More on Insurance

Following from our earlier post on insurance, readers will be pleased to know that we now have our insurance sorted. Ok, we know you don't really care, but if any of you are contemplating anything like the trip we have planned, read on. We mentioned that the "free" travel insurance offered if you pay for your travel by credit card has a few catches and that you really need to read the policy carefully. AIG, the company that provides the insurance for Westpac Bank would not alter their policy to accommodate us nor did an agent ever respond to us with an offer when we asked if we could buy a separate policy. After we used a broker to talk to them, AIG did finally agree to provide travel insurance but reduced the medical coverage because we are riding a motorcycle. Needless to say, we are not dealing with them. Many other companies we approached would not insure anyone who is riding a motorcycle with an engine size of more than 200cc - so be aware of this. Air New Zealand, via their insurers would cover us but at a cost of more than NZ$900 for less than 60 days. AA Insurance was the easiest to deal with but even then, the insurance cost us more than NZ$700.

Getting liability insurance in the US was even harder! Until we happened upon one company in Florida, we were despairing! No New Zealand insurer would provide cover in the US and a number of US insurers stated that they do not provide cover unless the rider holds a US issued drivers licence - which makes it pretty hard for tourists like us who are not hiring a machine from a commercial rental company.

Someone pointed us to Fernet Insurance Brokers USA - http://www.fernet.com - and these guys were great. Their website makes it pretty clear that one of the products they offer is exactly what tourists like us are looking for. We printed off the application form and faxed it to them and they came back within a couple of days with the cover approved. The lady we have been in contact with at Fernet - Phyllis - deserves a special mention. We'd love to meet her. Phyllis' email tone is wonderful and friendly. We had mentioned to her that we had this blog so she had a look and discovered we planned to venture into Canada. She immediately sent an email saying that a special certificate is needed for Canada and attached one to the email. Now that is service! In our opinion, if you want temporary insurance while in North America, contact Phyllis at Fernet. Thanks again Phyllis.