Sadly, Gogo died when he hit a piece of road furniture in Slovenia. Despite our best efforts, he passed, and we were left with the unenviable position of having to bring Gogo home, as well as his motorcycle.
This is the legal lesson. We couldn’t find any travel insurance, but we did find an ultimate bank account which had bolt-on travel insurance. This excluded motorcycle-related claims unless the rider was wearing a helmet, had a licence for more than three years, and had no convictions. All of these we could answer in the affirmative; as such, they instructed Albin International Repatriation, which was as good as gold.
If we weren’t able to find any insurance, then the UK Embassy could not assist us – it was a case of digging deep and arranging to pay private funeral directors to book a flight and take care of all the legal aspects of bringing our rider home. This is far from ideal and has really focused the need for good travel insurance, which covers motorcycling. Read the small print!
The insurer for his bike was not helpful; aside from being closed on Saturday and Sunday (except to simply report a claim), I found the terms and conditions which included a term that basically stated that at the insurer’s discretion, it could pay the import duties to the country where the bike was damaged… meaning, it didn’t have to pay the costs of bringing it back to the UK. It is much cheaper to leave it in the host country; however, the family wanted it home, so two of our best guys took a van and drove 1,400 miles to get Gogo’s motorcycle and bring it home to his family.
Please keep Gogo and his family in your thoughts. I write this article with the blessing of his family, especially his son, who wanted to make sure any fellow riders in this situation would be assisted by such advice.
Gavin Grewal
Fast Bikes – August 2025
