climbing insurance

[aujayeb]

hi there
anyone know of some good companies doing insurance for climbing/mountaineering?
avi

[corvus]

Check out this lot,
http://www.summit-fs.co.uk/life-insuran ... index.html

[Nuts]

Insurance for climbing an mountaineering, do others see the irony?

[rucksack]

No. It is fairly standard in the northern hemisphere.

For example ... http://www.thebmc.co.uk/modules/insuran ... expedition

There are many North American and EU equivalents.

rucksack

[Joel]

ask on chockstone.com or thesarvo.com . This is a bushwalking website. Bushwalkers don't need insurance.

[rucksack]

You are right; this is a bushwalking website and probably not the best place to be looking for information about climbing and mountaineering insurance, but most bushwalking clubs and bushwalking federations in Australia provide some form of liability and accident insurance cover for their members. One might assume that this is because there is a perceived need for it.

rucksack

[durks]

Insurance for climbing and mountaineering, do others see the irony?

When climbing in the European Alps, it is completely standard to take insurance against the possible cost of a rescue: if you have the misfortune to need a rescue in Switzerland, you will have a bill to pay.

So, either take insurance - or make sure you fall down the French side of the ridge, and not the Swiss one ...

As rucksack mentioned, the British Mountaineering Council can arrange policies for its members which cover climbing and mountaineering in the UK, or just in Europe, or worldwide; it's probably one of the main reasons climbers in the UK join the BMC.

[Nuts]

No.. sure, i can understand the availability of insurance. I just struggle with the thought process of doing something of such risk and mitigating responsibility.

[Moondog55]

But Australia is one of the few countries where the cost of a search and/or rescue isn't borne by the rescued or their families.
Although that isn't the case always. i remember being on Feathertop with Joe Friend when he was caught in a collapsing cornice, that helicopter ride cost him in excess of $2k in 1980 dollars luckily he had insurance to cover that.
it is available mainly for leaders of walking parties and ski-touring groups and is usually part of the liability cover

[aujayeb]

Sorry if this is not the Right forum
Thanks for all the replies.
I had a BMC insurance policy till I moved here. I have climbed extensively in the alps and the Scottish highlands in winter and walked over the english lakes as well as Kilimanjaro etc.
Planning on some climbing, walking in NZ, Oz and Tasmania now as I have moved to Canberra from Uk

[shakinsteven]

I dont know anything about insurance but I know that as a Queenslander, if I were to need an ambo in NSW then there will be a bill to pay, learned this from dads trip to moree hospital and the $1500 bill he got in the mail for the ride.
Be worth checking if your health insurance covers ambulance trips?

[Tofu_Imprint]

I dont know anything about insurance but I know that as a Queenslander, if I were to need an ambo in NSW then there will be a bill to pay, learned this from dads trip to moree hospital and the $1500 bill he got in the mail for the ride.
Be worth checking if your health insurance covers ambulance trips?

That's why I have ambulance cover. Don't know what the situation is in QLD, but assuming you have a similar system?

[Azza]

Hi,

If your climbing in NZ - check out NZ Alpine Club, they offer climbing insurance.
http://alpineclub.org.nz/club/insurance ... ing-travel

Its also worth noting that New Zealand is a special case as the government has their own insurance policy covering all residents an visitors.
ACC covers most (if not all) costs in the event of an accident, including evacuation and/or medical treatment, and rehabilitation.

http://www.acc.co.nz/

So climbing insurance isn't strictly necessary in NZ... well I've never used it. So its not clear to me what the NZAC cover provides over ACC.

[roysta]

I don't agree with the comments along the lines of "this is a bushwalking site".
There are many people like me who are bushwalkers BUT, who extend their activities above the snowline both here and overseas.
To those who have posted worthwhile advice on the topic, thank you.

[ninjapuppet]

Didnt see this post earlier, but I'm going to be working as an actuary soon so I've done some research in this area.

The only Australian company who offer mountaineering insurance is insure4less and their rates are pretty cheap. You buy a basic travel insurance package (between $50-65 for my 2 weeks to NZ) then you email them to add on an alpine package which is 100% of the basic package so total price comes to about $100-130 for 2 weeks in NZ. just 4 months ago it the alpine package was only 75% but they had a few large claims over $100,000 and so now its 100% premium. Its generally ok for NZ, but for other countries, please note their terms and conditions, eg, height limits, etc etc

By way of comparison, NZAC also resell mountaineering insurnace but it was about $100 for the basic package + 130 alpine cilmbing add on + 40 admin fee (read: commission) = $270 for 2 weeks.
BUPA and a few others in Europe / US offer insurance too but were significantly more expensive than insure4less. I would look into them if you are hardcore and going into really high mountains, but for NZ I'd stick with insure4less if you are risk averse enough to buy insurance. I always buy it because when hiring a car, it covers my excess, and I like to know that my gear is covered in case it gets pinched. The main reason I get insurance is because bad weather can hit any time in the alpine regions and its just so easy to miss your connecting bus back to christchurch, booked hotels, and flight back to Australia so Insurance can cover all this.

With the ACC Azza was referring to in NZ, it only covers you for neccessary treatment whilst you are in NZ. whilst I think this is fantastic if you are rescued and hospitalised over there, it wont cover you if you need any rehab back in Australia. Aujayeb, being a doctor you know well and truly what medical costs can run into down the track; medicare or no medicare the costs can still be very significant long after the accident.

[benjabimon]

Firstly, I am very sorry for the zombie thread revival....

Given that a bit of time has now elapsed since the last post, it would be great to hear whether in the last few years anyone has used 'insure4less' or has had to make a claim with this insurer. After looking elsewhere online I see that they get somewhat mixed reviews, but I don't really know if this makes them better or worse than other companies. From my limited experience pretty much any insurance company will try to screw you over with clauses and exclusions, but it would be interesting to hear others' opinions on whether this lot are better, worse, or just about the same as all of them.

I want to purchase this for a trip in March so I have a bit of time to decide, but should probably get on to it soon. Insure4less will be about $200 cheaper than if I purchased the necessary cover from NZAC, so if I could save that much money it would mean more savings to reinvest into the rest of my trip in NZ.

Thanks

[roysta]

Join the Austrian Alpine Club (UK Division)
The annual fee includes insurance cover for most situations around the world.
There's also the American Alpine Club


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[Osik]

Hi benjabimon
If you haven't come across it, you might want to read the last couple of pages of this thread: http://www.chockstone.org/Forum/Forum.a ... PagePos=60

There's a bit of detail about the fineprint in the insure4less policies & also some details about the Austrian Alpine Club. Can't help on the claim part though, sorry.

Please post your results of your search here as I'm hoping to get over to NZ later in the year.

[benjabimon]

Thanks for the help

Just checked the Chockstone thread and it seems like for me it won't be too much of an issue. I'm just going to NZ from here and then back again, so I can use their cover for the entire trip.

Still yet to purchase the insurance, but I will need to do it soon in case the trip is cancelled for whatever reason.