Off to the Alps in 5 weeks and I need to sort out insurance, only need rescue/medical cover as my travel insurance with home cover does the rest.

Dogtag seem to be the cheapest that I could find online but they had all the travel insurance stuff included. Does carte neige cover Italy?

Have you called your travel insurance company to see if you can get an extension? I pay a flat fee each year I need this adding. Otherwise look at BMC insurance which is very good value for hazardous activities.

I’ve used Snow Card in the past just because some one who had used them said they were hassle free and used to dealing with the kind of accidents you are insuring your self against,

Pedalcover are an option – nice people too.

Alpha insurance

German or Austrian Alpine club and an EHIC card

The Austrian Alpine Club (UK)

Pretty much any insurance co will cover you for messing about on bicycles in the Alps, as long as you’re not racing. Pick the one that has the best cover in terms of what you want, those aren’t always the “action” specific ones

Fwiw – Most insurance companies don’t cover lift-assisted mountain biking. We have always used Snow card.

The beauty of the Alpine club cover is that it covers all types of Mountain sports (climbing, MTB, rock climbing, skiing, canyoning, canoeing, hiking, caving etc) for anywhere in most parts of the world for the whole year. And for less than most UK based insurance will charge for a week in the alps. Obviously they are not a medical/holiday type insurance policy (so won’t cover a stolen camera) but cover the all important heli-rescue and repatriation as well as a few other things. You also get good rates in alpine huts

I am not sure the Austrian alpine club insurance covers lift assisted mountain biking.
from their terms and conditions. They only seem to cover mountain bike cycle tours

mountain bike/trekking cycle tours. (Mountain bike/trekking cycle tours are understood as those undertaken in sportswear, on forest roads, wood- land and other unmade tracks, and on identified or marked cycle paths. Accidents on roads also open to motor vehicles, on cycle paths in muni- copal or built up areas are not insured unless the accident occurs in the course of a mountain bike or trekking cycle tour as described above.)

I guess the only way to be sure is to talk to them, or has anyone actually had to claim on their insurance and can clarify?

Alpha seem cheap, and cover the stuff I want, need to try and read the TandC’s but I couldn’t get them on the phone.

tbh, i just use DOGTAG, even ticking the “extreme” box, to ensure there are no issues of if the biking was “downhill” or not, it only comes to about £40, which in the grand scheme of the costs of the holiday is pretty much irrelevant and worth it just for the piece of mind it brings!

The Alpine club explanation is just to exclude cycle to work type biking or road riding in general. Would hardly not include lift assistance since they also cover skiing too, or people climbing Mont Blanc using the lifts to Aigulle du midi etc. Using lifts are just part of normal life in the Alps for any sport.

The Alpine club explanation is just to exclude cycle to work type biking or road riding in general. Would hardly not include lift assistance since they also cover skiing too, or people climbing Mont Blanc using the lifts to Aigulle du midi etc. Using lifts are just part of normal life in the Alps for any sport.

This is a genuine question. Is this just your understanding of their position, or have you actually checked.

There are plenty of people on here who have had claims successfully handled by Snowcard & Dogtag, myself included. The last thing you want when you’ve broken your arm or leg is to have to argue on the interpretation of small print & given my experience of insurance companies for other claims, I know exactly what they can be like. Is it worth the risk?

Threads like this should ask for input from people that have actually had to claim, rather than just asserting that “so-and-so is pretty cheap & seem to be good”. On that basis I’d recommend Snowcard as making my 2 night stay in a French hospital less traumatic than it could have been.

Not checked but my reading of the original German text didn’t give me any cause for concern. I have been with mates to the Alps when living out in Germany (as a member of the German Alpine Cub) and seen heli rescue for cavers, and climbers who had used lifts to get to higher levels. It is just the way things are done in the Alps. There is no obvious distinction made between lift access or non-lift access. Why should they. No-one does anything in the Alps without using a lift at some stage. The number of people who take a lift up and twist and ankle while walking and get rescued would suggest this is not an issue at all.

If you like I can ask on the German MTB forum I use for examples of heli-rescue of MTBers using Alpine Club insurance

Has anyone ever looked into April multisport insurance? I had a policy last year (it’s just expired) but didn’t have reason to claim. Dog tag and snow card always looked overpriced and I’d prefer an annual policy. http://en.april-international.com/global/multisport-insurance-insurance

Has anyone ever looked into April multisport insurance?

The policy document lists “mountain biking” as covered & doesn’t specify any type of cycling as excluded. You’d also be covered for Dog Dancing. At €49 per year it’s pretty cheap, dog dancing or not.

*Edit* it appears medical cover is only up to €5000, but this shouldn’t be a problem for ehic card holders.

I’ve used Dogtag for many years, claiming on it for the first time last year for curtailment. Really good people on the end of the phones, claim paid no hassle.

snowcard here.

A few of my riding buddies have had to use them over the years and they have been very good.

Yellow Jersey looked good to me for single trip.

The policy document lists “mountain biking” as covered & doesn’t specify any type of cycling as excluded. You’d also be covered for Dog Dancing. At €49 per year it’s pretty cheap, dog dancing or not.
*Edit* it appears medical cover is only up to €5000, but this shouldn’t be a problem for ehic card holders.

That’s what I though, it’s minimalist and no thrills, but if something serious were to go wrong it looks sufficient when combined with the EHIC.

I have travel insurance included with my bank account, I just rang them to find out if I would be covered, they say that downhill mountain biking is only covered for level 1 and level 2 trails, can anyone tell me what a level 1 or 2 trail would be?

I’ve used Dogtag a couple of times, claimed once due to ironically getting injured a few days before I was meant to leave (if I’d waited a few days the same injury would have been ‘worth’ a decent pile of money).

In recent years when I’ve taken my family to the Alps and knowing that I’d only be riding a day or even half-day I’ve risked it with mainstream insurance – they cover “Mountain Biking” (not racing) with nothing in the endless T’s and C’ giving any exemption for “proper mountain biking” so I called them up – explained the various elements of it – lift assisted, used the word “downhill” despite the fact it’s not a race and I don’t have a specific DH bike and they said it was fine.

The medical cover was in the millions – I personally wouldn’t risk something as low as €5000, I know they’re meant to offer the European version of the NHS, but in all the accidents I’ve seen they’ve always come with a big bill – I’d reckon you’d burn through that €5000 before you even saw a Hospital bed if you need a Helicopter.

This year though I’m going for 5 days with my Mates and it’ll be riding all day every day so I’ll go with Dogtag again, even though Tesco (if I remember correctly) say Mountain Biking is covered, I wouldn’t want to have to argue it later on.

One thing to consider with Dogtag is that the shortest period they offer is 10 days, where as Snowcard seem to offer specific days, so for me going for 5 days Snowcard are roughly half the cost of Dogtag.

Thanks OP, I asked a similar question a couple of weeks ago and it sunk without trace so I’m glad to see the responses to this one. 🙂

Has anyone tried to claim from Yellow Jersey – either a loss of bike or for a medical situation?

Thanks

Bumping for any further input.

Anyone else got any recommendations for insurance where they’ve got experience with a claim?

momo – Member
I have travel insurance included with my bank account, I just rang them to find out if I would be covered, they say that downhill mountain biking is only covered for level 1 and level 2 trails, can anyone tell me what a level 1 or 2 trail would be?

POSTED 3 WEEKS AGO # REPORT-POST

I can’t offer any insight on what level 1 & 2 trails are, however I relied on my bank travel insurance a good few years ago for a weekend trip to Morzine. I came off and tore a nice big hole in my arm which according to a clinic on Morzine meant I could lose feeling/movement in my arm if not treated properly. My bank insurance refused the advice of the clinic, which was to send me to a specialist and told me I would be liable for the €7k bill if I went ahead and they knocked back the claim, which sounded likely. I ended up missing the opportunity to get it stitched and spent 6 months with an open wound needing constant cleaning and cauterisation in the UK. I have a pretty cool scar now.

Its your call if you’d rather save the 40 or so quid.

I just used snowcard to insure myself for a trip to Winterberg next week for a few days, £27 with £250 excess.

Regarding the bank travel insurance, I have a Lloyds platinum account with travel insurance which lists “cycling” as covered in the policy document. Thought I’d phone them to check if lift assisted riding is covered and got told mountain biking isn’t covered at all and no option to upgrade. I pointed out the policy wording and that no forms of cycling are listed under exclusions but I got told “understand your frustration, will pass on your feedback but computer says no” (well, words to that effect – “I’m sorry, it’s a decline” was the actual phrase). Not sure how that would stand up in court but I don’t want to be the one finding out.

Apologies for the thread hijack, but my multi-trip policy has the following wording:

“Covered: Mountain biking (not including downhill racing and extreme ground conditions)”

Do i need to take out additional cover for a trip to Morzine?

I would defo phone them to check and if they say it’s ok get confirmation in writing/email. I would guess you probably need extra cover.

I’m not sure I would rely on EHIC for all medical cover.my understanding is that covers emergency and urgent care on the same basis as for local citizens. Some countries have significant co-payments and citizens have insurance to cover. It may well not cover secondary specialist care and definitely does not include medical evacuation back to UK. Also state hospitals may simply not be as good as private clinics. For sake of a few quid worth getting a proper policy

Also some policies do not cover mountain biking in cycling you need to check the exclusions – edit or reading the above maybe necessary to phone

I had the same thing as davosaurusrex but with Nationwide Travel Insurance. Cycling included but any mention of lift-assisted got a big ‘NO’. Always used Snowcard, had to claim last year as my GPS went missing. The process was easy and hassle-free, just needed an email from the chalet owner to say they hadn’t found it and the original receipt for a payment to be made for a replacement.

Considering I burn through two tyres (£80), a few sets of brake pads (£15) and the suspension needs a service afterwards (£200) then £40-50 on insurance is a bargain.

Might be a stupid question but will UK residents still receive the benefits of the EHIC should we choose to Brexit?

Does that mean insurance might get considerably more expensive in a couple of weeks time?

SNOWCARD, every time.

Paid up for me no hassle a few years back, sorted my mate out with a flight home early and everything when he stacked it on run 2 day 1 at Pila too.

Fwiw – Most insurance companies don’t cover lift-assisted mountain biking. We have always used Snow card.

I’ve never found one that excludes it specifically. You may have to check about Helicopter evacuation from a mountain side however.

For the record Dogtag will cover you for this.

I have used dogtag for weeks away in the past, but does anybody have a recommendation for something for a shorter trip?

I’m going to be on the Alps for a week or so this summer, so will put a bike in the car. I already have travel insurance covering normal holiday stuff, but likely to fit in a couple of early morning uplift rides at some point. It is definitely not a riding holiday though.

Dogtag minimum is 10 days, snowcard is 7 but equally expensive.

Do they sell medical evacuation as an option with lift passes as they often do with ski passes? (I know that this usually only covers for getting you off the mountain and not repatriation out medical expenses).

Any other non biking related incidents would be covered by my normal annual policy. Adding Mtb to that is too expensive to bother with.