Is insurance for a tour in Europe a worthwhile purchase?

[bainbridge]

Hi tourers

The above might sound like a daft question but I'd appreciate it if some people could share their experiences around whether it is a worthy purchase or not.

I work in the insurance industry and place importance on being adequately covered but I'm also aware that a policy is only as good as the claims service provided should things go wrong.

£49 for a 3 week tour of Holland and Germany doesn't sound like much but after looking at the small print I didn't get far before beginning to consider just going with a European Health Insurance Card.

Take the loss of bike for example. My bike is 13 years old and cost £600 new. With the 10% reduction per year for the age of the bike I'd get nothing.

Loss of cash? Why not just take 100 euros or so and a prepaid debit card. If you lose the cash, take the hit and get some more out (by contacting the card issuer if your card is lost too).

Repatriation of the bike? If it's beyond repair any undamaged accessories will be stripped and it'll be scrapped.

I'm struggling here folks to justify the expense.

[mnichols]

£49 sounds a lot

My standard travel insurance covers me for cycling provided that I'm not racing...that's free from my bank

My house insurance covers my bike when I'm on holiday....cover up to £500 is included

My 4 expensive bikes are insured on the same policy for a few pound per month with ensure

I had my wallet stolen in Nice and got all my money and expenses back in 1 phone call

I had a bike accident and had a new for old replacement in a couple of weeks worth £2500

Worth it to me

[ANTONISH]

For Europe I have an annual E111 top up policy. Like you I'm not too concerned about loss of baggage etc - although there is some cover for that.
If my bike is stolen that's a problem but I could probably replace my touring bike with something secondhand if necessary.
Obviously third party liability is something to consider ( although there is some cover from CTC membership. )

[foxyrider]

I generally take out a yearly travel policy - much cheaper than per trip! (i usually make a handfull of trips each year but not all with a bike) However that is primarily for medical cover (which i hope to never need), repatriation costs can be huge!

[bikepacker]

Obviously third party liability is something to consider ( although there is some cover from CTC membership. )

Does the CTC liability cover claims in Europe? It hadn't use to.

[mjr]

I think it's worthwhile. Where are you buying your policies? I used holidaysafe.co.uk mainly for medical top-up insurance because my home policy covers the bike as long as immobilised (not even locked to something else AFAICT - but it usually is!) and third party liability (check that it covers your destination, though) as long as I'm not racing (as if!).

[tatanab]

Obviously third party liability is something to consider ( although there is some cover from CTC membership. )

Does the CTC liability cover claims in Europe? It hadn't use to.

Coverage is worldwide except USA and Canada http://www.ctc.org.uk/sites/default/fil ... idance.pdf

[TonyR]

I'd recommend the insurance and its not expensive - about £25 for an annual European policy from American Express (with whom I've had very good experiences). The Health Card only covers your medical costs and doesn't cover things like getting you to the hospital, repatriation of you and your belongings (e.g. if you break a leg and can't cycle) and people coming out to sort things out for you. I go for an annual cover policy but read the small print. Some insurance companies treat cycle touring as an extreme sport and either won't cover it or want an expensive extreme sport supplement.

[bainbridge]

Yes as mentioned I do want something to repatriate me and cover any third party risk:

Directline = £84 and they won't cover the bike

Also had a couple of quick quotes online but after the initial figure you just get referred to their policy wording which quickly becomes tiresome.

I might ring a few up the week before we go.

[pstallwood]

You should get free medical treatment but an E111 card will not get you repatriated if you need to be. Repatriation will be very expensive if you need specialist transport - £1000s for a friend of mine that was diagnosed with bowel cancer whilst on holiday in France and needed her own plane to get back to the UK.

I broke my ankle in Denmark last summer and was flown home - could have travelled in our motorhome but would have been problematical and uncomfortable. Insurers arranged for repatriation of the van as well.

[PT1029]

+1 on the repatriation costs.
An ambulance aircraft just for you will be an awful lot of £.......
It may be that you can fly on a normal flight, but need a medic with you, also not cheap...

I have known insurance pay for patient, sister + partner + medic flying back from (as well as getting there) Costa Rica, even got put in business class. Insurance also paid for 3 weeks of hotels (+ 3 weeks of private hospital for patient) until the airline deemed the patient fit enough to fly. Once here, a mini bus to get from the airport to the front door.

Saw someone else on the flight in economy, she had been in the same hospital (pensioner, broken hip, 1st day of cruise), insurance had paid for 3 seats, one behind the other, her stretcher was mounted across the 3 head rests.....it was a long flight.....
While Europe is closer, the flights like the above would still be expensive on your pocket.
I doubt a long ambulance (road) journey would be cheap, use of vehicle, plus 2 or 3 or more staff.

My household policy has all year travel cover for an extra amount which I now forget.

[pstallwood]

In my case we had 4 seats on Easyjet. 3 for me so I could raise my leg and one for my wife. We had a private ambulance home from Gatwick. The help we got at Copenhagen and Gatwick airports was brilliant.

Fortunately I was relatively mobile and Easyjet was fine but many other injuries/illnesses might not have been too easy to deal with. We could have made the arrangements ourselves but would have found it difficult to deal with away from home but the insurance company did it all for us and took all the stress away from my wife. I don't know what the cost of everything was but the driver who repatriated our van said that he had spent about £700 by the time he had got the van from near Copenhagen back to us. He then had a night's stay in London and a train journey to Manchester to pay for - probably not much change out of £1000 altogether by the time he got home.

[TonyR]

In my case we had 4 seats on Easyjet. 3 for me so I could raise my leg and one for my wife. We had a private ambulance home from Gatwick.

Same for us on BA when my partner did her medial ligament skiing. Except she had a seat next to me for her and two seats in the back of the plane for her leg. Took quite some doing on a full plane to get the seats back together. And that was after a trip by French ambulance to the airport the crew of which had spent all morning in the bar at the resort before picking us up.

[bohrsatom]

Travel insurance for health: Yes, definitely. For the one reason already mentioned: repatriation

Travel insurance for your belongings/bike/kit: IMO not worth it. There are plenty of exclusion which don't fit with bike touring. Often your belongings are not insured if stored in a tent or bag in a hotel room. And your bike's often not insured unless secured to specific objects with specific locks in specific places. Read the small print and see what you are getting. You may find you're not covered even if you think you are.

[bainbridge]

Finally took out a policy, there are so many cycle insurers that go on about covering the bike itself but are deliberately vague about repatriation and cover for accidents outside the UK.

£26 single trip policy tailored for cycle touring in Europe which covers repatriation, reasonalbe medical costs and some tp liability too.