excess refund policy can.

Cancellation cover protects the money you've already paid if illness, injury or another covered event stops you travelling. Whether you need it depends on how close to departure your payments become non-refundable.

On our tours, the cancellation terms depend on the tour. Each tour page sets out its own deposit, payment and refund timeline, and they're not all the same. Tours with long lead times, like Namibia and Uganda, commit payments to lodges, permits and logistics months in advance, so their payments become non-refundable much earlier than on a South Africa tour.

Before you book, read the cancellation section on your tour's page and note the date from which your money is no longer refundable. That's the date your cancellation cover needs to protect.

Our terms also let you transfer your booking to a substitute rider who meets our requirements, including the mandatory insurance, up to 14 days before departure. Cancellation insurance covers what the tour terms don't, so buy it when you pay your deposit, not when you pay the balance.

Send these in writing and keep the reply:

1. 1.Am I covered as the rider of a motorcycle up to [your bike's] cc on a guided tour?
2. 2.Does the policy name off-road riding, and does that include gravel or unsealed roads?
3. 3.Does my policy pay for treatment in private hospitals, what is my medical limit, and does it include evacuation, repatriation and search and rescue from South Africa?
4. 4.What licence do I need for the cover to be valid?
5. 5.Is the excess on a rental motorcycle covered?
6. 6.Does cancellation cover apply from the day I book?

• •Insurance that includes, at minimum: comprehensive travel insurance, personal accident cover, and adventure-sports cover that names motorcycle riding and off-road riding. Our tour pages also require cover for medical evacuation.
• •A copy of your policy sent to us no later than 14 days before departure. Without it, we can refuse participation, with no refund.
• •A valid licence with a motorcycle endorsement, plus an International Driving Permit if it isn't in English.
• •A credit card in your name for the motorcycle security deposit.
• •If you're 70 or older, a medical certificate confirming your fitness for this motorcycle tour, sent with your proof of insurance.

We also strongly encourage a high medical limit that covers treatment in private hospitals. On the road, we travel with a support vehicle, a first aid kit and a spare motorcycle, so a problem is handled on the spot. Wondering about the other risks? Read Is South Africa safe for motorcycle touring?

Ready to ride? See Simba, 100% tar, or Mufasa, about 75% gravel, or browse all our guided motorcycle tours.