Alps Riding Holiday – Insurance?

I am sure this has been covered a million times, but it appears it doesn’t take long for companies to go out of flavour once people actually need to make a claim.

With that in mind, i am off to Morzine with ‘da boys’ at the start of July for a week of bikes and beer.

Who are the go to for insurance, so if it does goes pete tong, i wont have a million pound bill to pay.

I have used Dogtag before, but they seem expensive these days. I used Yellow Jersey last year for the Megavalanche, but before i click buy, anyone else i should consider?

Many thanks in advance!

dogtag – 20%* off your next policy by entering the code ‘FATHER23’ until 23/6

I use snowcard. Cheaper insurance isn’t always better.

Watching with interest as I’ve just  a couple of   very high quotes and that’s before I mention the monkey pox😃

Singletrack have a discount code for members with Yellow Jersey.

Got my annual one to renew before we travel out next week. Along with fitting a new rear tyre in this heat

We’re going to Morzine too so I’m watching this with interest. I tried to get a quote but couldn’t because it’s too far in advance. What sort of money are we talking about for a weeks cover?

Whatever company you go with, please go over the smallprint. There are a few who slip in things such as ‘Mountain biking’. But then you look at the small print and it is ‘gentle, marked trails. No stunt riding or open hill sides.’ or some such similar. This includes some of the ‘big names’ which folk regularly recommend.

We have used, and claimed, with Big Cat Travel Insurance before. We have used them for family holidays and for eldest_oab off to the Alps for a few weeks. I have also just taken a year long policy for youngest_oab to travel the world, climb some big peaks and ride bikes. The claim made was paid within a month for medical bills in France.

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5 days in Finale for me (no bike cover) was £31 with Yellow Jersey. Annual was £101. Not too bad, esp given their (decent) reputation.

bookmarking for trip later in the summer

I have just read the Yellow Jersey terms again – and as I remember, they do not cover rescue costs. This can be an issue in many places if you have a bad one.

Many have a limit on rescue costs – IIRC, BigCat limit to £20k, £1.5k excess and a threat to life requiring it, but if the poop majorly hits the fan, at least you get some back.

i’ve jsut gone with yellow jersey… with 15% discount seemed fine at £27 for 5 days..

Off to the PPdS in under a week so needed to sort something..

DrP

My quotes are in the region of £700 for extreme sports. I’m sure that’s well over the top so need to recheck.

Agree with the comment about looking at the small print. Generally if you’re getting a cheap quote it isn’t covering you for serious mountain biking using any form of uplift or going above 2000m elevation.

£565 for 16 days mtb for the family eith Snowcard

**** me

Timely, thank you, also going away for alps in a couple of weeks (tired after 13yrs of PdS – not doubt we will miss it! so going to Davos/Lenzerheide instead this year).

Makes it even more important to be insured up the eyeballs! And, nice discount. Thanks Tracey.

@matt_outandabout

Tell us more matt. I totally agree about needing to be careful on coverage on cheap policies. The weird thing is that Big Cat is by far the cheapest, but you reckon it is good?
Dare i ask if the claim was bike related and thus pushing the boundaries?

Thanks for all the feedback folks.

Just spoke to ‘Big Cat’ on chat and got them to clarify that their mountain biking covers does indeed cover ‘proper’ riding. In the Alps, on blacks runs etc. All they ask is you wear a helmet.

And its about half the price of Dogtag.

The weird thing is that Big Cat is by far the cheapest, but you reckon it is good?

Our experience has been one claim: eldest landed a hip jump on Nico Vink’s jump line fist first and split hand wide open and broke a bone. He needed multiple stitches, splint, x-rays, painkillers and day care. All refunded as soon as we had the receipts uploaded. Maybe euro800 from memory.

If you read through the detail of what the cover in the Activity Packs, it seems good and straightforward. I have also been through it with youngest as I just paid for a year backpacking with the Activity Pack as he is headed up Mt Fuji, Mt Cook and he hopes some BC mountains, plus cycling and more…

They do cover some cost of a rescue, but it is limited. This is the one that many policies seem to miss – fine if you can walk off, but if someone asks for £10k of rescue services

From Yellow Jersey

It covers the cost of emergency medical care and repatriation, including mountain rescue and heli-rescue if you are injured riding in the mountains

When our daughter needed annual cover for racing in the EWS they were the only company that would cover here world wide for racing. Thankfully her injuries didn’t need a claim but some of her fellow competitors who were also insured with them weren’t as fortunate but luckily didn’t have any problems with claims.

She is out in NZ and that area for 12 months and then on to Canada for a while longer. We only found one company that would cover her for that length of time without coming back into the UK.  Yellow Jersey would only go up to 120 maximum days for any one trip

It covers the cost of emergency medical care and repatriation, including mountain rescue and heli-rescue if you are injured riding in the mountains

That’s good. I had missed that.

The dogtag discount “father23” is a con. You read the small print and it only applies 5% to online quotes. For that reason I’ve dismissed them. Cheeky fs

After reading Matt’s comment on Yellow Card – I also asked them directly about the rescue – its is covered.

Just booked with Snowcard for 12 days in the Alps, including riding over 3000m, so the one down from the top cover (extreme adventure) and it was 90 quid for me, early 40’s with no health issues. Didn’t need baggage cover etc as that’s covered in my regular travel insurance.

Also out there early July, Les Gets/Morzine, La Thuile, Alp Du Huez.

Ours is an annual couple cover with Yellow Jersey as we usually have more than one Alps trip in the year. Mid 50s and 60s age wise comes in at £195 on renewal next week. Last years runs out whilst we are are

Just bought an annual policy as a couple for Europe with biking and skiing for£170 from pedalsure. Fingers crossed we never have to test their claims process

My YellowCard renewal is due in couple weeks – £143 for 60 year old world wide (USA/Canada mostly) annual cover (STW discount)

I’ve also noticed that Dogtag have become particularly expensive even with the regular 20% discounts they send out every so often

Last couple of times I’ve gone with Snowcard – I like the way you can tweek your policy to only cover what you actually need

I spoke to the team at YellowJersey, Mountain rescue is covered, just as part of the emergency medical care.

I went with Yellow Jersey after reading horror stories about Insure’n’Go on here. Although a mate spoke to then and – eventually – they replied in writing that he was covered for mountain biking on any terrain, but not for racing.

Spoke to YJ as had to do the Asthma check thing, and it was a smooth experience. Went for a year. Just do not want the hassle if I ever have to claim. Also they reminded me to update to GHIC card as my old ‘EU’ one had expired.

Hey, as a few people have already said,  Yellow Jersey covers mountain rescue costs if you are injured or in a dangerous situation. This falls under ‘Emergency medical care’, so people may not have seen it in our policy wording. If anyone needs more information our customer service team will be happy to talk on 0333 003 0046.

Thanks, Team YJ!

I’m going to go with https://www.mtbinsuranceuk.com/ this year.

Run by Helen Gaskell..thats good enough for me.

A group of us are off to Morzine in 3 weeks and have insurance through Yellowjersey based on a mates recommendation. One particular story sold it to me, it involved a helicopter ride, a short spell in a French hospital and repatriation. All went smoothly as it could do.

Any discount codes for yellow jersey?

From Yellow Jersey

It covers the cost of emergency medical care and repatriation, including mountain rescue and heli-rescue if you are injured riding in the mountains

@Tracey – where are you finding that? I can’t find anything in the policy that covers mountain rescue.

It’s here. They have also covered it above and also confirmed verbally on the phone.

Mountain Bike Travel Insurance

Thanks @Tracey. Weird it’s not in the policy wording explicitly.

thanks all, really helpful. was also searching the T&Cs and could also only find that it was not excluded, but nothing about what exactly was included. Done!