Motorbike Travel Insurance

Quick summary for busy readers:

• Some insurers include motorbike cover automatically, while others require you to add it and pay an additional premium.
• Cover will vary depending on your licence and your bike’s engine capacity.
• You’ll generally need a valid motorcycle licence and an International Driving Permit (IDP) that covers motorcycles specifically to be covered.
• Common exclusions include damage to the bike itself, competitive riding and any incident where you weren’t wearing a helmet or were riding under the influence.

 

A vespa in Italy, a scooter in Bali, a moped in Thailand… Sometimes there’s nothing better than riding a motorbike while on holiday. But whether your travel insurance will actually cover you should something go wrong depends on a few specific things – mainly your licence and the size of the engine you’re riding.

Read on to learn all about motorbike travel insurance, from typical license and engine requirements to where you can buy it.

What is motorbike travel insurance?

Some insurers include motorbike cover automatically with a standard, comprehensive policy, while others require you to add it on and pay an additional premium. But most (if not all) insurers will only cover you to ride a motorbike if you meet specific licence and engine capacity requirements. That’s where things get tricky as those requirements vary a lot between insurers.

Some don’t require a motorcycle licence if you’re riding something low-powered, generally somewhere around the 125cc range. Others set a maximum engine size they’ll cover you for, regardless of what your actual licence permits back home. And a few will cover you for any engine size, as long as you’re properly licensed to ride it in New Zealand (take a look at our comparison table further down for more details).

If you are heading overseas and planning to ride a motorbike, we recommend sorting out an International Driving Permit (IDP) before you leave, rather than trying to arrange one once you’re already there. An IDP lets you ride the same class of vehicle you’re licensed for at home, and if you hold a valid motorcycle licence in New Zealand, that permit is recognised in well over 150 countries.

However, some countries have their own specific licensing quirks that go beyond a standard IDP. Vietnam is a well-known example, so if that’s where you’re heading, check out our Vietnam motorbike travel insurance guide instead.

Where can I buy motorbike travel insurance?

These are the New Zealand insurers who cover motorbike riding, along with their licence requirements and engine capacity limits:

 

What’s typically excluded from motorbike travel insurance?

Even with the right cover in place, a few things generally are excluded:

• Racing or intentionally risky riding. If you use the bike for stunts or jumps, or deliberately put yourself at risk and you’re then injured, you’re unlikely to be covered.
• Damage to the motorbike itself. Whether it’s your own bike, a borrowed one or a rental, most travel insurance policies won’t cover damage to the bike (even if you’ve got a policy with rental car excess cover as that typically doesn’t extend to bikes). Motorbike rental companies typically build their own cover into the daily hire cost or charge extra for it.
• Competitive or professional riding. Standard travel insurance generally doesn’t extend to organised racing or competitive riding of any kind.
• Breaking road rules. Ignoring traffic signals, signs or right-of-way rules can jeopardise a claim if something goes wrong as a result.
• Riding under the influence. An accident caused while under the influence of alcohol or drugs won’t be covered.
• Not wearing a helmet. This is one of the most consistent exclusions across insurers: if you’re injured while not wearing a helmet, you’re unlikely to be covered. Plus, it’s the law in several popular riding destinations, including Bali, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.