Do you ride an e-bike? Compulsory insurance could be coming to the UK

If you’re an e-bike rider, you might soon need an expensive insurance policy to ride it legally. That’s because the European Commission has proposed updated laws, which would mean you’ll need the same level of insurance cover as any other motor vehicle.

Last month the European Commission issued a statement, including a paragraph which clarified that e-bikes – even road-legal pedelecs – are categorised as motor vehicles, and need to be treated as such for insurance purposes. And it also appears that e-MTBs won’t be excluded from the updated legislation, even if they’re exclusively used off-road, as the Directive will apply “irrespective of the terrain on which the vehicle is used”.