Those saying "you'll have no insurance" have clearly never read the Insurance Law Reform Act 1977 section 12.
It is against the law for an insurance company to decline a claim for ay reason which is not causative or contributory of the reason for the claim.
That is, when an insurance company says "we decline to pay out because..." the following words need to bear directly on the cause for the claim, for example "because your brake lights were not working through poor maintenance and somebody ran into you" might fly, "because you left your keys in the car and somebody stole it" might fly too, but "because your vehicle licence was not current" absolutely will not fly, by law, because having or not having a vehicle licence simply has no causative or contributory bearing on any reason you would have to claim, it is a piece of paper, no more.
This goes for WOF also. But it goes both ways, just having a WOF doesn't mean insurers can't decline a claim because your vehicle was in poor condition when you had an accident and said poor condition contributed.
As for the original poster, you have a few options 1. pay the standard 3/6/12 month 2. you can register for less (or more) time if you use an MR72 (from memory) form at your local post shop, you might need to convince the post office worker that you can do this, it's "off their script" and their tiny little minds sometimes can't handle this idea ;-) 3. put the bike on hold and ride anyway, think of it as your own little peaceful protest at the rorting of motorcycle riders by the ACC
With 3, your primary concerns are a) never park anywhere that a parking warden will get you, councils LOVE tickets for expired/hold reg b) if you run into a roadside check you'll get ticketed, during summer these increase especially in the central north island, you might consider registering for the summer months given the added risk c) automated licence plate reading technology, being trialled in Auckland I understand d) if you do get caught out, take it like a man and pay your $200 without moaning, but happy in the knowledge that you are still covered by ACC because everybody is, and your insurance is still valid because of the Insurance Law Reform Act 1977
Whatever the case, carry on getting a WOF even if you are leaving it on hold.
Amazing. Hard to believe registration is so much even for the under 60cc class. Looks like the discount is removed for the underpowered 'moped' class as well.
The NZ accident stats for motorcycling are kind of nasty. I have to wonder what the stats would be after removing hoon type drivers. An accident breakdown for 'commuting' vs. 'other journeys' might change the picture a bit.
An electric bike might be a solution for the high registration charges. No registration required. Factoring in the lack of registration the payback time for short journeys is very good.
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