Yaaaaawn!!! Insurance Explained
Insurance is one of those things that most of us don’t want to think about when hiring a bike. And most of the time, we don’t need to – we have a great ride, return the bike in perfect shape, and fly home with the best of memories. But accidents can happen, and in our opinion, having the proper level of motorcycle insurance can provide some added peace of mind. We are an Official Eagleider Tour Operator, and we are asked fairly often to explain the differences between the various levels of insurance available either with a rental, or a Guided or Self-Guided tour.
The first thing to consider is your risk tolerance. Some people are fine with basic insurance, with no damage coverage for the bike. Others want the best coverage available. Less coverage = less cost, more coverage = higher cost; pretty simple. Unless you have an incident, in which case the money saved on lesser coverage is quickly surpassed by damage liability. So again, what level of coverage you choose is down to your individual risk tolerance. If you own and insure your own motorcycle at home, some policies may cover bike hire. Some credit cards also offer additional coverage if you use that card to hire the bike. It’s important that you check with your insurance or credit card company and confirm what if any additional coverages you might have BEFORE you leave for your holiday
All on-road EagleRider motorcyles rentals include the basic insurance required to make the bike road legal. The additional tiers of insurance offered progressively limit your liability in case of damage to or theft of the motorcycle. As the levels increase, you pay a bit more, but your secuity deposit is less, and your liability drops dramatically.
Option 1: No Extra insurance
If you have high risk tolerance, this is the option to choose. You just pay the rental or tour price, and take no supplementary cover. In the event of damage to the motorcycle you are responsible for the full cost of repair including full loss – so yes, if it’s stolen, or totalled, you’re going to get a very large bill! You will be asked for a $5000 USD security deposit on pick up of the motorcycle. (This will not be taken off your card but will be approved, lowering your Credit Limit). In the event of a breakdown (where the bike is off the road for more than 12hrs) you will receive a refund of each day’s rental that the bike remains off the road. In the event of a flat tyre it is your responsibility to pay for and arrange for the repair, including any towing that may be needed. For obvious reasons, we do not recommend this option, and we cannot recall any customer having chosen it.
Option 2: VIP Theft & Damage Waiver
The VIP Theft & Damage Waiver is a decent budget insurance option. In the event of damage to the motorcycle you are responsible for the first $2000 USD. A $750 USD security deposit hold will be placed on your credit card on pick up of the motorcycle (you will not be “charged’ but an approval hold will be put in place, lowering your Credit Limit by $750 USD). In the event of a breakdown (where the bike is off the road for more than 12hrs) you will receive a refund of each day’s rental plus $35 for a replacement rental for each day that the bike remains off the road. In the event of a flat tyre it is your responsibility to pay for and arrange for the repair. Towing of the motorcycle is NOT covered.
Option 3: VIP-Zero Theft & Damage Waiver
VIP-Zero supplementary cover, to our minds, is the best insurance choice if you want minimal liability. In the event of theft or damage to the motorcycle, you are not liable for the costs of repair (IMPORTANT: In the event of theft, due to the bike being left unlocked by yourself, you would be liable for the first $1000). A $100 USD security deposit hold will be placed on your credit card on pick up of the motorcycle (you will not be “charged’ but an approval hold will be put in place, lowering your Credit Limit by $100 USD). In the event of a breakdown (where the bike is off the road for more than 12hrs) you will receive a refund of each day’s rental plus $100 for a replacement rental for each day that the bike remains off the road. In the event of a flat tyre repair and labor are covered. Towing IS covered up to $100 per occurrence – if you are willing to spend a bit more on insurance, VIP Zero is the option to choose. NOTE: VIP Zero is available only at EagleRider Corporate Locations
Ok, so that covers the insurances covering the motorcycle – what about you, your passenger, and third parties?
Supplementary Liability Insurance (SLI)
SLI is for cover of damage to 3rd parties. With any Rental or Tour the State minimum level of 3rd party insurance is provided within the cost. You will however be responsible for any damage to a 3rd party over the State minimum provided (This is around $10,000). You may therefore prefer to increase your protection with Supplementary Liability Insurances (SLI). EagleRider’s SLI Offers either $300,000 or $1,000,000 Third Party Liability insurance – so God forbid you are involved in an accident with a 3rd party, you have a tremendous amount of additional coverage via this policy. If you own a home, you have have similar coverage (although you should determine if it covers you abroad BEFORE you leave on your holiday).
Travel Insurance
UK Customers: It is a condition of booking that you have appropriate travel insurance, which offers cover while motorcycling. This is NOT a part of your tour or rental cost, you must provide written evidence of appropriate cover prior to the beginning of any tour. For non-UK customers: it is strongly recommended that all customers carry appropriate medical coverage and travel insurance regardless of their home country.
The Lost Adventure does not provide Travel Insurance for UK customers directly, however, we have a relationship with Park Place Insurance Services Ltd, who have teamed up with DTW 1991 Underwriting Limited to provide a travel insurance product that covers our customers participating in The Lost Adventure motorcycling tours. Click here for more details or to purchase Travel Insurance for your bike tour online: https://travel.dtw1991.com/parkplace-route66
NOTE: To qualify for Travel Insurance with our partner, the client is required to have held a valid license for a minimum of 2 years, to ride such a motorcycle without any accidents or convictions in the last 2 years. The Lost Adventure accepts no responsibility for a customer’s failure to arrange appropriate cover or to provide us with details, and by booking the customer agrees to indemnify The Lost Adventure Ltd from any claim resulting from personal injury, including any and all costs associated with treatment, transport and care.