I’m heading to Moab / Fruita in a few weeks and need to sort out travel insurance–that includes cover for mountain biking obviously. Who have people chosen to go with in the past? Any recommendations greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Matt

snowcard/activcard

simply brilliant when I stacked it properly in the alps.

dave

cant comment if it’s good or not because never had to make a claim but the price is good 😀
and is sports specific, with different grades.
i took out a year policy as it was only slightly more than single trip

http://insurance.essentialtravel.co.uk/sportsinsurance.asp#

me and another chap at work use atlas insurance. cover for work and snow, and north america, and partner for same works out to around a ton i think.
never had to claim.

Post Office travel insurance with active sports top up. Lots of cover, cheap as chips plus you’re supporting an industry that needs our help.

Thanks guys–really helpful.

I went with insure and go. Great cover for MTBing.

Unless you’re racing, most insurance companies don’t really care if you go cycling (even mountain biking) as it’s not a dangerous sport in their minds. Go with a specific company by all means, but you’ll pay more for it.

Do the above actually cover the value of your bike as well (for example if it gets lost/nicked)? When I went to Spain last yr I couldn’t find any companies who would actually cover the bike. The one company I found that covered ‘sports equipment’ would only cover up to £350.

as nickc says. I use fortis via my local broker to cover annual hols & biking. I don`t take a bike, just hire for what I need.

I’ve always used Direct Line Travel Insurance in the past, you have to declare MTBing to them (they cover “cycling” but not MTB as standard), it only costs a few pence more (literally!).
Most providers charge more for N.America as well.

Direct Line paid out the best part of £25000 for me when I crashed in the Swiss Alps and had to be helicoptered out, they dealt with it very quickly and professionally too.

I spoke to a guy at Insure and Go just now who said they covered mountain biking unless it was ‘downhill racing and extreme terrain.’ Not entirely sure what counts as extreme terrain though–he said ‘rocks and stuff.’ But this is Moab…

That’s an interesting get-out clause! Sorry, you’re only covered if you fall off a small rock, anything over 1ft and we’re not liable cos it’s too extreme!

“extreme terrain” = rocks and stuff?!? Isn’t that most of the riding that mountain bikers do? I’d say check out the Post Office or Direct Line then.

Yeah that’s what I thought CrispedWheel!

Speaking of which, did you get yours un-crisped?

holy thread ressurection! (thanks google!)

just looking through insurance quotes for a week in Verbier. Colande's post above gets me insurance for 15 quid comprehensive inc. mountainbiking. Just about everything else is around 40 quid. Anyone else have experience of essential travel and/or any other recommends?!

Cheers

Thankfully I have not had to use the policy, but I have an annual policy with DogTag

I go on snowboarding and MTB hols and am covered with them.
Sadly it didnt cover FlyZoom going under a week before I flew to Canada!

Virgin travel 'covers everything MTBing except DH on a taped off DH course or racing' £5.99 a week

Regarding equipment cover, how do you normally have your bike insured? If it's through the house, then you may well find that it's covered for trips abroad of a couple of weeks.
I've always gone snowcard but there are others. When I looked in the past, many insurance companies didn't want to cover mountain biking and others that did had the non-extreme terrain thing mentioned above, which just sounds like a get out clause. Since it's hardly that expensive anyway considering the cost of a holiday, and considering the cost if something should go wrong, I consider it worth paying that little bit more to be sure I'm covered.

I used Easyjet Insurance, covered MTB as long as you are not racing. Tried to get extra cover for the bike but no joy which I think you will find with most other insurance companies 😕
After checking with my home insurance the AA the bikes where covered for abroad as well 🙂
If your bikes are covered on your home insurance check this before trying to get a complete package which will cost you a packet.

I use Insure and Go annual, then when i go abroad for a week, take out "extreme DH MTB cover" for the days i want to use it, cost £9 for the week. That way you get normal cover when you want it and upgrade when you need to

Snowcard considered ski resorts to be level 4 and not level 2 when I insured with them. Most MTB cover I saw was level 2 cover as std and a lot cheaper unsurprisingly. Best check with the insurer would be my advice so that there are no "miss understandings" when you need them and get it in writing.

Any recommendations for competitive riding? Who do folk use for the mega?

The Extreme DH cover from Insure and Go seemed to include competitions

I use Dogtag – includes recreational MTB and they paid out £16,000 when I injured myself 😯