INSURANCE FOR YOUR VIETNAM MOTORBIKE TOURS
If you want to be fully covered while riding motorbikes in Vietnam, you need the following insurance policies:
(1) personal medical insurance
(2) third party liability insurance and
(3) bike theft insurance
(4) damage waiver
We will go over the details to help you understand the risks and how to have a safe motorbiking experience in Vietnam.
Personal Medical Insurance
This is the most important insurance that we recommend all riders to Vietnam to purchase it. It covers you when you have accidents and get injured.
The good news is IDP (international driving permit, 1968 Convention) is now valid in Vietnam from August 1st, 2016 with the 46/2016/ND-CP decree. In reality, the police normally accept both 1968 & 1949 Convention IDP’s. The difference is insurance companies provide insurance policy when you have a 1968 IDP (not the 1949). If you have a 1968 Convention IDP, please also bring your home country driving license with motorbike endorsement.
As you can’t get a local license with tourist visas. Even if you have business visas, you need to wait 7-10 days after you arrive in Vietnam to do the paperwork. This means it is nearly impossible to get a local license. Therefore, you can’t buy any personal medical insurance from Vietnam companies.
Luckily, you can buy this personal medical insurance policy from companies like Allianz, CHI, or World Nomads…or on the Lonely Planet website. They only request your country or international motorbike driving license. In this case, you will be fully covered if something happens.
Third-Party Insurance
This policy covers third parties when accidents happen. It’s very cheap to buy this in Vietnam, around 4$US/year!
You need to have a Vietnamese motorbike driving license but as explained above it’s nearly impossible.
The best way is to ride on guided motorbike tours and our guides will lead you through safely and arrange (best without police involvement). He finds out how much you pay if you hit somebody.
FYI, the most a customer had to pay was 600$US when he hit a young local girl and broke her leg. If you do a self-guided trip, call us right after you hit anyone. We can talk and solve the situation as soon as we can.
Even local Vietnamese people wouldn’t use this policy to claim insurance because the coverage is very little (about 1,800$US). When accidents happen we just talk and find out how much to pay. If the police come, they allow the involved parties to solve the incident before they file anything.
Bike Theft Insurance
This is not really available in Vietnam. Luckily, manual clutch touring bikes are not popular in Vietnam. Vietnamese people like scooters (at least 90% of bikes in Vietnam).
Please use safe/paid parking where you pay small fees (25-50 cents) to keep the rental bikes. Take the key with you and you will be safe.
In case you really want this insurance, you can buy it from some insurance companies, such as Liberty Insurance Vietnam. They offer a product called MotoCare that covers your motorbike in case of theft, robbery, fire, explosion, or housebreaking. However, you should also have a valid registration certificate and a driving license to buy this insurance.
Bike Damage Waiver
In fact, no insurance company offers this type of insurance in Vietnam. Some motorbike rental companies may offer a damage waiver option that covers any and all damage to the motorbike, except for some exclusions such as theft, loss, or third-party damages. The damage waiver is usually non-refundable and may vary depending on the model and duration of the rental.
As our bikes are not expensive, we haven’t provided this option because most of our customers don’t need it. You just pay for replacements if you have any bad luck.
To know whether a self-guided or guided tour is better for you, please follow this link.
Just contact us if you still have more questions about your Vietnam motorbike tours.
Other Essential Things
Safety riding gear
Motorbike lesson
Driving license
Things to bring
Mechanic basics
Terminology
Travel documents
Actually the is an agreement in place that the standard UK driving licence is accepted in Vietnam for both Cars and Bikes until March 2019.
However if stopped on the road by police it will still be a load of hassle.
As to Insurance some would say it is not worth the paper it is written on when things go wrong.
However it is a must. You can always pay off the police, just as you would the establishment through courts in the west.
Vietnam is a liability whichever way you look at it, so the more risks you can cover the better.
Purchasing insurance through any company in the west is a ripp off when you compare it to prices in Vietnam, Cambodia or Thailand.
Yes, the UK government website mentioned that but honestly almost no police knows about it. You get charged about the same in case you violate the laws, with or without proper license. The only difference is if a serious accident happens, you pay less if you have a proper license. Insurance is cheap here but is useless, you pay a little and it’s not worth to claim.
I have a UK licence which I can ride a motorbike up to 125cc with L plates (learner plates displayed). if I get an IDP am I legal to ride a 110cc bike in Vietnam?
Hello Nathan. Sadly, both UK license and UK-issued IDP are not accepted in Vietnam due to the different Conventions our countries signed. Accept the risk because you are not legal in any way here but who cares? Make sure your riding skills are good, CBT license holders from UK are in fact some of the worst riders we’ve ever seen.
What permits do I need to drive in Vietnam?
In order to legally be allowed to drive in Vietnam, you need a (1) valid A1 or A2 driving permit from your home country, in combination with a (2) International Driving Permit (1968-version). Please check which kinds of motorized vehicles you can drive in Vietnam with your driving permit:
AM license: 2 or 3 wheeled vehicles with an engine size up to 50ccA1 license: you can drive light motorbikes with an engine size up to 175ccA2 license: you can also drive bikes in category A1, as well as motorbikes with an engine size over 175ccB(1) license: carResidents of which countries can use an international driving permit in Vietnam?
The validity of the International Driving Permit in Vietnam has been arranged through the 1949 Convention and the 1968 Convention. The latter convention was signed by Vietnam in 2014. However, it has not been ratified by countries as Australia, Canada, Ireland, and USA. Experience tells us that Vietnamese police officials treat every IDP as an IDP.
Click here for a list of all countries who signed the 1968 Convention. IDPs from those countries are valid in Vietnam.
It’s easy to get a driver license in Vietnam!
U must let translate your driving licenses and after that go to the traffic office.
In 7 days you have your Vietnamese driving license.
The only thing u need is a visa for 3 months.
I did this September 2017.
Hello Ben. You must also need to notarize all papers like passport, home country driving license and have a business visa. Tourist visa holders can’t get a local license or they have to pay a lot (around 200$US) for a service company to arrange a license. In addition, not many of our customers have 7-10 days to wait for a local license.
There is NO insurance policy that covers Australian riders in Vietnam. It doesnt matter whether you have IDL or Home licence….the rules for travel insurance state “If you act illegally/break law of country you are in. YOU ARE NOT COVERED” So even though Viet police dont care, the bike hire shop doesnt care…your insurance company will! If you get hurt you are on your own.
I cant believe the Vietnamese Govt hasnt cottoned on to what a money maker this could be….every rider must have “Visitor Licence” @ ,say, 50$ USD pp plus the revenue from fines from NOT having this licence!!!!
Hello Sue. You are right. Australia signed 1949 Convention while Vietnam signed 1968 Convention. Therefore, both Australian or IDP are not legal in Vietnam. Unfortunately, Vietnam is not that flexible and there are nearly FIFTY MILLION motorbikes in the country for nearly ONE HUNDRED MILLION people. FYI, Australia is 23.2 times larger than Vietnam! You know how traffic will be. So the government won’t need more foreign riders and those who want to experience Vietnam on two wheel will need to accept this risk or try to get the 1968 Convention IDPs.
There is a Dutch guy (Tim Valk) who got into an accident outside his fault and the victim died of his injuries. He was on a motorscooter and went to jail. His family had a fundraiser to raise money (several thousands of euros) to pay the family of the deceased man. After this he was released. So it is illegal to drive a motorcycle in Vietnam without a license and you will go to jail if you hit somebody.
Thank you for your info. Honestly, first the authorities will let the two sides to discuss before they take any legal action. In Tim’s case I suspected that he didn’t want to pay anything (as you said outside his fault). Things could have been arranged in a much easier way. Now the 1968 Convention (not 1949 Convention) international driving license is accepted in Vietnam, bring that and your country driving license and you will be riding legally in Vietnam.
I have a A2 Cambodian bike licence. Is this licence legal in Vietnam?
Sadly, the answer is no. You must have 1968 Convention international driving license (not even the 1949 Convention) or Vietnamese driving license.