Insurrance for a rented motorbike

[Crypt36]

I want to rent a motorbike in Thailand for at least 1 month and I'm worried about insurrance.

I had email conversation with a rental company:

Do the scooters you rent come with insurrance? = Compulsory Government insurance only.

Does the insurrance cover damage to the vehicle of the opposite party? = No, usually whoever is at fault for the accident pays

Does the insurrance cover injuries to the opposite party? = No

Does the insurrance cover damage to my rented motorbike? =No

Does the insurrance cover theft of the motorbike? = No rental motorbike in Thailand can be legally covered for theft.

I presume pure technical faillure are always repaired/paid by your company and won't be blamed on me? = Yes, except punctures and lights and only when we are informed that there is a problem.

So I was send here to get a quote on a complete insurrance for a rented motorbike but I wonder if this is even possible if I don't own it. It needs to cover all the questions I had above.

Also I'm not clear on what this "Compulsory Government insurance"exactly includes? What is it for if it covers none of the above?

[Crypt36]

Well I've gotten some partial answers in the meanwhile:

Compulsory government insurance covers medical expenses of up to 15,000 bt if you have an accident while riding the motorbike. However my Dutch health insurrance already fully covers me for any injuries so this is quite useless.

It also seems that Theft insurance is not available on rental motorbikes in Thailand.

I'd still like insurrance for damage and injuries done to the opposite party and my vehicle. Let's say the other party makes a run for it I'm stuck with the damage. I suppose when I'm the cause I'm <deleted> in Thailand wether I have insurrance or not.

[seedy]

I check into this before also - could not find any insurance company to put even part-time insurance on a motorbike I was not the owner of.

Usually the rental company carries the bare minimum required - your own personal travel insurance will cover any injuries to yourself.

If you wreck it - you pay to have it repaired or replaced. Even if someone hits you, and you can not provide proof like a foto of the license plate or the drivers ID card or DL number of the vehicle who hit you - say they do a hit-and-run, you will have to pay.

One option - buy a used bike, ride it here and sell when you leave.

At least then you can buy proper insurance - included theft - and CYA to some degree.

Edited January 4, 2014 by seedy

[taotoo]

However my Dutch health insurrance already fully covers me for any injuries so this is quite useless.

If it's private insurance, check that riding rented motorbikes isn't excluded from this.

[stevenl]

However my Dutch health insurrance already fully covers me for any injuries so this is quite useless.

If it's private insurance, check that riding rented motorbikes isn't excluded from this.

That exclusion would not be allowed by law for the basic package.

[Card]

I check into this before also - could not find any insurance company to put even part-time insurance on a motorbike I was not the owner of.

Usually the rental company carries the bare minimum required - your own personal travel insurance will cover any injuries to yourself.

If you wreck it - you pay to have it repaired or replaced. Even if someone hits you, and you can not provide proof like a foto of the license plate or the drivers ID card or DL number of the vehicle who hit you - say they do a hit-and-run, you will have to pay.

One option - buy a used bike, ride it here and sell when you leave.

At least then you can buy proper insurance - included theft - and CYA to some degree.

I am sure you could only buy proper insurance for a motorbike in Thailand if you had a motorbike licence - either an international one or a Thai one. As far as I know you can only get a Thai one if you go through all the bureaucracy and testing, unless you have one specifically for a motorbike - the UK drivers licence won't do as they cover BOTH a car and automatically a motorbike, which is not the Thai way. If I was the OP, I would forget either the insurance or the hire bike - I doubt you would be happy with what comes with both, especially if you had the misfortune to claim on any cover..

Edited January 5, 2014 by Card

[Ulic]

Insurance companies are very good at collecting insurance premiums and not paying claims because

of the fine print so be careful.

[Cuban]

Insurance companies are very good at collecting insurance premiums and not paying claims because

of the fine print so be careful.

Insurance: What the large print gives, does the small print take away !