Insurance company refuses to pay medical bill for biker on provisional licence who ha

[Bob]

According to OnlyFinance.com, the AA’s insurance arm is refusing to pay the medical bill of a biker who is critically ill in Thailand following a crash.

Ryan Burke, 21, fractured his skull on an 80cc bike in Thailand. He then contracted viral meningitis and was later diagnosed with the more serious bacterial strain of the illness.

The AA argued that Mr Burke was not insured to ride a motorcycle and declined to pay out. Burke’s mother is claiming that the But his mother claims the refusal to pay is because her son only has a provisional licence in the UK. “As far as we are aware you can ride a bike, as long as it is under 125cc, without having a full licence,” she said.

The issue here has to be (a) does his licence allow him to ride overseas, (b) is a provisional licence sufficient to hire a bike overseas and (c) does his insurance cover him (for more than Third Party Only, if at all) to ride any motorcycle, or just his own machine?

But the message here is clear; check your bike insurance to make sure it will cover you. I have heard of another case, where a biker had dropped his bike in for a service - and was given a loaner to ride while the dealer worked on his bike. He was pulled over by the police as it turned out the bike was not included under dealer insurance - and his policy did not allow him to ride any motorcycle.

In the case I just mentioned, annoying and it is going to court to resolve (otherwise points on licence and a fine). But worst case is that your policy doesn't cover you and then you face medical bills as in the top item.

So make sure that insurance is valid for what you want to do.

[McJim]

That would be travel insurance not motorcycle insurance. It's common to find in the small print (in the UK) that you will be insured for injury sustained by a mugging or an accident in the normal course of things but as soon as you try to enjoy your holiday (base jumping, mountain biking, rock climbing, motorcycling etc.) you are not covered.

I've never taken out travel insurance for precisely that reason. you pay money to be not covered for the things you're gonna do.

Motorcycle insurance is always a piece of piss though - just contact Kiwibike : they'll see you right.

[Gremlin]

I think what Bob is also pointing out factors in compulsory insurance, ie, if you have to have insurance, and you are riding a bike loaned to you by a shop, and its not covered by insurance, you could be in deep dog doo doo.

Since we don't have compulsory insurance, I don't think its quite the same issue... However, accidents while overseas are always fun to figure out.

[Bob]

I think what Bob is also pointing out factors in compulsory insurance, ie, if you have to have insurance, and you are riding a bike loaned to you by a shop, and its not covered by insurance, you could be in deep dog doo doo.

Since we don't have compulsory insurance, I don't think its quite the same issue... However, accidents while overseas are always fun to figure out.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

You guys get the benefit of state-supplied automatic 3rd party coverage. Which is a Very Good Idea - at least if someone is injured by a vehicle, they can be assured that insurance is in place to effect compensation.

In the UK, bike insurance is compulsory (if you ride a bike of course!) - but nothing is supplied by the state. So there are three basic levels; Third Party Only (exactly what it says on the tin), Third Party Fire and Theft (as TPO, plus you get paid if your bike is stolen or catches fire) or Fully Comprehensive (again, as it says on the tin - it covers you for everything, so even if it is your fault, the bike repairs are paid for etc).

And of course, when it comes to insurance, you have to watch the clauses very carefully. I always make sure I have at least TPO for any bike, aside from the higher level of coverage for my own bike. I also get added to Laura's XV535 policy as a named rider (as I can get added for free as I am more experienced and have ridden larger capacity bikes than her), so that way, I'm covered Fully Comp on both our bikes, but can ride any other bike if needs be.

The sort of thing that people over here often forget to check is whether they are insured to ride any bike at the most basic level of cover - that is what caught out the chap who borrowed a dealer bike. If his own insurance had allowed TPO on all bikes, then there would not have been a problem.

As for the original one above - I can't see why his travel insurance isn't paying out, rather than his bike insurance either. Again, you have to have some level of insurance cover (if we travel in Europe, we get free basic cover due to a reciprocal arrangement - but for Thailand you would need to take out travel insurance). Again - as McJim mentions - you need to watch to make sure you are allowed to do things like take out a bike, blow your nose aggressively etc.

[Owl]

Yep, gotto watch those policy wordings. Just out of interest Bob, I was stunned to find "Third party fire & theft" for a motorcycle was dearer than comprehensive insurance.

[scracha]

but as soon as you try to enjoy your holiday (base jumping, mountain biking, rock climbing, motorcycling etc.) you are not covered.

I've never taken out travel insurance for precisely that reason. you pay money to be not covered for the things you're gonna do.

Daft idea Jim, you could lose everything if you need medical attention. You normally ARE covered for bikes up to 250cc ON THE ROAD IF YOU HOLD THE APPROPRIATE LICENSE by standard travel insurance. I got 1 year travel insurance for my first working holiday here and adding medical cover for bikes over 250cc was a mealy 50 quid.

[Bob]

Yep, gotto watch those policy wordings. Just out of interest Bob, I was stunned to find "Third party fire & theft" for a motorcycle was dearer than comprehensive insurance.

I never understand how that happens. My wife, Laura - her quote for Fully Comp is almost always cheaper that for TPF&T. My quote, on the other hand, normally works out more expensive for Comp.

Insurance is a mystery - and I used to work in it!

[alanzs]

My son broke his arm in Thailand about 5 years ago while riding on a scooter. He was 15 at the time. Insurance covered everything, to the tune of $2,000US. How it happened never even came into the equation. Broke the same arm a year later snowboarding in the US and it cost $60,000US.

[Rover]

Hi just did the bike ride around Northern Thailand, which was great. I checked out the various Travel insurances for motorcycle riding before going. Typically I found Southern Cross and House of Travel were very very limited and conditional for Motorbike Riding and not suitable for what I was after, Whereas State had a much better policy that gave me the cover I needed. Best to read the small print on motorcycle coverage before signing up on a Travel Insurance policy as they vary from company to company..