Insurance for touring

[Bikerchick]

I am going on a 6 week your round France very soon, any advise on insurance?

 

[snorri]

Get yourself a European Health Insurace Card (EHIC), available online.
If you plan to take out insurance cover for bike, luggage, tent etc. make sure you read all of the small print on the policy before parting with your cash!
I've never found cover for cycle touring to suit my needs at reasonable cost.

 

[MarkF]

Get yourself a European Health Insurace Card (EHIC), available online.
If you plan to take out insurance cover for bike, luggage, tent etc. make sure you read all of the small print on the policy before parting with your cash!

It is excruciatingly boring, but yes, read the small print. I had my phone stolen in Seville, I went through a lot of waiting and hassle to get a crime number and police report, only to find that that the phone was insured for £200............................ but had an excess of £250! What a great business to be in.

 

[Yellow7]

With most insurance policies you almost need a separate insurance policy to ensure the initial one actually pays out!! Most are just robbing £$%&rds. I've never bothered with it on any of my tours and never needed it, maybe I’ve just been lucky.

France is a pretty safe country but theft will usually happen in a big town or city (as with MarkF) but caution and common sense should eliminate the average thief’s chances.

 

[Blue Hills]

As snorri says, do get the EHIC card.

You have to apply online these days I think - for some barmy reason you can no longer walk into a post office and fill a form in. It comes pretty swiftly though so the system works well.

I've used it in Italy.

I think the way it works is that you get treatment on the same terms as the natives, which isn't therefore necessarily free - in Italy for instance you have to pay for a fair amount of stuff, including outpatients, but that's another story ....

Do get one.

Info here - NB - it's free, though a google for info on the card will turn up intermediaries trying to charge you for applying for one.

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/EHIC/Pages/about-the-ehic.aspx

They do advise that you also take out private insurance but of course you don't have to. It will not of course cover you for repatriation etc etc if the worst should happen

 

[lpretro1]

I am going on a 6 week your round France very soon, any advise on insurance?

Try CTC insurance - covers bike up to £1500 (many oterhs only cover for up to £500) plus bike repatriation if required as well as all the usual stuff.

 

[Bikerchick]

Thanks for that, will check it all out

 

[suffolkcindy]

In my experience insurance never pays up so i dont pay them for nothing...health insurance yes but stuff on the road? Too many exemptions mean you think you are covered when you are not

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

get the EHIC but bare in mind that in France you have to pay and then claim in back even with the EHIC and the current time frame on getting your money back is around 18 months. My step father needed care in France last year and still does not have the money back...

Dedicated cycle touring cover - we passed on. We took out SPOT GPS emergency cover for both of us, but got exceptionally lucky. We were in Turkey when we were attacked by a pack of dogs whilst cycling. The locals and doctors all gave their time, and much of the materials, free (I needed +100 stitches, plus dressings and various jabs, my OH jabs and dressings) but that was because we were not in a tourist area. Anywhere else and we would have needed to use our SOS cover. Total financial cost to us €45, my parents paid for our home flights (€28 each plus the bikes €40 each, and one lot of extra baggage €40) coming out to help us home.

As for insurance paying out - well I have only ever needed to claim on my (dedicated) camera insurance. 2 claims in +20 years and it has been paid without question both times. I also contacted them prior to going on our (world) tour and they agreed to cover my camera equipment (think Canon EOS 5D mkII + 2 lenses and filters) whilst we were touring, knowing we were cycling around the world (or at least trying to as it turned out). One or two obvious provisos like not covered in countries Foreign Office say don't under any circumstances visit, and not covered on an unattended bikes (but OK in an unattended tent! I even double checked that one.)

So think carefully - BMC also do cycling touring cover, but a lot of policies will not cover bikes etc, litterally just you.

 

[Blue Hills]

Might be worth checking this lot out - note - I have not looked at the small print or anything to do with cycling.

I do know that they can be cost effective for older folk as my mum recently used them and would have had to pay a whole lot more than with most policies.

They keep costs down by drawing on the benefits of the EHIC card. Do check all the small print.

http://www.ehicplus.com/?referer=ga_ehic&gclid=CPzRroyKqLECfarktAodDh4Adw

It's vital of course to take the full details of the policy with you (it's all done over the internet) so that you can follow the correct procedure if the worst happens.

Re aramok's experience, I too got treated for free in Sardinia when I was bitten by a dog on my bike - I think they see it as a matter of pride/generosity. Can't count on it of course.

 

[Bikerchick]

Thanks for all that , will check it all out

 

[Llan Giant]

Thanks for all that , will check it all out

Hi Bikerchick. Do you get insurance? I am doing the London to Paris for charity on my own and need insurance. Would appreciate a lead on some decent insurance.

 

[bof]

Some general travel insurance policies exclude cycle touring and be very aware that if you do a cycling event with even a hint of competition overseas the insurance company might decide it's cycle racing, which almost any general policy will exclude.

 

[Crankarm]

Dead thread revival!

 

[Llan Giant]

Some general travel insurance policies exclude cycle touring and be very aware that if you do a cycling event with even a hint of competition overseas the insurance company might decide it's cycle racing, which almost any general policy will exclude.

Thank you. I have looked at a number and can't work out if you are covered abroad and if the bike is covered in the blurb! Will continue to look, but if anyone has come across a good one, let me know. Thanks again for your help.