high risk travel insurance

[neck beard]

PSA.

I've been searching for travel insurance that covers injury sustained during backcountry or ski mountaineering activities. Looks like these guys do it:

www. global.ihi.com/travel+insurance

From their FAQ, and confirmed with a sales person.

2. I am planning to go diving on holiday. Does the insurance cover that?

- Yes, we cover all kinds of sports, including hazardous sports, without extra charge. The only exception is motor sports (shows, races or competitions).

Cover under my wife's employers scheme has been slow to realise due to other paperwork holdups, so I gotta get some cover.

I am sure there are plenty others, for example via your national or local mountaineering council/club/organisation/association.

[Incompetent Boob]

Austrian Mountaineering Club
http://www.alpenverein.at/portal/Mit...versichert.php
Unrivalled: The Alpine Club World-wide Service is included in the membership fee.
* Search and rescue costs up to € 22, 000
* Repatriation with no upper cost limit
* Reimbursement of expenses due to hospitalisation, up to € 7, 500
* Personal Liability insurance within Europe for many sporting activities, up to € 2,180,186
* Legal expenses insurance within Europe for many sporting activities, up to € 32,703

I used to get free insurance with a gold visa. As they explained to me, it covered everything that was legal.

[neck beard]

>Austrian Mountaineering Club.

I used to be a member (of the UK branch). Can anyone from any country join?

[cramp]

As far as I know, everyone from every country can join the Austrian Alpine Club. There are no restrictions concerning place of living either (it may be that fees may be slightly higher if you are living abroad since postal costs, e.g. for sending the quarterly info journals etc. are higher etc.).

[neck beard]

I think you are right. I was an Australian living in Germany and a member of the UK chapter of the Austrian Alpine Club. That alone kind of answers my question.

Their medical cover is capped at eur7500, a bit low.

[hemas]

I think you are right. I was an Australian living in Germany and a member of the UK chapter of the Austrian Alpine Club. That alone kind of answers my question.

Their medical cover is capped at eur7500, a bit low.

Anyone can be a member of teh OeAV, no matter what their nationality or country of residence is. They do take into account the extra shipping, but the membership is still retardedly cheap... Like 50 Eur per year or so.

That said, one should consider the OeAV mostly as a rescue and getting you back to your homecountry kind of insurance. For some real insurance, something from IHI or Gouda, would be better.

That said, 7500 € isn't really all that bad. It would have easily covered my ACL+meniscus operation, but I used my reg. insurance for it.


Oh, and AFAIK and have heard, both IHI and Gouda are legid insurance, pretty popular among climbers/mountaineers since majority of the Finnish firms don't wanna insure you for such activities (or will, with a hudge pricetag and onyl for a few weeks a year or some stupid shite like that).


As for the OeAV insurance, Uniqa has changed the rules a bit. Antartic is now off limits, as is anything higher than 6500m (or something like that, can't be arsed to read the rules)... But Uniqa (the Swiss firm providing the insurance to OeAV) does have suitable and cheap expedition insurances (they might even cut a deal for OeAV members) when ya need them.

[DZ]

Hohes,

this company has a strong rep. Underwritten by Sumitomi.

http://www.e7a.jp/

cheap as 9,000yen /year, cheaper if you buy multiple-year contract

[x lurker]

If you are a US citizen, you might consider what happens when a non-US insurer breaches its contract with you and refuses to pay. If you sought them out and they don't advertise here, you probably have to sue them in their country or more likely just accept their denial and walk away. As for US based travel insurance, the devil is in the details. Get a copy of the policy and read it. There is no substitute. When and if you have a coverage dispute, the court won't give one shit what the sales agent told you the policy covered. Also, most travel insurance is basically shit. Last policy I reviewed for a client paid only for emergency care at facilities out of the country. She had a bad head injury on the plane on the ground in NY on the flight back from Europe - so policy paid nothing.

[denmeado]

Have you looked into the American Alpine Club? The membership includes rescue...can't remember the details, but it is pretty good.
Maybe combine AAC with regular travel insurance (for luggage and stuff) and you'd be good?

[Hugh Conway]

Have you looked into the American Alpine Club? The membership includes rescue...can't remember the details, but it is pretty good.
Maybe combine AAC with regular travel insurance (for luggage and stuff) and you'd be good?

http://www.americanalpineclub.org/pages/page/97

The Austrian Alpine Club membership gets you UIAA hut discounts, American doesn't (unless you buy a hut stamp.... which costs the same as an Austrian Alpine Club membership)

[panchosdad]

Looking into this for an upcoming Euro ski trip. We got the Rega Swiss insurance last trip, and despite a broken leg and heli rescue from the Verdon Gorge never got to use it as they never billed me for the rescue (still not sure why).

Any comments on the Austrian AC vs. Rega vs. Carte Neige. We're from the Evil Empire and will be mostly in CH and FR, but may also dip over into IT.

[SchralphMacchio]

BUMP, because

I’ve been doing homework to prep for a high-risk international guided trip I'm taking next year. Insurance for international stuff is confusing. After a couple of days of research and phonecalls, here is what I have found ... hopefully it is useful to others looking at doing international trips.

Property/Loss Insurance:
• My Homeowners/Renter’s policy covers loss/theft of goods (camera, lenses, computer, skis, gear, etc) internationally (I use AAA). Sweet!
• A lot of travel policies will say they cover so many thousand dollars, but the fine print will say that "laptops, camera equipment and jewelry have an aggregate limit of $500 of coverage" or something stupid like that. So basically, most of the travel-specific policies will be covering your clothes and a bit of gear, beyond $500 for all of your actual high-ticket items.

Trip Cancellation Insurance:
• Most providers bundle this protection with medical and other benefits under a comprehensive travel insurance policy that includes medical, loss, evacuation, and repatriation benefits (among others).

Search and Rescue Insurance:
• American Alpine Club does not appear to offer any kind of measurable discount for travel or medical insurance through their affiliates. However, they do provide rescue service (Global Rescue) as part of membership, of up to $5000 of coverage. It’s something, but not a lot when you think about domestic helivac costs … but there is a $500,000 upgrade for the Global Rescue coverage which provides rescue coverage AND medical & repatriation, but not personal gear loss or trip cancellation
o Other travel insurance policies provide “emergency evacuation” insurance covering costs of rescue, evacuation and repatriation related to “injury or sickness, from the location of injury or sickness occurs to the nearest medical facility.” So that won't cover rescue from potentially (even if practically guarantee-able) threatening incidents like running out of fuel in a remote basin, or dropping your stuff into a crevasse – but it does insure against rescue costs if something serious like pneumothorax were to occur. Kind of stupid because it's like, "my shit fell in a crevasse and I am guaranteed to get life-threatening hypothermia, but the insurance won't cover me until I actually develop hypothermia." Also check for security evacuation which covers evacuation from imminent physical threat from a third party or political instability.
• Austrian Alpine Club's membership comes with rescue insurance (not the same as rescue service) BUT it specifically excludes coverage the Arctic, Antarctic, Greenland, and from above 6,000m.

Comprehensive Travel Insurance:
• Travel insurance providers that have been popular and recommended to me during my search – IHI Bupa, HTH Worldwide, Allianz Global – do NOT cover medical costs related to mountaineering and “extreme skiing.”
• The only two decent providers (for US citizens) I have found that comprehensively cover loss/evacuation/medical costs etc. arising from extreme sports/mountaineering are:
o TravelGuard “Great Oudoors” policy
o WorldNomads.com Explorer policy

TravelGuard Great Outdoors vs. WorldNomads Explorer:
• WorldNomads Explorer is actually underwritten by TravelGuard, but it has a different benefit structure than the TravelGuard Great Outdoors plan
• Both have 24-hour call centers
• TravelGuard costs about 4.5% of the non-refundable trip cost (guide bookings and airfare) and WorldNomads is charged based on trip duration (roughly $150 per month)
• TravelGuard has 100% trip cancellation and trip interruption coverage (favorable when you’re throwing down $10K non-refundable for a guide service and airfare)
• WorldNomads only pays up to $5000 in trip cancellation or interruption
• WorldNomads has significantly greater medical coverage - $100,000 vs. $25,000
• Both cover emergency evac to $500,000
• Both cover roughly $3,000 of personal loss, which would cover the deductible from my homowner's/renter's policy, and potentially anything that policy won't cover

Well, that’s about all I could find out so far. Hopefully useful for other people embarking on international climbing/mountaineering/skiing trips in the near future!

[snapt]

Schralph for medical and rescue get in touch with the folks at Global Rescue. I've worked with them hands on once during a client's emergency and once hands off. In addition I've spent some time with their guys at trade shows picking their brains and they're a truly impressive organization. They won't discriminate based on activity and have upgrades should you be heading somewhere truly remote. The year long will help should anything happen 160 miles from home after your trip is over too so if you break a leg on Shasta 6 months after your trip they can help as well.

[Fenris]

I ended up using the TravelGuard insurance for some logistics while I was in the Patagonian Fjords. The town had nearly lost all internet capability (unless you were the Armada or Cabeneros) and was nearly as bad for phones. I made a 5 min call to let them know my hand was all messed up and needed to get out early, and then managed to get my flight from Puerto Williams to Punta Arenas arranged in person. Then I emailed them over satphone the day I was arriving in Punta Arenas and they took care of shuffling things from there. I'm pretty sure they paid me back for the costs of going to the clinic on the island, but I can't remember now. That part of the trip was extra fun without knowing spanish and the captain being a bit of a putz.

[Blizzard_of_Oz]

You need Brogressive Insurance. Your Bro's got your back.

[steveski]

You need Brogressive Insurance. Your Bro's got your back.

The coverage amount doubles for each additional GoPro the policy holder is wearing. True story.

[mbizzles]

I used TravelGuard for a DH biking trip to Whistler. I ended up needing it as I blew up real nice on A Line. Really easy to work with. Got all my money back no questions asked. Another thumbs up for them!

[SchralphMacchio]

You need Brogressive Insurance. Your Bro's got your back.

You've been hanging with Noah and Jonah way too much!

[El Chupacabra]

Bump of old thread.

Is the UK branch of the Austrian Alpine Club still the way to go for cheap overseas insurance?

https://aacuk.org.uk/

[neufox47]

I believe so, if that is the one Jonathan S recommended. He put a fair amoubt of work into researching it and I remember him saying it wasnt really close.

[SchralphMacchio]

I went with WorldNomads Explorer for my trip to Lyngen/Svalbard.

Thankfully I did not need to get rescued from the top of 27m mast while the boat engine was stilling, in front of an actively calving glacier 500 miles from the north pole, or when a wind slab flushed me out of a first descent couloir onto a valley glacier, but it did come in really handy when I scraped the entire side of my rental car in an underground parking garage in Tromso Norway. Avis billed me for $3K of damage and "lost rental revenue" and WorldNomads handled the entire thing, also made several follow-up calls to SAS airlines and also kept me in the loop multiple times per day when SAS lost my splitboard in San Francisco. So that's a huge vote of confidence.

[kokomas]

Bump for extended family trip to Central/South America with small kids in tow. Not getting extreme but there will be some diving, hiking, ziplining. Main concern is kids getting sick off the beaten path in Honduras or Costa Rica and needing a flight back to US. Reading the thread, seems like Travel guard, global rescue should be my first calls? Any others? We have good healthcare thru United who claim they will cover 80 percent of any expenses, now just looking for easy evacuation and logistics plan. Thinking that means I need a primary coverage rather than Nomads who are secondary I think I read?

[nfaust]

Bump for extended family trip to Central/South America with small kids in tow. Not getting extreme but there will be some diving, hiking, ziplining. Main concern is kids getting sick off the beaten path in Honduras or Costa Rica and needing a flight back to US. Reading the thread, seems like Travel guard, global rescue should be my first calls? Any others? We have good healthcare thru United who claim they will cover 80 percent of any expenses, now just looking for easy evacuation and logistics plan. Thinking that means I need a primary coverage rather than Nomads who are secondary I think I read?

The World Nomads plan we purchased last year for Japan (explorer plan) was listed as a secondary plan, but they did cover medical evacuation if deemed necessary by the attending physician. If you haven't seen this, here's a bit more info on what they cover:
https://helpdesk.worldnomads.com/cus...ion?b_id=12919

PM me and I'd be happy to send you a copy of the policy if you'd like to read it, although I don't know how many details would change for Central America vs. Japan.

[zion zig zag]

Schralph for medical and rescue get in touch with the folks at Global Rescue. I've worked with them hands on once during a client's emergency and once hands off. In addition I've spent some time with their guys at trade shows picking their brains and they're a truly impressive organization. They won't discriminate based on activity and have upgrades should you be heading somewhere truly remote. The year long will help should anything happen 160 miles from home after your trip is over too so if you break a leg on Shasta 6 months after your trip they can help as well.

Curious if you ever looked into working for them? They are hiring a medic now in "Eastern Europe (Kiev, Ukraine?)" and they say they work 2 months on and 1 month off. If they would flip that to 1 month on and 2 months off I would definitely look into that.

[hafjell]

Looks like the Austrian Alpine Club is about $118.54 for the year for my wife and me with free coverage for our two young children.
http://www.alpenverein.at/portal_wAs...2018_ebook.pdf