Author Topic: Travel insurance?  (Read 2772 times)

Treewheeler

Travel insurance?
« on: 22 September, 2008, 01:23:33 pm »
Well now.
 I need to insure myself for a long trip, cycle touring (classed as dangerous sport don't you know...)
8 months is planned in New Zealand, Australia and U.S.A.
 Can't seem to find anything that suits.
This is because everything I have found so far including the very cheap C.T.C insurance has time away limits attached.
 So, I can find insurance for extended travel but not including cycle touring which is when I am likely to die after all.
Cycling, yes plain old cycling is allowed but NOT cycle touring...
Any-one got ANY advise for me at this late stage (flying on 1st Oct)
              Cheers
                Stuart

αdαmsκι

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Re: Travel insurance...
« Reply #1 on: 22 September, 2008, 01:26:25 pm »
Snowcard cover certain sports (skiing / climbing / paddling) so may be worth checking out.
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Re: Travel insurance...
« Reply #2 on: 22 September, 2008, 01:26:43 pm »
I realise that the CTC Insurance won't work, but have you asked the CTC (ie not the CTC's insurers) for advice?  There must be more than a few people, who are members of the CTC, who need insurance on this scale.  They may well be able to point you at a suitable company.
Actually, it is rocket science.
 

Re: Travel insurance?
« Reply #3 on: 22 September, 2008, 01:37:18 pm »
There are several promising sites if you Google "insurance long stay abroad".

Jezza

Re: Travel insurance?
« Reply #4 on: 22 September, 2008, 01:45:43 pm »
Try World Nomads - Keep Travelling Safely. They specialise in long-term backpackers insurance. 

Re: Travel insurance?
« Reply #5 on: 22 September, 2008, 02:15:18 pm »
Snowcard were great for me for PBP, espcecially as I had to claim.
When I phoned them beforehand, they were able to quote for different configurations very quickly, so it would be worth ringing them for a chat.

mattc

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Re: Travel insurance?
« Reply #6 on: 22 September, 2008, 02:43:48 pm »
Snowcard were great for me for PBP, espcecially as I had to claim.
When I phoned them beforehand, they were able to quote for different configurations very quickly, so it would be worth ringing them for a chat.
Didn't Mr L have a less positive experience with Snowcard on the same trip? I think he can claim to have stress tested the claims system! IIRC ...
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Vernon

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Re: Travel insurance?
« Reply #7 on: 22 September, 2008, 03:51:15 pm »
Endsleigh - single trip travel insurance. Cover available for up to two years, cycling (not racing) included. There's a limit of ~2k on possessions IIRC, so your bike probably won't be covered. You will be though.

Did us proud (including a hospitalisation in the good ol' US of A). They re-insure with a Dutch Insurance company, so you can get the same thing through TravelPlanners (I think).

Treewheeler

Re: Travel insurance?
« Reply #8 on: 22 September, 2008, 04:59:01 pm »
Well...
 World Nomads again won't cover...
Bicycle touring
Cycle touring (is there a difference...3 wheels+...?)
But!
 Will cover cycling.
     Wankers. >:(
 

Jezza

Re: Travel insurance?
« Reply #9 on: 22 September, 2008, 05:10:43 pm »
Well...
 World Nomads again won't cover...
Bicycle touring
Cycle touring (is there a difference...3 wheels+...?)
But!
 Will cover cycling.
     Wankers. >:(
 

I'm not entirely clear on the distinction, and not convinced that they are either. Surely you are just going travelling? Your means of transport will be predominantly, but not exclusively, cycling. It's hardly a specialist adventure sport. 

Treewheeler

Re: Travel insurance?
« Reply #10 on: 22 September, 2008, 05:11:26 pm »
Looks like Vernon is in the lead with his Endsleigh recommendation!
 They cover 'Cycling' not racing :thumbsup:

Treewheeler

Re: Travel insurance?
« Reply #11 on: 22 September, 2008, 05:14:08 pm »
I have found this weird distinction popping up with quite a few companies.
Why should 'cycle/bicycle/unicycle/recycle touring be a greater risk than 'cycling'?
 No reflection on you Jezza, thanks for your input there my good man :thumbsup:

Re: Travel insurance?
« Reply #12 on: 22 September, 2008, 05:28:02 pm »

 

I'm not entirely clear on the distinction, and not convinced that they are either. Surely you are just going travelling? Your means of transport will be predominantly, but not exclusively, cycling. It's hardly a specialist adventure sport. 
[/quote]

Last year I was specifically told that Natwest travel insurance would cover me if I went on holiday to cycle, but not if I travelled by bicycle.

Treewheeler

Re: Travel insurance?
« Reply #13 on: 26 September, 2008, 02:00:33 pm »
I've gone for the policy offered by S.T.A travel in the end.
 I haggled and they dropped the insurance offered by £50 to £303 which I still think to be OUTRAGEOUS!
But... it includes CYCLETOURING.
Some of those policies offered are right tricky when it comes to any activities.
For example... one company offered to cover mountain biking but only 'on road'... seriously!
Imagine I did have a prang/come a right purler/meet a logging truck late at night on a narrow bridge in the rain...
 Only to find your insurance company quibbles about the amount/type of cycling you have been up to and weasles out of any payment as they like to do often when you really need them...
 
 

Regulator

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Re: Travel insurance?
« Reply #14 on: 26 September, 2008, 02:11:51 pm »
I've gone for the policy offered by S.T.A travel in the end.
 I haggled and they dropped the insurance offered by £50 to £303 which I still think to be OUTRAGEOUS!
But... it includes CYCLETOURING.
Some of those policies offered are right tricky when it comes to any activities.
For example... one company offered to cover mountain biking but only 'on road'... seriously!
Imagine I did have a prang/come a right purler/meet a logging truck late at night on a narrow bridge in the rain...
 Only to find your insurance company quibbles about the amount/type of cycling you have been up to and weasles out of any payment as they like to do often when you really need them...
 
 



I've always found STA's insurance very good - and the cover is better than many other policies.

Funnily enough, the Post Office also offers very generous cover and I'm waiting for the day I turn 50 and can get travel insurance from SAGA...
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Treewheeler

Re: Travel insurance?
« Reply #15 on: 26 September, 2008, 02:53:56 pm »
Don't wait for it, just rob Mal Volio of his I.D...
Identity theft by post
  ;D

Nick H.

Re: Travel insurance?
« Reply #16 on: 23 December, 2009, 12:57:16 pm »
A couple more quotes, including the cheapest one so far? Both are for 365 days of cycle touring worldwide - Columbus 289.24, Endsleigh 318.24. They are both pretty basic. The Columbus one only has £1m of medical expenses cover, which can sometimes be inadequate for the US. And baggage cover is only £750. Endsleigh has the more typical £5m of medical expenses and £2000 of baggage cover. Columbus has been around for ages and specialises in adventure travel. (They were the only people I could get a quote from when I was fantasising about exploring remote bits of the Sahara on a motorbike.)

These are the things they cover as standard:

angling, archery*, athletics*(not including marathon running), badminton, banana boating, baseball*, basketball, billiards, body boarding, bowling, boxing training (no contact), camel riding*, canoeing, catamaran sailing**, clay pigeon shooting, climbing (climbing wall), cricket*, croquet, curling, cycling (non-touring)*, dancing, darts, dinghy racing, dinghy sailing, elephant ride, fell walking, flag american football, football, golf, gymnastics, helicopter ride (passenger), hiking, horse/reindeer drawn sleigh, horse riding, horse/mule trekking, hot air ballooning (passenger), ice cricket*, jet skiing*, kite surfing (on a lake)*, light aircraft rides (passenger), martial arts training, motorcycling under 125cc* (as a means of transport only), netball, orienteering, paint balling*, pony trekking, pool, rambling, rifle range*, ringos, rounders, rugby league*, rugby union*, sailing** (in-shore & off-shore), scuba diving (max. 30m), sledging, snooker, snorkelling, snow-shoeing, soccer, softball, squash*, surfing*, swimming, swimming with dolphins, table tennis, tennis, ten-pin bowling*, tobogganing (winter), touch football, trampolining, trekking, tubing, tug-o-war, volleyball, wake boarding, walking, walking up Sydney Harbour Bridge, water polo, waterskiing, wheelchair basketball, windsurfing (on a lake)*.
Bungee jumping (2 jumps), elephant trekking, kayaking, parascending - behind boats, sea canoeing / sea kayaking, walking high altitude, white water rafting, windsurfing* - sea, zorbing (2 zorbs).Kayaking, kite surfing* - sea / lake, motor boating*, parascending - behind boats, rowing, sea canoeing / sea kayaking surfing*, white water rafting , windsurfing* on a lake

These are the things you can add to your policy

Abseiling (Organiser's Guidelines / Supervision), American Football, BMX Riding (Stunt/Obstacle*), Bungee Jumping, Camel Trekking, Cat Skiing, Climbing (up to 4000m), Cycling (Touring*), Deep Sea Fishing, Dry Slope Skiing, Elephant Trekking, Fan Boating, Fencing*, Go Karting, Gorge Walking, Heliskiing***, Heptathlon Hockey*, Hydro-speeding, Ice Skating, Jungle Trekking*, Kayaking, Kite Surfing*, Korfball, Lacrosse, Land Yachting, Motor Boating*, Mountain Biking (recreational), Mountaineering (up to 4000m), Overland Expedition*, Parachuting, Paragliding*, Paragliding (Tandem *), Paragliding / Parapenting*, Parasailing, Parascending (Behind Boats), Quad Biking*, Reverse Bungee, River Sledding, River Tubing, Rock Climbing (with tools), Rock Climbing (without tools), Roller Blading, Roller Skating, Rowing, Safari (In Vehicle *), Safari (On Foot), Sand Duning, Sand Surfing, Scuba Diving - Max. 50m (qualified to 50m), Sea Canoeing, Sea Kayaking, Skate Boarding, Small Bore Target Shooting*, Via Ferrata, Walking High Altitude, White Water Rafting, Windsurfing*at sea , Zip Line / Wire, Zorbing * no Personal Liability cover ** no Personal Liability / offshore rescue cover

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Re: Travel insurance?
« Reply #17 on: 24 December, 2009, 10:18:23 am »
Snowcard were great for me for PBP, espcecially as I had to claim.
When I phoned them beforehand, they were able to quote for different configurations very quickly, so it would be worth ringing them for a chat.
Didn't Mr L have a less positive experience with Snowcard on the same trip? I think he can claim to have stress tested the claims system! IIRC ...

About a year after PBP I had an e-mail from Snowcard along the lines of "We're really pleased that you chose us; please tell us about your experience with our wonderful and fabulous insewerants service".

Having been promised that one of their droids would phone me back when I was holed up in a grothole in the Edmonton of Paris and then not been, I replied along the lines of "If it came to a choice between Snowcard and no travel insewerants at all, I'd cross my fingers and hope for luck".  For all they know I'm still in Vitry sur Seine, subsisting on dead dogs and litter.

I got a reply from the MD.  He seemed miffed.  I told him to fuck off and die, and with that we both went our separate ways.
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