Touring Holiday

[DODD]

Hello,

It’s my intention to take my Bristol 410 to Morocco this year, I will be touring through France and Spain before catching the ferry from Algeciras (Spain) to Ceuta (Morocco).

Unfortunately, my current classic car insurance company doesn’t cover Morocco, which surprised me as both of my daily runarounds are covered for driving in Morocco on the same basis as driving here in the UK & Europe.

Shopping around I have found another insurance company via a different broker who will cover my Bristol in the UK and Europe on a similar basis to my existing insurance policy, plus they are able to offer me an additional policy for the time I intend to have my car in Morocco but at a price!

Does anyone on the Forum know of an insurance company who includes driving in Morocco as well as in Europe on a single policy, at a reasonable price, or even covers classic cars in Morocco. So far I have only found one company.

Any thoughts will be much appreciated.

Brian

[Roger Morrall]

Brian

This is extremely out of date but I see a handwritten note in my file relating to Geoffrey Herdman’s tour of Morocco (which was way back in 2005) that suggests I might have secured cover which included Morocco via AON insurance brokers on 01384 455011 for £260. I have no recollection now what period was covered but there’s a note on mileage alongside it that suggests that it might have covered total mileage from leaving UK to return.

By the way, as you probably do know, Ceuta is still in Spain, not Morocco, the border is the other side of Ceuta. We went in April, which was pretty hot, I’d advise against going any later. The roads were generally excellent with very little traffic outside the cities, but the roads through any small towns or villages are not maintained at all which conveniently keeps the speed of the traffic down. Moroccan women have right of way at all times and know it, they don’t even deign to look. Petrol station attendants are likely to know that yours is not only Bristol but a 410 as well. The locals are generally friendly and reasonably honest, but honest doesn’t prevent everybody perpetually trying to sell you something, anything, at vastly inflated prices, however you can always take refuge in the nearest tea shop - once on private property you’re safe. Guides can be very useful but will inevitably call in at a mates shop. You know you’ve won at haggling if the guide doesn’t follow you and you go back to find the shopkeeper refusing to give the guide his "commission". (There are exceptions to haggling, if you can find an “Artisanale" the price is the price and very cheap and you don’t need to haggle and, by the way, the town of Essaouira on the Atlantic coast also appears to operate on the same principle). Traffic lights were mounted way up in the sky and you have no hope of seeing them change if you were less than No 6 in the queue, so when everybody behind starts hooting remember they are only trying to be helpful. Oh, and they still had priorite a droit, which is a nonsense when you come to a roundabout. Think about it: if you’re on the roundabout you had to stop for the joining traffic. So roundabouts required a policeman on every road into the roundabout and one in the middle to tell the others what to do to sort things out. Perhaps they’ve sorted that out now, but it did employ a lot of people.

I’ll try to post you a fuller write up I did under separate cover

Roger

[DODD]

Roger,

Thanks for your reply, I tried contacting AON Insurance Brokers both via the telephone number quoted and a search on the internet without success.

Yes, I realise that I had typed the incorrect port, it should have been Algeciras. Arriving in Ceuta would have created quite a few problems!

My existing insurance broker does not cover Morocco but I am in the process of agreeing (hopefully) insurance through another broker who is able to provide a second policy whilst I am in Morocco. I don’t like having two separate policies because if a claim had to be made for an incident, say between Spain and Morocco, whilst on the ferry, it could get very difficult.

Looking at the price Geoffrey Herdman paid in 2005, I suppose my quotes are quite reasonable, just very expensive compared to my other classic car multi vehicle insurance policy.

Have you been to Morocco recently or did you go with Geoffrey in 2005?

It’s a trip both my wife and I are looking forward to. I just hope the 410 performs well. We haven’t driven outside the EU for quite a few years, at least since driving to Kas in southern Turkey; if Morocco is half as good it will be fantastic.

Since I posted my initial request for information, things have moved on a little.Our trip into Morocco coincides with the 28th Rally Maroc Classic….this seems too good an opportunity to miss!

Any additional information you have will be most helpful.

Brian

[Roger Morrall]

Yes it was 2005 that we went to Morocco, haven’t been since. Geoffrey kindly organised hotels and the ferries across the straits of Gibraltar but we drove singly picking our own routes as that how we prefer to do things. The £260 was what we paid, I hope Geoffrey paid considerably more to cover the vastly over inflated value of his car!

I’ve sent you a private message via this forum requesting your email address, which would let me send both our account and the official account of the trip.

Take a spare fuel filter!

Good luck