I had the opportunity to go on a big overland trip at the last moment. Basically, a school friend of mine is a driver-cum-Tour Leader for one of the big overland companies, and two people dropped out of the trip just a week before it was supposed to depart, so he offered me a place pretty much at cost price. Fortunately, I wasn't doing that much and I had the opportunity to go. All I needed to do was to get insurance, as all the countries we were going through didn't need Visas. That's simple I thought! How wrong was I!
Many people nowadays have insurance through their bank, at 12 to 15 month. This may seem like reasonable value because of all the different insurances included, such as worldwide annual multi-trip and mobile phone. But - over a year these "benefits" cost up to 180 and you need to ask yourself "Do I really need/use all the different sections of the policy?" I have friend with breakdown cover included, but he doesn't drive.... There is usually a lead-in price for adventure travel insurance and whilst medical and repatriation cover is essential, companies nowadays are keen to win you over by offering discounts to exclude baggage and personal effects. Much more important is to think about what you'll be doing and buy a policy to suit the trip. The basic premium may seem like a good deal but that is because it will have (basic) cover to match. Fine for a week's break in Spain where all you have in mind is rest and relaxation on a beach, but not for the type of holiday I'm thinking of.
I went through many websites to try to find something which would be useful for my trip and cover me for all the things I wanted to do, but on the vast majority of the websites trying to get details of the cover was pretty much impossible. Yes, they all come up with a cheap price, but what doesn't it cover you for. It reminded me of a sad story I read before Christmas of a girl who was very badly injured when she fell off a Quad Bike, only for her family to discover that her insurance didn't cover her riding a Quad Bike so the insurance wouldn't pay out. I didn't want to make the same mistake.
The basic insurance schemes I looked at would cover you for swimming, walking (walking.... I ask you!), Curling, playing football etc., but when I really looked into it and drilled down to see if they would cover me for white water rafting, trekking, canoeing etc., none of them did, or the few that did wanted an astronomical amount of money for the privilege. I obviously checked with the overland company I booked with, and their prices were just as bad.
Clearly, you may not know if you'll be doing one or perhaps a few of these fun and adventurous activities. If for example you're backpacking around Asia and Australia / New Zealand, chances are you'll be tempted by trekking over 2000m, parasailing or even bungee jumping! I found a company that would let me do all of this for just 24 extra, regardless of how long I intended to be away for (up to a year).
They even had a message on their website which said "If you can't afford travel insurance, you can't afford to travel". How true is that!
Many people nowadays have insurance through their bank, at 12 to 15 month. This may seem like reasonable value because of all the different insurances included, such as worldwide annual multi-trip and mobile phone. But - over a year these "benefits" cost up to 180 and you need to ask yourself "Do I really need/use all the different sections of the policy?" I have friend with breakdown cover included, but he doesn't drive.... There is usually a lead-in price for adventure travel insurance and whilst medical and repatriation cover is essential, companies nowadays are keen to win you over by offering discounts to exclude baggage and personal effects. Much more important is to think about what you'll be doing and buy a policy to suit the trip. The basic premium may seem like a good deal but that is because it will have (basic) cover to match. Fine for a week's break in Spain where all you have in mind is rest and relaxation on a beach, but not for the type of holiday I'm thinking of.
I went through many websites to try to find something which would be useful for my trip and cover me for all the things I wanted to do, but on the vast majority of the websites trying to get details of the cover was pretty much impossible. Yes, they all come up with a cheap price, but what doesn't it cover you for. It reminded me of a sad story I read before Christmas of a girl who was very badly injured when she fell off a Quad Bike, only for her family to discover that her insurance didn't cover her riding a Quad Bike so the insurance wouldn't pay out. I didn't want to make the same mistake.
The basic insurance schemes I looked at would cover you for swimming, walking (walking.... I ask you!), Curling, playing football etc., but when I really looked into it and drilled down to see if they would cover me for white water rafting, trekking, canoeing etc., none of them did, or the few that did wanted an astronomical amount of money for the privilege. I obviously checked with the overland company I booked with, and their prices were just as bad.
Clearly, you may not know if you'll be doing one or perhaps a few of these fun and adventurous activities. If for example you're backpacking around Asia and Australia / New Zealand, chances are you'll be tempted by trekking over 2000m, parasailing or even bungee jumping! I found a company that would let me do all of this for just 24 extra, regardless of how long I intended to be away for (up to a year).
They even had a message on their website which said "If you can't afford travel insurance, you can't afford to travel". How true is that!
About the Author:
Andy managed to get his adventure travel insurance sorted out in the end. He got it arranged through www.adventuretravelinsurance.co.uk, so take a look for yourself.
