Sports abroard, holiday insurance - check and then recheck again.

michele-p wrote: »

Oh No Murphy, hope you get seen very soon at A&E, well done for getting yourself home though.

I've just booked insurance for our holiday next week (we have free bank insurance in place too, so this is an extra policy), we will be in Norway, and I want to do a day skiing on the glacier. I'm so glad I called the company, as I was about to take out "winter sport" add on (weird in summer!), but as I mentioned it was a glacier they double checked, and sure enough this was a different add on, and winter sports would not have covered it. So yes, check, and double check your policy,

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

I've now got (limited) mobility so I can get from A-B albeit slowly !
Fingers crossed, in about 6 weeks I'll know for sure the extent of the damage

As a happy aside, last year we went on the Sasquathch Zip Line at Whistler. Several hundred feet up, speed of 100+kmh and over 2km long. At the time, we joked that if it all went wrong, at least we had a plastic hard hat to save us ! (it was one of the best things that we have ever done. Ever). If you get the chance DO IT - going backwards, upside down, was brilliant !
Oddly enough, Ziplining doesn't appear to be an insured activity - of any speed, length, height etc.

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

My holiday insurance is very comprehensive and is quite definitive in the areas that it covers and just as importantly, doesn't cover.
As a careful traveller I checked and rechecked that one of my activities was in the "good column" and not the "bad column".

On our last full night on holiday we took part in the sporting activity, something went wrong and I sustained a serious (but not life altering/life threatening) injury.
We settled down to the reality of visiting a hospital in the US, before inevitable (& perhaps extensive) tests, possible admission, potential operation and obviously delayed flights back to the UK (not a Medevac!!). All in All, it would have added up to a mighty whack.

Before we set off to the hospital, I pulled out the policy and recheked the details then went to where we'd done the activities and rechecked the details with them -- at this point, I discovered the very real possibility/probability that any insurance claim may not be settled, due to the level of my activity being higher than specified on the policy - all down to definition and interpretation. (alternatively, it could have been met and all would have been good.

Long story short, I didn't chance a claim, self medicated myself and came home. My circumstance weren't "normal" and I was able to do this on my pre-booked flight. If it was a "normal" trip it would have cost a mighty wedge to get me back to the UK.

If you're going to do a sporting activity whilst abroad, check, check then recheck again that your insurance covers your activty. In particular, if your insurance companies definition doesn't align with the sports providers definition, run it by your insurance company and get confirmation that you're covered.

You learn something new every day, Lesson learnt etc, etc

p.s. I'm typing this from the A&E at hospital, as they work out how much damage I've done:(

helibird wrote: »

You have to be so careful. I checked my Nationwide flex plus policy that is advertised with Winter Sport Cover. It to has the 'Glacier' exclusion. But even worse, I thought my hire equipment was covered for loss or damage. Having read through the policy I couldn't find the clause although there was an exclusion mentioning getting a certificate from the hire shop about damaged or lost equipment.
Having spent about half an hour on the phone to the insurers they decided this exclusion only refered to getting a certificate so you could get the £35 a day to hire replacement equipment. The equipment (hire or own) is not covered for loss or damage. So I could be out £400+ if my hire skis are stolen and be in for a long argument with the ski shop as to their actual value. Ggrr insurance companies!!!