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Bundubasher - im reading through your website looking at vehicle insurance. What is the deal with the third party insurance being part of fuel cost in south africa, Botswana and Namib??
Cheers
Insurance: let's say we start in SA - there is no legal need for TPI here. When you cross the border into your next country, eg: Zimbabwe, you will buy local TPI at the border (usually about 55USD/month). If you did this for 10 countries it would start to add up so, once you have TPI for the country you are in, drive to a major town and visit an insurance brokers.
Here buy the COMESA Yellow Card insurance for the amount of time and countries you need. This is a catch-all 3rd TPI policy for all members of COMESA and saves alot of money and headaches. Many police will ask for this document by name so it is well known in southern Africa all the way up to Kenya.
http://www.africa4x4cafe.com/htm/insurance.htm
From a quick search:
Botswana recognises third party insurance issued in South Africa, Namibia and Lesotho. Vehicles not covered by third party insurance from these countries – for instance those registered in Zambia - third party insurance must be obtained at point of entry into Botswana. No third party insurance is payable in respect of vehicles registered in Botswana as the third party insurance premium in Botswana is included in the price of petrol.
TPI in so far as it relates to injury to persons is included in the fuel levy. You can also buy TPI in RSA to cover damage to a third party's property but this is not a legal requirement. It also isn't possible to do with a foreign registered car. Namibia has exactly the same system as RSA ie limited TPI included in the price of fuel and no legal requirement for anything further. Botswana used to be the same but that changed relatively recently. I think you will need TPI there (unless you have "full" RSA TPI ie you have paid for insurance to cover injury to a third party's property in addition to the basic cover for injury to persons covered by the fuel levy). The good news is that TPI in Botswana isn't very expensive - about $15 for 30 days.
I too would recommend getting COMESA - it may not end up saving you that much money - it depends on exactly what countries you get it for and for how long - but it's big plus in my eyes is that it often means you don't need local currency (typically visas are payable in $) at a border ie you can skip the dodgy money changers and just head for an ATM at the next town. It's often only TPI which is payable in local notes. And as Bundubasher says it is widely recognised at police stops, borders etc.
Last I heard RSA AA had stopped selling COMESA for RSA registered vehicles. Even before then it was dramatically more expensive than it was in neighbouring countries. So you may want to think about where you buy it. We bought ours in Zambia last time. You had to buy local TPI first then the COMESA was issued as an add on of the local insurance. You couldn't arrange it at the border - we did ours in Livingstone. We paid around $150 but it was for lots of countries and for 10 months travel. Exact price depended on how long you were going to stay in which countries.
Did you guys actually do this trip as proposed? My husband and I are looking at doing a similar trip starting this July 2013. Land in SA, buy a vehicle in Joberg and drive North through Mozambique, Tanzania and aiming to sell the car in Kenya. If you did do this trip can you let us know how it went?
Does anyone know what the import duties on a vehicle in Kenya are or where to find that information?
Cheers
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15
You guys are bloody brilliant!Bundubasher - im reading through your website looking at vehicle insurance. What is the deal with the third party insurance being part of fuel cost in south africa, Botswana and Namib??
Cheers
16
Legally the cost of third party insurance (TPI) is included in the fuel price (I only thought SA did this), however IIRC....this is mainly for pedestrians and passengers of combis etc and probably is not worth the non-existent paper it is written on.Insurance: let's say we start in SA - there is no legal need for TPI here. When you cross the border into your next country, eg: Zimbabwe, you will buy local TPI at the border (usually about 55USD/month). If you did this for 10 countries it would start to add up so, once you have TPI for the country you are in, drive to a major town and visit an insurance brokers.
Here buy the COMESA Yellow Card insurance for the amount of time and countries you need. This is a catch-all 3rd TPI policy for all members of COMESA and saves alot of money and headaches. Many police will ask for this document by name so it is well known in southern Africa all the way up to Kenya.
http://www.africa4x4cafe.com/htm/insurance.htm
17
PS: you may be right about Bots and Nam - I never checked as we always had COMESA and I can't remember if we needed TPI when crossing the border at Francistown (in a Zim reg vehicle) when coming from Bulawayo on shopping trips...From a quick search:
Botswana recognises third party insurance issued in South Africa, Namibia and Lesotho. Vehicles not covered by third party insurance from these countries – for instance those registered in Zambia - third party insurance must be obtained at point of entry into Botswana. No third party insurance is payable in respect of vehicles registered in Botswana as the third party insurance premium in Botswana is included in the price of petrol.
18
It is all a bit confusing in Southern Africa. This is how it was explained to me by a local friend.TPI in so far as it relates to injury to persons is included in the fuel levy. You can also buy TPI in RSA to cover damage to a third party's property but this is not a legal requirement. It also isn't possible to do with a foreign registered car. Namibia has exactly the same system as RSA ie limited TPI included in the price of fuel and no legal requirement for anything further. Botswana used to be the same but that changed relatively recently. I think you will need TPI there (unless you have "full" RSA TPI ie you have paid for insurance to cover injury to a third party's property in addition to the basic cover for injury to persons covered by the fuel levy). The good news is that TPI in Botswana isn't very expensive - about $15 for 30 days.
I too would recommend getting COMESA - it may not end up saving you that much money - it depends on exactly what countries you get it for and for how long - but it's big plus in my eyes is that it often means you don't need local currency (typically visas are payable in $) at a border ie you can skip the dodgy money changers and just head for an ATM at the next town. It's often only TPI which is payable in local notes. And as Bundubasher says it is widely recognised at police stops, borders etc.
Last I heard RSA AA had stopped selling COMESA for RSA registered vehicles. Even before then it was dramatically more expensive than it was in neighbouring countries. So you may want to think about where you buy it. We bought ours in Zambia last time. You had to buy local TPI first then the COMESA was issued as an add on of the local insurance. You couldn't arrange it at the border - we did ours in Livingstone. We paid around $150 but it was for lots of countries and for 10 months travel. Exact price depended on how long you were going to stay in which countries.
19
Hey mglenb,Did you guys actually do this trip as proposed? My husband and I are looking at doing a similar trip starting this July 2013. Land in SA, buy a vehicle in Joberg and drive North through Mozambique, Tanzania and aiming to sell the car in Kenya. If you did do this trip can you let us know how it went?
Does anyone know what the import duties on a vehicle in Kenya are or where to find that information?
Cheers
