Cycle tour insurance

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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Ranger Darren
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Joined: 24 Mar 2014, 9:07pm

Cycle tour insurance

Post by Ranger Darren »

Im sure this has been talked about many times in the past but I cant find a good anwer looking back on the forum.
Can anyone recommend an insurance company that will insure me and my bike when I do a tour accross Europe. It doesnt seem to be as easy as it should be.
Thanks. Darren :P
Psamathe
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Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Cycle tour insurance

Post by Psamathe »

My own bike policy (which is part of my house policy - bike bit added on), includes insurance anywhere in Europe. Time limits only apply when taking the bike outside Europe.

However, that is just the theft aspect of the insurance. Are you also looking for medical insurance, possessions insurance, cancellation cover etc. - i.e. your traditional holiday policy. If so, I would not know of anywhere but you might need to consider different policies covering different aspects.

Ian
tatanab
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Joined: 8 Feb 2007, 12:37pm

Re: Cycle tour insurance

Post by tatanab »

CTC's own travel insurance can cover cycle loss, but only to £3000. It also covers cycle repatriation. https://www.citybond.co.uk/?refid=CTIN01

There are many others e.g Cyclosure, but only to £2,500 https://www.cyclosure.co.uk/

Recommend - I have had policies from both in the past. Fortunately I've never claimed so I cannot recommend one over any of the others. You might want to read terms and conditions carefully. Like many domestic cycle insurance schemes you might find that the bike is only covered if it is tethered to your left ankle by an approved standard ship's anchor chain.
randomblue
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Joined: 28 Aug 2013, 5:09pm

Re: Cycle tour insurance

Post by randomblue »

Axa is the one I've found for my Europe tour this summer. Includes cycle touring as an add on (although I admit I don't know how much this adds to the price but is seems reasonable). You can also select an add on for sporting equipment so it would cover the bike and the base policy includes everything you'd expect such as personal injury, posessions etc. The only bit I wasn't completely clear on was it seemed like the touring add on only covered you for personal injury, not personal accident? Which didn't make much sense to me but then I've never bought insurance before so not totally clear on the definitions of all the terms. For my 4-5 month tour though including the two addons the 3 options ranged in price from about £60 to just under £100?
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BeeKeeper
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Re: Cycle tour insurance

Post by BeeKeeper »

+1 for AXA for medical insurance. The company I was with before didn't cover cycle touring, which I didn't know until I asked them the question after being prompted by discussion here. Apparently it was classed as a dangerous sport by them.

Insuring the bike may be difficult if you don't or can't comply with whatever regulations there are - such as perhaps having to use a Gold Standard lock to secure the bike to an immovable object. I looked at insuring my bike and the premiums for the UK alone were about 10% of the value of the bike - so I haven't insured it and am just careful where I leave it.
Ron
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Re: Cycle tour insurance

Post by Ron »

Ranger Darren wrote:Can anyone recommend an insurance company that will insure me and my bike when I do a tour accross Europe. It doesnt seem to be as easy as it should be.
It's not!
I took out insurance for my first tour, but it was only when i got home that I read the small print and discovered my valuables should have been in a lockfast container overnight, (in a tent?). Some companies require details of your tour dates which can be difficult if you are on a tour of unknown duration.
I don't think touring in most of Europe is any more risky than touring in the UK and am happy to carry the risk myself, although in the event of serious injury there is the question of repatriation.
nmnm
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Joined: 14 Nov 2010, 6:03pm

Re: Cycle tour insurance

Post by nmnm »

Last year I used John Lewis for 10 day France cycle tour.
£20 minus £15 Quidco cashback.
No cycle touring exclusion, so fine for health and repatriation purposes. As with most, there are restrictions that'd limit your cover for tent / bike theft.
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toekneep
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Re: Cycle tour insurance

Post by toekneep »

If you are camping I think you will be lucky to get cover for the stuff in the tent if unattended. There have been some recent threads on the merits of insuring the bike. We have come too the conclusion that for our trip in UK it isn't worth it. Medical insurance for Europe is a different matter of course.
simonhill
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Location: Essex

Re: Cycle tour insurance

Post by simonhill »

Don't want to be pedantic, but....just because something eg cycling or diving is included or not excluded doesn't necessarily mean it is covered in all cases.

I read the small print of a policy a while ago that included these things, great I thought. Then buried away I found an exclusion for anything done as the primary part of the trip was excluded. This meant you could cycle, but not go cycle touring (or go on a diving holiday).

Another *****y thing to check!

Insureandgo do competitive annual and one trip policies and cycle touring is included. It excludes third party liability for the cycling, which is probably quite important if you hit a child or a Rolls Royce. You get health, cancellation, theft etc.

It seems to me that more and more people don't insure their bikes.
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shane
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Re: Cycle tour insurance

Post by shane »

simonhill wrote:Don't want to be pedantic, but....just because something eg cycling or diving is included or not excluded doesn't necessarily mean it is covered in all cases.


Yup it seems our friends at the insurance companies consider cycling as the " Main activity" as pretty dangerous stuff... When I looked into a long term insurance some of the quotes increased by 50% when you tell them you're cycle touring. Also bear in mind that most policies don't pay out of theft cases if your items where not under your direct supervision or in a hotel safe deposits box (good luck getting your bike into the safe :D ) Long live the small print :evil:

The main thing for me is a policy that will get me medical help/ a lift home if I'm really in the poo, I'm not so worried about gear/bike, that can all be replaced at some point.

Ironically my most recent trip was only 2 months so I was able to get cover by my banks annual policy, which worked out fairly cheap. Fingers crossed I'll never have to find out if an insurer actually pays out!!!
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CJ
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Re: Cycle tour insurance

Post by CJ »

simonhill wrote:... This meant you could cycle, but not go cycle touring (or go on a diving holiday).

Well said Simon.

Here at CTC we often read triumphant postings from smart Alecs who reckon they've got one over on CTC (and the insurance industry) with some insurance at a fraction the price of ours that "includes cycling". Well maybe sometimes they have found a policy that isn't quite up to speed with it's exclusion clauses - and good for them if it's really true and pays out if and when it matters. But the industry is catching up.

When CTC goes to source insurance on behalf of its members there can never be any doubt that cycle-touring is "main purpose of journey". So you can be sure that our insurance is good to go. It won't be cheap, but if you think insurance is worth having (and personally I don't in many circumstances) it's worth having. And whilst I don't buy insurance for any loss that wouldn't break me (I could buy another bike, so my bikes are not insured against theft), I do have CTC travel insurance.
Chris Juden
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randomblue
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Re: Cycle tour insurance

Post by randomblue »

Just gone to actually buy the axa insurance and found they've upped the prices by about 50% since I last looked -.-

Also just looked at the CTC insurance... just to check I'm not going crazy, the single trip option says it can't be over 100 days but my trip is 130. I can't find anywhere that the annual cover has a limit on the number of days but I know lots of "annual" covers have a maximum number of days during the year you can be travelling? Anyone know if that's the case or am I safe to go ahead with that one?
gbnz
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Joined: 13 Sep 2008, 10:38am

Re: Cycle tour insurance

Post by gbnz »

BeeKeeper wrote:+1 for AXA for medical insurance. The company I was with before didn't cover cycle touring, which I didn't know until I asked them the question after being prompted by discussion here. .


*2 for AXA medical insurance

Thanks for your post, as I was struggling to find medical insurance for several days in France. I couldn't see any exclusions for non "helmet" wearers
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MrsHJ
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Re: Cycle tour insurance

Post by MrsHJ »

I used sports direct for some years for medical etc and they are still around. Not cheap but useful for active people as they cover many sports and at the time I was doing a lot of skiing too and a lot of companies wouldn't cover any off piste skiing so this meant I could bundle all my sports trips up on one insurance. The husband is a lot more difficult to cover if he goes on a long sailing trip properly offshore. I get travel insurance through my company at the moment, need to check I'm covered.

From a practical point of view your EHIC is likely to be your most useful insurance document and I've used that in Spain a couple of time for cycling injuries, less hassle if you have a minor injury.

My bike and as far as possible kit has been covered through household insurance but I'm a bit more relaxed about that than if I had a new bike or really flash camping gear. If it gets nicked I guess it will be time for a new one. I'm actually more worried about the kids bikes these days as islabike is such a desirable brand now!

Edit, just did an online quote with them for our August trip for me and the kids and it was £13.36, probably worthwhile for me to do annual and include winter sports for our skiing trip.
climo
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Re: Cycle tour insurance

Post by climo »

Following an accident I was lying unconscious in an Italian hospital for a week before I was shipped home. In that time I lost my £180 watch. Axa refused to pay as I didn't report it to the police.
This went on for weeks. They put every possible excuse & block (I even had to send them a copy of the instruction book) and it became a personal mission to get paid out. Finally they did pay but the cheque came with a letter which in so many words said whilst they didn't accept the claim they were paying out of the goodness of their hearts. What hearts!

From that lesson I learnt to keep every possible receipt of anything major that I could lose outside the house. This was of use when my wife was burgled in a Dublin hotel. I made sure she got every possible piece of paper she could, itemised police report, photos of the room, receipt for new suitcase. etc. Everything.

Fortis insurance were ok BUT they wanted to see the old suitcase that had be forced open & rendered unusable so was chucked by the hotel. So I got a letter from the hotel saying just that. I left them no wiggle room at all & they paid up.

Never trust them.

Oh & the british embassies aren't interested whatsoever. In Italy & Dublin they couldn't have cared less, even about the lost passport in Dublin. In Italy they actually hung up on my wife when she asked for a translator claiming they didn't know of any & the local consulate, who was away that week, could sort it out. Too busy with their G & T's I expect.
Its truly shocking
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