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Travel insurance for cyclists
I just noticed this and wanted to share...
While looking for some long term travel insurance (Note the "long term" part... ye-haaaaar!) noticed at least one company who had bike riding in their list of excluded activities. Ie. injuries suffered while riding would not be covered. WTF!!?
Why I bring this up is that if you're taking a trip O/S over the xmas/new year break be sure to read your travel insurance policy wording carefully!
FWIW, it's quite amazing some of the other exclusions they toss in there. No cover for any item left in a vehicle 'after dark' seems a common one.
I couldn't find anyone who would cover theft or damage of bikes for the period I wanted either. If you are worried about that kind of thing for shorter trips you can have your bike insured with one of the specialist mobs or covered on your household insurance though.
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I'm just researching insurance for a xmas MTB trip to rotorua so great timing. I've used travelinsurancedirect before and they are cheap and good but there is a limit per item of $700 for loss/theft/damage which may be an issue for the bike. They cover injuries for recreational riding but not for racing.
I'd be interested to see if you had found anyone that would cover the bikes at all or was it the long-term bit (lucky bastard) that was the problem?
@Discodan... for short trips loss/damage of bikes was not an issue the past (we visited Rotorua Dec/Jan last two years) because our household insurance covers named items for up to 60 days world wide. I think the local bike insurance specialists have similar cover but best look into that.
Yes, sadly, the next trip we take will be longer than 60 days so this isn't relevant any more
This is something I definently need to look into for next year when i do the BC bike race in canada. Any suggestions on who i could get travel insurance with that would cover me in the race? Also insurance for my bike too?
OK I'm lazy so left getting travel insurance for a recent trip to Rotovegas until 2 days before I travelled. Couldn't be ar$ed at that stage ringing around getting quotes so just went with NRMA. $3500 luggage allowance included in the $78 fee. "Sweet, that'll cover my bike", "Um how much is it worth?" was the response. "About $3k" " No there is a limit of $600 per item but we can issue a separate policy for the bike to $3500. That'll be another $100 thanks" Obviously didn't get the detailed policies until after I returned but there was no mention of cycling being excluded during my conversation and given we specifically spoke about bikes I would think it necessary for them to notify me of that during the discussion, but I would expect it to be excluded for racing, that exclusion seems to be very common amongst general policies. Anyway, point of this is that NRMA will do the bike for short trips, albeit an expensive option.
Rob, good luck with the extended trip. Where are you off to?
Were are we going? Oh... here and there... don't want to say too much. There will be pictures
Scotty, I don't think we'll find anyone who will insure us for the race. I think we need to insure our bikes with Velosure, etc, and the moment we have a big stack, we need to rip off our number plates and say we were riding to get some maple syrup, and let our regular travel insurance take over.
Good timing for this thread.
I've got a ski-trip coming up, so this was a good reminder to check my policy. Here's the "sport" related exclusions in my coverage.
So nothing cycling related other than the broad "Racing, other than on foot" reference, which would probably be enough to rule out an MTB race. I wonder if ski-racing is considered "on foot"?
I once saw a policy that covered skiing but excluded snowboarding. Maybe they think boarders hit the herbs too often?
Velosure guys.
They support the MTB so much with the Cyclenation series etc. if its the right porudct, then we should try and give our support back to them.
They cover bikes in racing, transit, overseas and at home. We do all of our bikes with them - and there is some coin invested in them from our household!
They dont cover 'you' whilst racing. I have tried many times to find this, and its extremely hard. MTBA managed to work something out for the participants of the Tour de Timor this year, so it may be worth flicking them an emai to see if they have any contacts.
@herzog... yeah, that list looks a bit like what we went for. Nothing saying you can't ride a bike or partake in snow sports. Happy days
There are heaps of ways to get caught out if you don't read your travel insurance contract carefully;
http://www.smh.com.au/money/dont-be-left-strande...
Good timing for this article to appear....
I have my bikes insured with Velosure as well, they are great, hassle free and easy to deal with. Yeah their premiums are not the cheapest but you pay for what you get. I know that with Velosure they will handle the claim quickly and efficiently with minimum fuss and they wont try and screw me over either.
Their cover is truly great and as Ants has mentioned they cover racing which is awesome, not many General Insurance policies will cover that. I guess it comes down to what you do on your bike.
Hi guys,
just a quick note to let you know that we now have a comprehensive travel insurance product that will cover you while you ride and even race your bike during your travels.
As far as we know there is no other product out there currently that will extend cover to especially racing a bicycle. The direct link to the travel insurance section on the site is - http://velosure.com.au/contents/travel-insurance
Thanks for the support!
Happy trials!
Velosure for sure.
Check them out.
Top service. Friendly. Good value.