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Bouldering insurance for abroad (Read 4805 times)

ducko

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Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 02, 2019, 06:33:10 pm
Any recommendations for the above? Off to Swiss would like to be covered. Bmc seems pricey, any alternatives that are cheap and cheerful people know about?
Ta

monkoffunk

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#1 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 02, 2019, 07:14:37 pm
What’s BMC charging? Always found them super cheap!

Bradders

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#2 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 02, 2019, 09:02:28 pm
Insure & Go includes bouldering as standard and seemed very reasonable when I booked a couple of months ago for Rocklands. They were certainly a lot cheaper than the BMC.

cheque

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#3 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 02, 2019, 09:32:03 pm
BMC insurance is worth the money in my experience.

Doylo

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#4 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 02, 2019, 10:28:29 pm
Snowcard too. Cover bouldering , not sure on price.

bigironhorse

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#5 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 03, 2019, 06:55:22 am
https://www.sportscoverdirect.com/

I have used this company a few times for route climbing trips. Quite cheap but have never had to make a claim so cant comment on how easy that is.

ducko

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#6 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 03, 2019, 10:45:28 pm
Insure & Go includes bouldering as standard and seemed very reasonable when I booked a couple of months ago for Rocklands. They were certainly a lot cheaper than the BMC.

Good beta, only thing is it’s limited to 4 meters so I guess you obviously would never go any higher..
cheap to, nice one

Paul B

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#7 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 03, 2019, 11:35:58 pm
BMC insurance is worth the money in my experience.

I'm having a less than positive experience with it. Their underwriters have been pretty darn useless as I first contacted them to ask for clarification on how to file the paperwork (via email) in response to their original letter. I got the same text back verbatim as was in the letter. I replied asking them to please review the original correspondence (which contained an itemised timeline of events) more carefully at which point I got the same response in different words (with a few ALL CAPS thrown in). My response to this (I managed to remain polite) didn't get a reply. I phoned up instead and had to be incredibly stubborn to get someone to actually pick up (credit to the guy who did he was very courteous and clarified how they'd like things submitted; all as medical expenditure). I sent an email 7 days ago asking if they've received everything they need etc. and that too has gone unanswered. I've chased it today with the BMC.

With respect to the cover abroad, whilst the medical assistance company were very friendly (Intana-global), and once in the capital very useful (providing a foreign speaking Dr. by phone), up until that point they didn't manage to contribute a huge amount (and also provided conflicting medical advice that I had to query) and I didn't get a response to any of my emails asking for help getting my trip 'back on track' following treatment (it was more like you either push the eject button or you don't). I think the lack of response on the latter part is poor even if it was simply to say "you're better placed to organise that yourself". Certainly I'm currently wondering why I default to BMC as they're increasingly noncompetitive and the above so far, isn't positive.

By comparison I filed a medical expenditure claim for the dog (as she was attacked whilst we were away) for what will be more cash, significantly later and that's all settled.

Also, while we're on the subject (sorry Ducko it's not overly relevant for bouldering!) the medical assistance company that the BMC use can't communicate via SMS currently. This caused me a few headaches and an incredibly large phone bill. I've raised this as a potential issue for anyone who might call assistance via PLB; I'm assured it's being looked at but will continue to nag until there's a response (I got back in touch as the original email on the subject didn't get a response).

 :worms:

More on point:
  • Snowcard
  • Dogtag
« Last Edit: September 03, 2019, 11:53:19 pm by Paul B »

teestub

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#8 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 04, 2019, 01:35:59 am
Paul, have you claimed with Snowcard and Dogtag as well as the BMC so you can offer a similar run down of service (or lack of)?

Bradders

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#9 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 04, 2019, 08:18:26 am
Good beta, only thing is it’s limited to 4 meters so I guess you obviously would never go any higher..
cheap to, nice one

Yeah, definite issue, especially when I ended up falling off Splash of Red  ::) guess if you stick to lowballs then you're good!

tomtom

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#10 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 04, 2019, 08:51:36 am
Paul, have you claimed with Snowcard and Dogtag as well as the BMC so you can offer a similar run down of service (or lack of)?

😃

andy_e

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#11 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 04, 2019, 08:52:52 am
I'm surprised anyone offers him insurance at all!

Paul B

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#12 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 04, 2019, 11:29:14 am
Quote from: teestub link=topic=30221.msg589420#msg589420 date=1567557 loo359
Paul, have you claimed with Snowcard and Dogtag as well as the BMC so you can offer a similar run down of service (or lack of)?

Not that I can remember (potentially Snowcard at some point) but, my point was that I default to the BMC based on the notion that they're somehow better (in cover and to deal with) but increasingly I'm tempted to look further afield.

Of course the others could offer equal or lesser service but based on what I've seen so far they'd have to try pretty hard for communication to be as poor!

Another member of this parish had similar issues I believe when claiming after their kit was stolen recently in Spain.


Alex-the-Alex

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#13 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 04, 2019, 12:24:19 pm
I dont understand much about the insurance system, but heres another anecdote. we ended up trying to claim using our BMC insurance a few years ago and the overall impresison was that although the folks at the BMC might understand your position, the underwriters werent cimbers and couldnt really understand a) why we were living in van and that that was our main form of accomadation as well as transport b) that we hadnt planned anything beyond a day ahead and c) that we would want to stay out after the accident and keep climbing. It just felt like they didnt have the systems in place to deal with all these slightly unusual circumstances. Or just couldnt be bothered. But perhapse I hadnt inspected the cover closely enough. In the end they left us high and dry and said it was a matter for my car insurance as it was a road accident, depsite us having paid for holiday insurance and it affecting the rest of the holiday. Ive not gone with them again since, but havent had any other claims so cant recommend anything better. Maybe I should have been more thorough in researching the cover when it was being written, but im no captain hindsight and had better things to do.

cheque

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#14 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 04, 2019, 01:15:34 pm
I was in hospital in Spain with massive injuries and was reliant on BMC insurance to get me back to hospital in the UK.

I was near-paralysed and drugged out of my mind the whole time so my other half did all the talking on the phone  :wub: but she said the woman who handled the case at the company that sorted it out (they were at Lloyd's in London IIRC) was great and very invested in our situation. When she wasn't at work the other people she spoke to weren't as interested apparently but when she got our woman again she was great. It was all very complicated as it relied on the hospital I was in clearing me to fly, my details being sent to the NHS and them finding me a hospital place in Sheffield, then a plane being arranged and medical staff being arranged to be on it on the same day, plus private ambulances from the hospital in Spain to the airport and from the airport in the UK to the hospital at the other end. Fucking stressful as you can imagine. It's a big regret of Rache's that she'll never meet the woman from the insurance company to thank her in person- she'd call every day she was at work to update us on what was happening at their end and find out what the deal was at ours.

They flew me back in literally a Lear Jet (beige leather seats etc. 8) ) with a nurse and a doctor on it- just six of us on the plane including the pilot, copilot and my girlfriend. There was a selection of crisps (best crisps I've ever eaten), drinks and sandwiches available and they had me on the beeping monitoring machines in the plane, with drugs and shit ready to be pumped into me (still had the tube coming out of my arm from the hospital) should it all go south. The nurse said it would easily be ten grand+  if I hadn't been insured- doesn't bear thinking about really. The only thing that went wrong was the ambulance broke down between Robin Hood airport and the hospital.

After I was home I looked into what else I could claim for- turned out I could get money for Rache's flight to Spain, money for the back brace I was obliged to buy (that was the only medical stuff that wasn't covered by my EHIC) and money for each night I'd spent in hospital over there, plus, as Rache had receipts for her lunch every day, bus fare, hotel she'd been staying in etc. we could also claim for all that.

I did a massive painstaking form in biro and sent it to the loss adjusters with all the receipts and got a wodge of money paid into our bank account. We never got any paperwork detailing exactly what they'd paid out for and what they hadn't though  but it turned out that we pretty much broke even. I didn't chase itemised details 'cos I just wanted to get on with my life and forget about it.

Then a guy from the loss adjusters phoned me about a month later. My heart was pounding 'cos I thought we'd have to pay money back but he was just doing some sort of research into what the circumstances were. He learnt more than he ever wanted to know about rock climbing and traumatic injury but, despite me asking for a breakdown of the payout I've still never received it. A few people I've mentioned this to have said "Ooh you need to get that, they've probably ripped you off" but like I said, we broke even and I still don't care beyond that.

So that's my experience with BMC insurance (my only experience with claiming on travel insurance in fact), not perfect but easily good enough in a situation where "good enough" is far, far from guaranteed. When I booked the insurance a couple of weeks before the trip I was in the same place Ducko is now but when I was on that plane I wasn't thinking "I wonder if I could have got this for £15 cheaper", put it that way  :lol:. You'd be doing well to fuck yourself up as badly as I did bouldering but you could end up in a medical emergency and I know for a fact that BMC insurance will get you out of that satisfactorily which is why I recommend it.

kelvin

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#15 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 04, 2019, 03:49:45 pm
I'm not going to recommend any insurance company but after I rolled my van near Gorge du Yarn, about 7 months after leaving the UK, I had real issues getting my solicitor to come to terms that I hadn't used hotels, hadn't had a planned itinerary, couldn't supply a diary of where I'd been every day of the trip and that I'd actually chosen to sleep rough from time to time. I called it bivying, she called it madness.
It caused real issues with the claim and it took a fairly heavy phonecall with her for well over an hour, to be able to persuade her that the lifestyle I'd lead was common amongst climbers. It was described as 'shady' by the other party's insurance and certainly coloured the claim for losses.

Luckily, I'd made sure my insurers were aware I was abroad for so long - many people take a chance and don't have more than 3 months cover. I had to provide ferry tickets etc and interestingly, I was asked if I'd used blah blah, the car share service. I hadn't offered lifts but if I had of, it would have voided my insurance.

What caught me out was my annual travel insurance running out the day before the crash. I'd tried to renew online, couldn't and when I rang was told I couldn't because I was abroad. I'd been unaware of this. I crashed 19hrs after with no insurance, just the Ehic card and was billed for MRI and x-ray costs at the local hospital.

Insurance can be a nightmare, even when you try to do it all properly.






Paul B

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#16 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 05, 2019, 03:21:47 pm
Also, while we're on the subject (sorry Ducko it's not overly relevant for bouldering!) the medical assistance company that the BMC use can't communicate via SMS currently. This caused me a few headaches and an incredibly large phone bill. I've raised this as a potential issue for anyone who might call assistance via PLB; I'm assured it's being looked at but will continue to nag until there's a response (I got back in touch as the original email on the subject didn't get a response).

Which the Underwriters are currently not willing to reimburse.

abarro81

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#17 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 05, 2019, 08:32:35 pm
We stopped using dogtag and went back to BMC, was something weird in the wording around climbing but can't remember what now... Anyway, read the small print to make sure you're ok with it..

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#18 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 06, 2019, 10:25:50 am
Hi everyone

Thanks for all the comments on BMC insurance.

Paul B - that doesn't sound like a positive experience. Drop me an email and we'll take a look at what happened there.

I won't go into full promo mode, but we like to think that BMC insurance is competitive. Right now, 7 days Euro Rock cover is £31.

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/modules/insurance/

However, exchange rates, US medical costs and Nepal helicopter rescue fees can affect prices for any insurer.

And... the profits from selling BMC insurance do go back into the BMC, so by taking out BMC insurance you are helping our access work.

If you've any more questions or comments, get in touch any time (alex@thebmc.co.uk).





Paul B

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#19 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 06, 2019, 01:22:01 pm
Alex - thanks, Josh is dealing with it but I have to say having calls to the medical assistance company and for organising return travel (which the assistance company asked us to do, instead of them, as we were better placed) disallowed has currently left a bad taste. Bob was a very nice man but they weren't social calls!

(...sneaks off to pay £31 for the next upcoming trip  :spank:)

Paul B

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#20 Re: Bouldering insurance for abroad
September 27, 2019, 11:30:31 am
In the interest of balance, the above is now all rectified. I'm guessing, but I believe likely due the influence of the people in the BMC office. So this:

(...sneaks off to pay £31 for the next upcoming trip  :spank:)

 

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